Fall 2012 Applicants: did you list any undergraduate/graduate service/leadership involvement on your CV?

[JeremiahParadise]

Us undergrad overachievers want to know! Is it inappropriate? Is it helpful? Do adcoms care? Did they care/comment on it for you? I have enough from my MA (conferences, teaching, etc) to fill out a solid CV without this UG stuff, but I'm wondering if including it will help to round me out in top programs' eyes. I promise I'm not just looking for filler. Thoughts?

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

My CV was, quite literally, empty. I have loads of unrelated "extracurricular"/leadership/service type things that I could have included, but given that in my mind it has no bearing on my academic merit, I chose not to include it.

I still did fine.

Conversely, I know people with equal amounts of unrelated activities who disagreed about its relevance to their application and therefore chose to include all of it on their CVs.

They also did fine.

I applied with only a BA, so maybe that factors in, but long story short, if you think it will help you, include it; if you think it might not, leave it out. My instinct is that its unnecessary and will look like filler (even if its not), especially since you have MA things to include......but it's your call. I imagine you can find many examples of success for both sides of this issue.

Good luck!

[mandabeth]

I did. Not everything, but a lot of my work revolves around leadership (fairly big role on student government, freshmen RA, etc.) It wasn't a filler, and I think it gives a bigger picture of what I do. I listed it the same way I listed non-academic jobs, and I do think it has bearing on my undergrad career, since it shows I can balance working 20+ hours a week and classes.

Of course, every situation is different, and academic things should definitely come first.

[user_name]

Some, but it was all unrelated to English. Don't know how much it helped.

[anxious_aspirant]

I listed academic-type things, not extracurriculars - much that was "extracurricular" for me was employment-based anyway, so it showed elsewhere on the CV. I put things like scholarships, honors societies, various titles my school bestowed for whatever reason, but all are related to academics. Though I wasn't too worried about leadership as someone with teaching experience and a grad degree in education - so if you want to show leadership in anticipation of TA funding, I'd imagine it would help to include some info - esp. tutoring or being an undergrad TA. Though I'd say to tailor it down to what's relevant to your school/program/app. Jeremiah - sounds like your grad accomplishments cover those bases.

[psychgurl]

I did a small "leadership & involvement" section in my CV...it only contained the highlights. It can't hurt to include those things (just not excessively) to show you're a well-rounded applicant. I don't think this is a super-important criteria in their decisions, but I don't think it could hurt!

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

I listed things that were academic, like a live-in tutoring position in the dorms and my experience with an academic undergraduate research journal. However, I gave my CV to my LOR writers with everything I had done on it, include my shitty, part time jobs. I know one of my LOR writers used some of the information I didn't end up sending schools in his letter, and it made me sound like the academic, multitasking BAMF I only imagine myself to be.

[Stately Plump]

I listed both academic and non-academic type stuff. I had a section for volunteer work, I think (though maybe it was work/volunteer work, I can't remember now). My advisor told me it couldn't hurt, so I threw it in there.

My CV was mostly academic stuff, though.

[Historiogaffe]

If you're unsure, it's better to leave them off than put them on. (C.f. Regina Spektor's "You can write but you can't edit" line — applicable to grad school, and as much to grad CVs as to papers. Thanks, Reg!)

My own experience: I didn't apply to PhD programs this time around, but I did get into my top choice. The school's CV form had a (quite small) space for relevant work experience; I ended up deciding not to include a research assistantship because it's more or less irrelevant to what I want to study. Another program doesn't accept CVs at all.

[cquin]

Academic stuff only. Teaching positions I held in undergrad, academic awards, scholarships, etc.

[Jbarks]

Academic awards, scholarships, academic organizations and memberships. I also included my work history-- current job (unrelated to English and academics) and past tutoring jobs. I didn't have any formal classroom teaching experience.

[TripWillis]

I say do it. Why not? Structure your CV in a way that puts the most important details first (education, teaching experience, student English organizations, conference experience, publication) and then put that stuff later down the page. The CV is essentially a 2 page supplemental document for all the really important stuff anyway, so I can't imagine they expect to find anything on it that they consider integral to your application. Might as well just give them as much as you possibly can. Like I said though, frontload it. You'll want tiebreakers in case it's between you and someone else who is equally matched in your field of interest.

[coffeeplease]

I say do it. Why not? Structure your CV in a way that puts the most important details first (education, teaching experience, student English organizations, conference experience, publication) and then put that stuff later down the page. The CV is essentially a 2 page supplemental document for all the really important stuff anyway, so I can't imagine they expect to find anything on it that they consider integral to your application. Might as well just give them as much as you possibly can. Like I said though, frontload it. You'll want tiebreakers in case it's between you and someone else who is equally matched in your field of interest.

This. It's a chance to mention all the things that didn't fit/weren't relevant to your SOP.

I had a section called "teaching experience" -- everything educational or in some way related -- and "relevant experience," where I put a few key volunteer and leadership experiences.

In retrospect, I wish I'd taken Trip's advice and "front loaded" it. I have half a page of academic awards and honors, and they are on the second page. That probably wasn't smart, but I doubt it made or broke my application.

[TripWillis]

This. It's a chance to mention all the things that didn't fit/weren't relevant to your SOP.

I had a section called "teaching experience" -- everything educational or in some way related -- and "relevant experience," where I put a few key volunteer and leadership experiences.

In retrospect, I wish I'd taken Trip's advice and "front loaded" it. I have half a page of academic awards and honors, and they are on the second page. That probably wasn't smart, but I doubt it made or broke my application.

I am almost certain that my teaching experience broke at least one tie. I think especially with a program that's as pedagogy focused as Amherst is, teaching experience got me in. Maybe the same with CUNY, since their TA load is so high -- I imagine they want students that they think can thrive under that sort of constraint.

[murkyama]

Us undergrad overachievers want to know! Is it inappropriate? Is it helpful? Do adcoms care? Did they care/comment on it for you? I have enough from my MA (conferences, teaching, etc) to fill out a solid CV without this UG stuff, but I'm wondering if including it will help to round me out in top programs' eyes. I promise I'm not just looking for filler. Thoughts?

I would put everything applicable that concerns academics: research activity, teaching, service on the CV. You might also have different CVs. For example, if you are applying to a RU/VH or RU/H institution, you might tailor your CV with research activity appearing first and teaching experience appearing second. If you are applying to comprehensive or liberal arts colleges you might tailor your CV with teaching experience occurring first in the CV and research activity appearing afterward. While the CV is a very small part of your application packet, I think listing every possible academic activity to give you a competitive edge over other applicants is a wise endeavor to engage yourself with.

[coffeeplease]

I am almost certain that my teaching experience broke at least one tie. I think especially with a program that's as pedagogy focused as Amherst is, teaching experience got me in. Maybe the same with CUNY, since their TA load is so high -- I imagine they want students that they think can thrive under that sort of constraint.

That was my logic in ordering things the way I did, but like I said, I have no idea if it made any sort of difference.

This thread has inspired me to gut my CV....wherever I land, I'm going to get my butt to their professional development office and get this stuff in order.