Resume/PS font size Forum

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postn0bills

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Resume/PS font size

Post by postn0bills » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:08 pm

Sorry if this was covered somewhere before -- I looked around the forum and couldn't find anything about it. Is it OK if my personal statement font is size 12 or 11 and my resume size 10? Or should they be the same size? I ask because if I increase the font size on my resume it'll go into two pages, and I'd rather not make it shorter because I've been out of college for five years and want to list what I've been doing.

swoozie

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by swoozie » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:49 pm

Well...I think generally you want them to match up, but everything I submitted was font size 12 and my resume was 10 (with smaller margins to boot). I didn't feel great about it, but I've also been out of school for 2.5 yrs now so I did need a bit more space. If you've been out of school so long, I feel like you might even be fine going onto the next page.

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cinephile

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by cinephile » Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:13 am

For admissions, it's perfectly find to have a resume longer than one page. They want you to go into detail about college extra-curriculars, I think many people will spill over into two pages.

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cutecarmel

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by cutecarmel » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:09 pm

Unless the school requests a 1pg resume, 2 pages is fine. (All of my resumes except for 1 was 2 pages and I had no problem). I think 10 pt font is too small. 11-12 font is your best bet.

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NomNom

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by NomNom » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:33 pm

I have been out of school for 10 years with extensive work history. I was able to get mine to a page with academics on the last sheet along with volunteer, etc.

It is doable and looks better.

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Liquox

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by Liquox » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:34 pm

I saw on one school's website that the minimum size is 10 for resume. 11-12pt font for PS is fine

bp shinners

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by bp shinners » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:44 pm

cinephile wrote: I think many people will spill over into two pages.
Many will, but most shouldn't. Very few people with whom I've worked who went straight from undergrad had backgrounds that justified a second page. If you've been out of school for awhile with several different jobs, then a second page might (MIGHT) be justified.

Yes, the schools want to know details of your ECs if they're interesting, and yes they won't ding you for having a second page. However, it looks better to have one page, and going into detail about an EC that really isn't that impressive shows a lack of self-awareness that would be better to not show.

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cinephile

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by cinephile » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:54 pm

bp shinners wrote:
cinephile wrote: I think many people will spill over into two pages.
Many will, but most shouldn't. Very few people with whom I've worked who went straight from undergrad had backgrounds that justified a second page. If you've been out of school for awhile with several different jobs, then a second page might (MIGHT) be justified.

Yes, the schools want to know details of your ECs if they're interesting, and yes they won't ding you for having a second page. However, it looks better to have one page, and going into detail about an EC that really isn't that impressive shows a lack of self-awareness that would be better to not show.
I respectfully disagree. This is the one place where you can really show off your soft factors. So what if working on light crew in the theatre department isn't impressive -- it might be valuable to let admissions know that you spent 20 hours a week working. Or various other things. And honestly, I think you'd be surprised how many things people get involved with. Because of the way my schedule changed every semester, I often had to switch jobs. So maybe I have 8 different jobs for during the school year, plus 4 summers worth of jobs, extra-curricular student organizations, volunteering, honors and awards, honors projects/theses, study abroad, any post-grad work experience, graduate study, etc. I mean, this isn't a job application, and many law school applications actually come out and tell you to exceed one page.

It's a great way of putting your academic success, or lack thereof, in context of your very busy schedule. If that's the case.

r6_philly

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Re: Resume/PS font size

Post by r6_philly » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:33 pm

I sent it a 2-pager. People have sent in CVs (no page limit).

I don't think the schools care. When it's really long, they just won't read closely.

So maybe it's in your benefit to cut it down. That's how it would hurt by keeping it long.

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