Is it possible to make it into a UC school with an F?

How to make your college resume outstanding?

• I'm almost graduating from high school. I'm going to be a senior this coming September and I'm in this really bad school in Alexandria, Virginia called Mount Vernon High School. I feel like I'm not really ready for college since I came here. I was in a really really really good private school in Hawaii but it closed down due to financial issues caused by the worldwide recession so I went back to my country, Palau, an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean. Anyway, I went back and I attended another private school there but I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be abroad, I wanted be independent, I wanted to study in another setting other than my own country. I experienced what it was like living and studying abroad in Hawaii so I made the choice to move to Virginia to finish my junior and senior year. I have to say that this was the biggest mistake of my life! I feel like I'm surrounded by the most unmotivated and stupid students I have ever witnessed in my life. I thought coming to this school would help me advance more in my academics but I was wrong. I started to slack off after 2nd quarter so my GPA dropped from a 3.8 to a 3.3. Now, most of the universities I was planning to apply to such as George Washington University, Georgetown University, New York University, Pace University, UC- Berkeley, and Boston University. These are really tough schools to get accepted in and now that my grades have went down the hill I am worried I might not get accepted to any of them or get scholarships. For my freshman year I did so much things such as community work, martial arts, Japanese, Model UN, and so many cool activities but ever since I came to this school, I've been very distant with everyone. I don't belong here but I'm stuck now. I haven't done anything to really make my college resume stand out. I've just wasted time doing nothing really. It's my fault and I don't blame anyone or the school. I made my decision to come here and now I might not even go to good universities or get scholarships because of my grades and for not participating in school programs or activities. I plan to take a year off after high school and figure out how I'm going to make my resume pop out. I'm probably going to try to apply for internships in DC in some federal or non-federal organization. I want to do volunteering abroad but I don't have the money to finance my traveling. I don't really know what to do to really make my resume pop out to colleges. That's my main concern right now. What do you guys think? Please try to give detailed; concrete answers or advice. I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

• Answer:

  Hey Uong, Reading this 'question' was more like skimming through a brief autobiography of your HS life. I'm a firm believer in 'you get out what you put it', & I find it applicable to not just academics but also on the happiness scale of one's life. Keep that in mind, anyways back to resume advice. 'Resume' literally means 'summary'. Don't let 'wordiness' wreck it but you gotta SELL YOURSELF on that carbon paper. Add an objective or skills/ experience summary (volunteer & part-time) directed at a specific career field- it shows that you've thought of your next move. Decide what're your 'selling' points & place it upfront, not in middle where it could get lost or ignored, then have friends read your resume & quickly tell you what they remember about it- good way to test it out. Mental note, a weak opening produces disinterest. Do not write 'boastfully', it may appear too arrogant about you or using terms that are contrived, do not us this approach as a way to compensate for your inexperience. Also cliche-free language helps make a 'pop-out' difference. Keep in mind that those who actually read our resumes have read hundreds before reaching ours, so they take maybe up to a whole minute or 2, if you're lucky, to skim through it. If not, it's computerized & they scan for certain relevant words. So you really gotta make each word count! So to sum up common resume mistakes involve:excessive vagueness, poor organization, lack of examples, missing achievements, irrelevant info, typos & grammatical oversights, not checking small details, info overload, making reader guess, overcompensating with gimmicks, not meeting image standards, highliting the immaterial, hiding selling info. Beware of resume stumpers! As the book mentioned below has pointed out, admittedly it's hard to boil down a lifetime to a page or three. Mark Twain said it took him only 5mins to write a 30min speech, but 30mins to write a 5min speech. Bottomline, you've got loads of personal reading to catch up on, attaining background knowledge, & sitting & thinking. There's no other way than putting yourself through hard work, which always yields its fruits. Well I hope this helps in a way, well ways that you could AVOID resume blunters & mistakes. Also, wish you luck on finding that 'outstanding' way to express yourself. Mental note, you're not alone~ almost every graduate scholar & job rookie undergoes this phase. It's not what happens to you, but what you do about it that matters most. Like some of the roads here in Palau, life is full of potholes, you just gotta drive smart & carefully.