A grad school resume should be included in your graduate school application to give admissions committees a better idea of your qualifications.
In addition to the grad school resume writing resources on this page, we have other resources to help you build a competitive resume for a grad school application here:
- How to Start A Resume
- How to Write a Resume
- Recent College Graduate Resume
- College Student Resume Example
- Recent Graduate Cover Letter
- Internship Resume Example
- MBA Resume Example
- How to List a Sorority or Fraternity on Your Resume
- How to List a Degree on a Resume
- Scholarship Resume
- Student CV Examples
How to write a resume for graduate school
Grad school resumes should focus on your education (relevant coursework, honors, awards, and accomplishments), internship/volunteer experience, and your skills relevant to the program you’re applying to.
Follow these tips to help you write a strong graduate school resume:
Write a resume objective for graduate school
A strong resume introduction will help you capture the interest of admissions committees and convince them that you’re the right candidate for their program. While there are several different types of introductions, a resume objective is the ideal choice for grad school applicants because you can use it to directly target a university’s hiring committee.
Resume objectives inform committee members about your achievements and goals without focusing heavily on your work history or specific skills (which you might be lacking at this point).
A graduate school resume objective is usually two or three sentences long, and should highlight your:
- undergraduate degree and grades
- provable hard and soft skills
- relevant internship/volunteer experience
- name of the program and university where you’re seeking admission
Here’s an example of a well-written graduate school resume objective:
Undergraduate Economics student (3.8 GPA) with proven leadership and research skills. Six months of international internship experience with the UNHCR. Seeking admission into New York University’s Master’s program in Economics with a specialization in Development Economics.
Write a detailed education section
Your resume education section is one of the most important parts of a graduate school application because it gives hiring committees an overview of your educational achievements and background.
To put together an impressive education section, include the following information about your qualifications:
- Name of university or college
- College location (city, state)
- Graduation date (month and year)
- Degree(s) (including minors)
- GPA on your resume
- Awards or honors (such as magna cum laude on your resume)
Additionally, mention the Dean’s list on your resume if you made it more than twice or if you attended a particularly prestigious university (such as Yale or Stanford).
Here’s an example of a well-written education section for a graduate school resume:
Education
UCLA—Los Angeles, CA
Bachelor of Science: Major in Physics, Minors in Chemistry and Biology
Graduation Year: June 2020
GPA 3.7/4, Dean’s list for 6 semesters
Honors: Magna cum laude
Swap work experience with relevant coursework, internships, and volunteer experience
Your experience section is where you should highlight any important accomplishments on your resume.
If you’re like most graduate school applicants, you probably don’t have much formal work experience to list. In this case, your experience section should highlight any relevant achievements that demonstrate you’re a great fit for the program. This includes:
- The relevant coursework you finished during college
- Your internship experience(s)
- Volunteer work or extracurriculars
- Part-time or on-campus jobs
- Relevant study abroad experience
While applying to grad schools, make sure you only list coursework that qualifies you for the program you’re applying to. If your coursework isn’t relevant to the program, leave it off your resume.
Below is an example of how to list relevant coursework on your resume for graduate school:
Relevant Coursework on a Grad School Resume
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, 2020
Relevant Coursework:
- Social Psychology
- Multicultural Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Adult Development and Aging
- Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
Here’s an example of what internship experience on a resume looks like in a relevant experience section:
Internship Experience on a Grad School Resume
Material Express
Risk Management Intern (Airline) / New York / June 2018-May 2019
- Built a database of airline frequent flyer program features for a major US carrier.
- Conducted primary research with seven important industry stakeholders about factors affecting airline profitability.
- Developed financial models along with three other employees for a start-up in the aviation sector.
- Created a cost-benefit analysis model to analyze the feasibility of building airport lounges.
Volunteer experience demonstrates your commitment to serve society and highlights some of the skills you possess.
Below is an example of how someone with strong volunteer experience lists it on their resume for grad school:
Volunteer Work on a Grad School Resume
ABC Retirement Home
Volunteer Elder Care Worker / California / June 2018-July 2019
- Served food during meal times in a systematic way by coordinating with other volunteer eldercare workers.
- Assisted two elder residents with eating their lunches.
- Played the guitar, read stories, and took walks in the garden with residents to keep them entertained.
- Drove five retirees to their churches every Sunday.
- Organized bi-weekly Bingo sessions and monthly singing and dancing parties.
The Humane Society of the United States
Volunteer Worker / California / September 2017-May 2018
- Assisted in the KLM dog shelter with the feeding, cleaning cages, and walking of ten dogs.
- Rescued five dogs from illegal breeders.
- Awarded licensing as a veterinary technician and assisted the in-house vet with basic medical care.
- Kept careful records of the dogs in the shelter.
Highlight skills you learned as an undergraduate
You don’t need formal work experience to show admissions committees you have a strong set of skills. Use your resume skills section to highlight the hard and soft skills you acquired as an undergrad that seem applicable to graduate school.
Through your coursework, part-time work, and extracurricular activities, you’ve likely acquired a variety of transferable skills, such as:
Hard Skills
- Computer programming languages
- Translation
- Proficiency in one or more foreign language(s)
- Photo Editing
- Writing and editing
- Research
Soft Skills
- Stress management
- Critical thinking
- Communication skills
- Efficient time management
- Leadership
- Public speaking
Graduate programs highly value candidates with a strong set of soft skills and technical skills, as these candidates are more likely to have the tools needed to succeed in a variety of environments and industries.
