Font size/margins for resume ? Forum

[JJDancer]

The bulk of my resume is in size 10 font with 0.65 margins all around.

I know this is pretty small but is it still relatively acceptable?

[bdubs]

The bulk of my resume is in size 10 font with 0.65 margins all around.

I know this is pretty small but is it still relatively acceptable?

How many pages? Law schools usually do not have strict page requirements. If you are currently only using 1 page, I would use an 11 or 12 pt font and adjust the margins for visual appeal.

[c_dubya_s]

I'm pretty sure that you can go down to 0.5 inch margins, but I would increase the font size to 11 or 12 if at all possible.

[samsonyte16]

.65 is fine. 10 pt. is probably OK, but pushing it. I personally think 12 pt. font is too big for a resume.

[Flett]

I did all of my application, except the resume, in 12pt. The resume was 10pt. I didn't change the margins. Bumping it up to 11pt would make it 1 1/2 pages instead of just 1. Thankfully, it's not just a wall of text, looks ok, and is still easy to read.

I guess we'll see if it was a bad choice or not in a few months.

[RTFM]

Just so you know, the .65 margins are not going to translate when you upload the file onto LSAC--your resume will definitely be 2 pages. I had this problem when I uploaded my resume with .65 margins. I played around with it a little bit, and I think you need at least a .75 margin at the bottom of the page to keep the file on one page (I did .75 top and bottom, .8 left and right and it worked; I'm not sure if .65 all around and .75 at the bottom would work).

[JJDancer]

Just so you know, the .65 margins are not going to translate when you upload the file onto LSAC--your resume will definitely be 2 pages. I had this problem when I uploaded my resume with .65 margins. I played around with it a little bit, and I think you need at least a .75 margin at the bottom of the page to keep the file on one page (I did .75 top and bottom, .8 left and right and it worked; I'm not sure if .65 all around and .75 at the bottom would work).

I just uploaded a document to check this and it worked (stayed on 1 page) with .6 all around.

I'm thinking of keeping the .6 but bumping up the font to 10.5. It makes it more readable. Hopefully I can manage this without cutting out too much. I feel weird about having a 1.5 page resume.

[r6_philly]

Mine is 11pt, 0.5 margins. Same margin/format I have always used.

I also used Garamond which is smaller than Times so it shows up as about 10pt. I don't think schools mind, but my resume is packed with WE so maybe that helps.

[fugitivejammer]

Just so you know, the .65 margins are not going to translate when you upload the file onto LSAC--your resume will definitely be 2 pages. I had this problem when I uploaded my resume with .65 margins. I played around with it a little bit, and I think you need at least a .75 margin at the bottom of the page to keep the file on one page (I did .75 top and bottom, .8 left and right and it worked; I'm not sure if .65 all around and .75 at the bottom would work).

I just uploaded a document to check this and it worked (stayed on 1 page) with .6 all around.

I'm thinking of keeping the .6 but bumping up the font to 10.5. It makes it more readable. Hopefully I can manage this without cutting out too much. I feel weird about having a 1.5 page resume.

honestly, 10pt-12pt is widely accepted, so I would leave it at 10pt if it is working. 10.5 would b better, but you definitely don't want to have 1.5 pages for your resume. Make sure you keep it to a single page (more than that looks pretty bad) unless you have 10-15 years of w/e. Try doing the .5 margins like r6_philly - if it looks okay then go with it and see if u can get the 10.5/11pt font, but otherwise u'll b fine.