These days, college admissions officers don’t just look at GPAs. They also care about how students spend their free time. In such a competitive environment, it only makes sense that leveraging your additional freedom over summer — when others are sleeping in — can give you a unique advantage in college admissions.
But how exactly do those summer experiences come into play?
Sometimes, it all comes down to the college resume. Whether you spent these warmer weeks interning at a startup, volunteering in your community, taking online courses, or even babysitting siblings, these summer experiences can add real value to your application — if you know how to present them.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to turn summer jobs, internships, or even backyard projects into standout material for your college resume. You’ve already done the hard part! Now, we’ll review how to turn these sunny-day efforts into a compelling, well-organized story that highlights your skills, initiative, and potential in the best possible light.
Before and during summer: capture your experience
To craft an effective resume later, you first need to document the summer experience while it’s happening. The goal? Keep detailed, organized notes so that when it’s time to write your resume or application essays, you aren’t digging through half-remembered emails or trying to recall the names of people you met months ago.
If you have the chance to start on the right foot, this is what you should do.
1. Write down the details before you start
So, you figured out your summer plans? Congratulations! Once you’ve gotten your confirmation email and fully enrolled or registered, it’s time to roll up your sleeves. Kick things off on the right foot by documenting what you already know about the experience, as well as any initial questions.
At the very least, jot down:
- The name of the organization or program you’re attending
- Why you chose this particular opportunity
- What the application process was like
- What qualifications were required to participate
- Your position or role
- Areas of curiosity about the topic or program
- What you’re hoping to learn
For example, if you’re attending a summer engineering camp, note not only the school and professor names, but also your initial interests — maybe you’re curious about sustainability or drone technology. These reflections can help you connect the experience to your long-term goals later in your application.
2. Keep notes throughout the experience
Once you have the basics down, keep updating these notes throughout the entire process. In addition to recording the basic details of your participation, go beyond the academic syllabus and include your observations and ideas for a richer perspective on your mindset at the time.
Important details you’ll want to keep on record include:
- The dates and hours of your work
- The names of colleagues, mentors, supervisors, and/or team members
- Locations and tools (labs, platforms, software) you used
- New skills you developed
- Projects or outcomes you contributed to or led
If you faced challenges or had breakthroughs, write those down, too.
For example, if you struggled with public speaking during a leadership seminar but gave a presentation by the end, that shows awesome growth! Or, if you struggled with data analysis at first, write about how you shadowed your mentor and found video tutorials until you were able to build a working model in Python. These kinds of moments will help you write impactful bullet points for your resume later.
3. Journal and reflect regularly
If you can, go beyond the logistics and tasks and take some time to reflect.
Ask yourself:
- What parts of the work are challenging to you?
- What comes naturally to you?
- How do you solve problems?
- What do you enjoy (or not)?
- What surprises you?
- What would you do differently next time?
Maybe you felt nervous at first, but became more confident over time. Maybe you recall a conversation when a mentor said something that stuck with you. These kinds of personal insights can help you craft a more authentic college essay and tell a cohesive story throughout your application.
4. Start an official activity log
Designate a folder — digital or physical — where you can save everything related to your activities during high school together.
To start your file, include:
- Your notes
- Screenshots or photos of your projects
- Letters or certificates
- Emails confirming your participation
- Anything that demonstrates impact or recognition
- Awards or other distinctions
If you want to go above and beyond, consider using a chart or resume-building platform to keep things structured. You can include columns for the activity name, description, dates, hours, and impact for each activity for easy reference.
5. Optional: request recommendations
If your summer experience involves a supervisor or mentor who got to know your work ethic well, consider asking them for a recommendation letter while the experience is still fresh in their mind. This is especially powerful if you’re applying to a program or college that values character and initiative. When corresponding, always be polite and professional.
Looking for a student perspective? This interview with Empowerly students explains the power of a truly meaningful summer activity, and how to get started:
After summer: turn notes into a stellar resume
Once summer ends and you’ve captured your notes, it’s time to build (or update) your resume. This is your chance to translate your work into a polished format that clearly communicates your skills and contributions. Easier said than done?
Here’s how to do it right, with tips from the pros.
1. Inventory your summer experiences
First, you’re going to need the list. If you don’t have one already (or are starting the process late), it’s time to sit down and write it all out. Give yourself some time to make a full list of the following:
- Internships (paid or unpaid)
- Part-time jobs
- Research projects
- Online courses
- Volunteer experiences
- Personal or passion projects (apps, blogs, business ventures)
- Family responsibilities with consistent effort
Don’t overlook experiences that may seem informal but show real skills. Caring for younger siblings, running a community garden, or tutoring a neighbor in math all demonstrate leadership and responsibility.
