not including a CV will hurt the chance of admission?

[paulking]

hello everyone,

I don't have many important experiencs to list in CV. I have described the most important experiences in SOP. So I think provide a CV will not help me. None of the schools I apply to require CV, so do you think not providing CV will hurt my chance of being admited even they don't require it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[theregalrenegade]

If the schools don't ask for one I wouldn't worry about it. Some POIs ask to see it informally to get an idea of your experience and background. But why include something in your application that is not required? Especially if all the relevant information is in your SOP already.

[paulking]

If the schools don't ask for one I wouldn't worry about it. Some POIs ask to see it informally to get an idea of your experience and background. But why include something in your application that is not required? Especially if all the relevant information is in your SOP already.

 

Thanks for your advice. Maybe I should prepare a CV but not submit it to the school.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

I think you should include one. Profs hate reading sops. A cv is an abridged sop and is much less painful to read. I think that not including your cv will hurt your application.

[Usmivka]

Agreed. Often it is the admissions committees reading an SOP, not necessarily the individual prof considering you as a student. A CV is the easiest way for them to decide if you are worth paying attention to, and then maybe reading your SOP. CVs may not be required, but I'm pretty surethe places you apply will not deny you the opportunity to submit one, and you should.

[bamafan]

I kind of disagree. If you feel the CV doesn't provide much compared to what's already in your SOP, isn't it rather redundant? I would submit it only if it showed a lot of important stuff that wasn't in your SOP.

 

Additionally, to be safe, you can always check the school's stance on supplementary materials. I know that a number of schools I applied to said explicitly NOT to send them anything they didn't ask for, and Berkeley in particular put in all caps and bold, "DO NOT SEND YOUR CV."

[paulking]

Most schools I apply to do not emphasize not to send them additional materials. But if a CV is what professors like to read and is so important, why every school require a SOP but few schools require CV?

[renwod90]

To me, it's better to have a cv/resume than to not, and it's better to not have one than to have one that lists irrelevant experiences (dog walker 2007-2008).

[bamafan]

To me, it's better to have a cv/resume than to not, and it's better to not have one than to have one that lists irrelevant experiences (dog walker 2007-2008).

 

Well, that's not really a CV anymore. While a resumé may list work experiences, a CV is purely academic in nature.

[la sarar]

I think CVs and SOPs serve different purposes. For example, you will probably not include future plans in you CV, and in the SOP you would not want to mention everything that would appear on a CV, such as a small research project you did in the 2nd year of college. But you never whether it will attract some attention from the committee. So I think it is very helpful to have one and it's the professors' choice whether to read it or not. In any case, I've been told that they start with recommendations...