Resume Question (Berkeley MPP)

[makingtheleap.back]

In the GSPP admissions blog, they said this about resumes: 

 "Is there a page limit on the Resume/CV?

We do not have a page limit, but most tend to be between two to five pages in length. We advise students to be detailed and expansive."

They also said, however, the average accepted applicant has around 4 years work experience, and that many have at least 3. So how are people stretching their resumes to 4-5 pages? What do you think they mean by detailed and expansive? In every other world, being concise on a resume is a feature, not a bug. Do you think this is clearly not the case here? Are they including a cover letter in the length? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. 

 

[qt_dnvr]

UChicago SSA asks for a "Comprehensive Resume." I believe this is similar in that you are stating basically everything you have done- all the internships, volunteer positions, etc. Multiple bulletpoints getting all your brag points. I thought of mine as almost a miscellaneous section to my application. 

[makingtheleap.back]

Thanks. It feels ridiculous, and I still don't think I'll state anything pre-undergrad. Do you think strategically leaving certain jobs/activities out to ensure everything is credible/relevant (and not to dilute the rest of the presentation) is a valid approach?

[qt_dnvr]

Definitely! I have no food service or retail on my "comprehensive resume" I had enough weird "helping professions" / activism experience to flush it all out. I was in undergrad from 2008-2014 and My resume goes all the way back to 2009. Not all those lines got 2 bullet points, some got three.