2. Identify and label key skills
For each experience, consider the skills you gained. This list should include both hard skills, like coding or specific software proficiency, and soft skills, like communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and time management.
When possible, focus on accomplishments rather than just responsibilities. How did you impact the world around you? As you write, quantify your achievements whenever possible using numbers or percentages to showcase the depth of your impact.
Struggling to put it on the page? For internships and work experience, use action verbs like “managed,” “organized,” “developed,” or “contributed” at the beginning of each bullet point describing your responsibilities and accomplishments. If you’re still participating in an activity, use present tense verbs; otherwise, use past tense verbs.
3. Structure your resume like a pro
Now let’s talk formatting. It’s best to use a clear and concise layout, aiming for one page if possible. (You only need more than one page if you have extensive experience, and in high school, that’s probably not going to apply to you yet.)
Here’s a solid structure to tick off:
- Start with a header that includes your contact information.
- Create sections to divide the experiences by category — like Education, Work Experience (or “Professional Experience” to encompass internships, paid and unpaid work), Extracurricular Activities, Skills, and Awards/Honors.
- List experiences within each section in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent activities.
- Under each experience, include:
- Organization name, location, your title/role, and dates of involvement.
- 3-5 bullet points describing your responsibilities and accomplishments, using action verbs and quantifying achievements whenever possible.
Looking for more specific resume advice? Watch this walkthrough of how to format the nitty-gritty details of the college resume:
4. Tailor your resume to each application
Customize your resume to align with what each college or program values.
To be successful at this, research:
- Mission statements
- Application prompts
- Program requirements
Once you have a better idea of this information, you can adjust the wording and highlight experiences and skills that are most relevant to the particular opportunity. If you have a plethora of summer experiences, focus on the most impactful ones and those that demonstrate the skills most desired for the specific application.
You don’t need a completely different resume for every school, but just like college essays, small tweaks can make a big difference.
5. Proofread and polish
Your resume should ideally be error-free, polished, and easy to read.
Before submitting, give it a final pass for these points:
- Readable font (like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman) and bullet points.
- Professional design, and avoid excessive colors or graphics unless requested.
- No spelling or grammatical errors.
- Read aloud to catch awkward phrasing.
Still unsure? Consider asking a teacher, guidance counselor, parent, or trusted friend to review your resume and offer feedback. If you don’t have a trusted essay editor in your circle, you can test tools like Grammarly or Hemingway for extra backup.
Go beyond the basics: tell a bigger story
A great resume doesn’t just list activities — it tells a compelling story about who you are, what you value, and where you’re going. If you want to truly stand out, dig deeper.
Focus on your “why”
If possible, use your activity titles and descriptions (anywhere you write about the activity) to convey these themes:
- Why did I choose this summer activity?
- How does it relate to my interests or future goals?
- What did I learn about myself through this experience?
Connecting your summer work to a larger academic or personal interest can make a stronger impression on the reader.
Demonstrate growth and impact
Rather than just stating that you were there, use the space to highlight how you grew or contributed. If your summer work had a ripple effect on your community or peers, mention that too. Colleges love applicants who make an impact in the world.
Link it all together
The goal is to use your resume to complement the rest of your application. How does that happen?
Once your resume is polished, you can adapt this content into your college applications. The Common App, for instance, allows you to input up to 10 activities with short descriptions. Having a well-organized resume makes it much easier to fill out.
When you put the whole application together, you want your resume profile to:
- Reinforce themes from your personal statement
- Provide context for activities mentioned in short answers
- Support your academic interests with real-world experience
All this contributes to a memorable student profile that admissions officers want to admit.
Final thoughts: don’t let your summer go to waste
Your summer experience is more than a line on your calendar — it’s an important beat in your unique story arc so far. With the right planning, reflection, and careful presentation, even seemingly small efforts can become powerful proof of your drive and potential. Whether you spend your time in a lab, a local shelter, or your own backyard launching a blog, you have something valuable to share.
Need help turning your summer story into a college-ready resume?
Whether you’re unsure which summer experience to highlight or need help polishing your resume to perfection, Empowerly’s team of admissions experts is here to help. Book a consultation today to start building your strongest application.