Graduate school resume template
Here’s a graduate school resume template that you can paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs and fill out. It includes an outline for each section of your resume, and what information you should list.
1. Resume Heading
FIRST AND LAST NAME
Email: youremail@gmail.com | Phone: 895 555 555 | Address: 4397 Aaron Smith Drive Harrisburg, PA 17101 | Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile
2. Resume Introduction
Undergraduate [field of study] student (current GPA) with competencies in [relevant hard or soft skills]. A [positive personality trait] scholar seeking admission into [university name]’s Master’s program in [program name].
3. Education
Degree Name / Major
University, Location | Start Date – End Date
Relevant Coursework: You can list your relevant areas of study, either in paragraph or bullet format
Honors: If you graduated with honors (i.e. summa cum laude), list it here
4. Relevant Experience
Most Recent Title or Project Name
Employer or School Name / Location / Start Date – End Date
- Include a bulleted list of your accomplishments (this can include coursework)
- Make sure you quantify (add numbers to) these bullet points
Most Recent Title or Project Name
Employer or School Name / Location / Start Date – End Date
- List key accomplishments from an earlier position, internship, or project
- Assuming you no longer actively perform this job or project, make sure you use past tense verbs to describe your experience
5. Skills
Highlight your relevant professional skills. If you don’t know what the hiring manager is looking for, try reading through the job requirements and pairing your own abilities with ones in the description.
6. Additional Resume Section
Here’s where you can add any other information relevant to your background.
This section could highlight publications, languages, volunteer experience, community service, professional associations you belong to, or any training or certifications.
Grad school resume examples
To help you construct a great grad school resume, here are two graduate school resume examples to take inspiration from.
Graduate school resume example (current undergrad)
Here’s an example of a grad school resume example written by a current undergraduate:
Sample resume for graduate school application (text version)
RESUME OBJECTIVE
Undergraduate Political Science student (3.8 GPA) with competencies in polling research and data analysis. A detail-oriented scholar seeking admission into Yale University’s Master’s program in Political Science.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts In Political Science / GPA: 3.8
New York University, New York City, Expected Graduation: May 2021
Relevant Coursework: International Politics, Economics, Public Polling, Data Analysis, Electoral Process
HONORS
- Magna cum laude
- Dean’s List at NYU (Last 3 Semesters)
- Tau Sigma Honors Society
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
THE ELECTION PROCESS AND PUBLIC OPINION
Seminar, NYU / October 2019 – May 2020
- Developed a thesis proposal for a statewide public opinion poll on tort reform.
- Awarded a $1,000 grant to expand and execute my polling research.
- Formulated a series of 10 questions designed to reduce bias.
- Polled over 1,000 New York residents, reaching the threshold for statistical significance.
- Organized the resulting data and presented my findings to the NYU Political Science department.
VOLUNTEER
Tom Suozzi for Congress, New York, NY / May 2018 – November 2018
- Made and distributed campaign materials to supporters.
- Helped lead get out the vote efforts in local neighborhoods, knocking on over 800 doors.
- Wrote scripts for other campaign volunteers to follow when phone banking.
- Excelled in a fast-paced, demanding environment.
ADDITIONAL SKILLS
Problem Solving, Adaptability, Collaboration, Time Management, Critical Thinking, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership
Graduate school resume example (recent graduate)
Here’s an example of a graduate school resume example written by a recent college grad:
Grad school resume example (text version)
Summary
Recent Economics graduate with excellent educational credentials and progressive experience in data analytics and reporting. Aspiring to pursue a Master’s degree in Finance from a renowned institution to expand knowledge in quantitative finance, investments, financial markets, financial reporting, and analysis.
Education
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, San Francisco, CA
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, May 2020
Honors: cum laude (GPA: 3.7/4.0)
Coursework: Introduction to Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Analysis, Intermediate Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Theory, Calculus, Mathematics, Quantitative Reasoning
Awards and Honors
President’s List, 2020 | Dean’s List for 4 semesters | Pathways Scholarship Recipient, 2018
Skills
Leadership | Analytical Problem Solving | Research & Analysis | Data Gathering | Forecasting
Public Speaking | Communication | Report Writing | MS Office Suite
Experience
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, San Francisco, CA
Intern Analyst, May 2020–Oct 2020
- Evaluated and organized 1995-2019 US personal income data by gender, race, education, and prognosis 2020-2040 gender income gap trend
- Worked closely with the professor and 4+ team members to develop a detailed gender income gap report of gender inequality studies
- Conducted detailed research to identify trends and formulate forecast models
- Maintained 100% accuracy in analyzing large economic and statistical data to derive results and achieve desired outcomes
POP WARNER FOOTBALL & CHEER, San Clemente, CA
Volunteer, March 2018–November 2018
- Managed youth football programs in the country with 400+ annual participants, $300k annual budget, and 8+ direct reports
- Represented the organization at local, regional, and national level
- Employed best practices to handle all aspects of discipline, as well as all marketing, financial and special event functions