I’ve changed my mind.
I’ve never been enthusiastic about high school résumés. My usual advice has been simple: don’t bother making one unless you know you need it, and never hand a résumé to someone writing a recommendation for you unless they specifically request it. Most students don’t need a résumé until late in high school—or later—and I don’t like asking people to do extra, unnecessary work.
But recently, I’ve been thinking differently: while you may not need a résumé soon, the process of building one as you go can be incredibly helpful. Not because you’re trying to impress anyone yet, but because memories fade and you forget things. Activities blur together, names and dates slip away, and accomplishments that felt huge in ninth grade don’t make it onto your list by the time you’re a senior filling out applications.
So I’m not asking you to make a polished résumé today. I’m asking you to start a document—a messy and long one that grows over time. Call it a résumé if you want. Or call it a journal. Or a document, or a list, or whatever feels right.
I’m imagining ninth graders here, because it’s ideal to begin when high school begins. But if you’re in tenth or even eleventh grade, don’t worry. Now is still the best possible time to start. You might need to dig through old emails, calendars, texts, or school portals to remember details, but it’s absolutely doable and worth the effort.
I’m going to refer to semesters because that’s the schedule I know best. If you’re on trimesters, quarters, quints—whatever your school uses—just adapt the idea. Update your document at the end of every big grading period, especially when you start new classes or wrap up old ones. Treat it like an occasional check-in with yourself.
What to Put in Your Working Résumé
List all your classes
Include teacher names; final grades; projects, units, or assignments you’re proud of; anything you struggled with, especially if you learned from the struggle. Also include any funny stories or weird anecdotes you may want to remember.
You don’t need to write essays—just a few notes so you can remember what happened and why it mattered.
In-school extracurriculars
Clubs, sports, student government, performances, committees—write everything down. You can edit later, when it’s time to make an actual résumé.
For each activity, write down the rough hours per week or season you spent on it; what you did; any memorable moments or accomplishments; all leadership roles, even informal ones.
Outside-of-school activities
These matter just as much as school activities, sometimes more.
Consider: jobs; volunteering; family responsibilities; hobbies; language schools, cultural programs, lessons, teams; religious organizations.
Don’t filter yourself. If you spend six hours a week taking care of a sibling, that belongs here. If you taught yourself Photoshop or took an online class, that belongs too.
Standardized tests
Keep track of scores that may be important to an application. SAT and ACT if you have them, but also remember PSAT and pre-ACT scores if you have them. Include AP scores, language proficiency tests, or any other score from any other major test outside of classes. Write down where you can find the official results for when you need them.
Challenges, victories, changes, realizations
This is the most important section and the one students skip the most often. Write out sentences—not cryptic notes that will be indecipherable later—that describe obstacles you faced, skills you built, confidence you gained, times you changed your mind, surprising successes, and missteps that taught you something. These entries will become super valuable later when you’re writing application essays, supplements, and reflection pieces. They capture your voice and your feelings in the moment—something impossible to reconstruct years later.
A Few Rules for Keeping This Document
Update it every semester. Put a reminder in your phone. Treat it like a habit.
Don’t delete anything yet. Only remove something if it’s factually incorrect. Everything else stays. Your future self can decide what’s important.
Don’t worry about formatting. This is not a finished résumé. This is raw material.
Keep it somewhere safe and accessible. You need to be able to add to it many more times, and you don’t want to start again every time.
Why This Will Help You Later
You may never hand someone this draft document, but the information inside it will help you everywhere.
It makes building an actual résumé in 12th grade really easy. It will just be a matter of editing and formatting
It gives your recommenders accurate, detailed information if they ask for it.
It makes the college application activity list much faster and more complete.
It gives you real, honest material for personal essays.
It becomes a record of your growth in your own words, something a transcript won’t show.
Most importantly: this will not be a waste of time as long as you keep it up. Future you will have richer stories, clearer memories, and far less stress because you started documenting your high school life now.
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