Hello! I am finalizing the materials for my law school apps right now and for the most part I feel confident that I am presenting a strong profile that's representative of who I actually am. One thing that I am unsure about though is the interest section of the resume. I have exactly one page-long resume (literally to the last line) and that includes two universities, four or five extracurriculars and my recent work experience.
Is adding another page or potentially cutting an internship worth it for my interest section? For reference I think I have relatively common interests, like motorsports (F1, Indy Car, Moto GP), scrapbooking, yoga, watching WNBA, baking, and tennis.
I would love some advice! Thank you!
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For what it’s worth I think those are intriguing interests especially as a collection!
Nope! It's not required. However, I'd offer two things from the admissions standpoint:
1) It's ok to go onto the second page of a resume if it's necessary. It really is! So if you cut a lot and did a lot of formatting shenanigans to get it down to one page, you can bring some of that cut material back in, add Interests, and go something like 1.25 pages.
2) The biggest complaint I hear from applicants every year is that they feel like this is a two dimensional process based purely on stats. My response to that is "Well, I can only treat you like a bunch of stats if you never tell me anything about yourself." You need three lines of text to do an Interests section. I'd look long and hard at my bullet points for various matters and ask if each and every one is truly necessary.
I hope that helps!
Honestly if you can find a way to squeeze that in do it, I find it the most fun part of the resume!
I’m sure you did a great job cutting it down, especially given your vast background, but maybe double check if say this internship needs 2 lines or if this extracurricular needs two lines.
I think it might depend on the school; for example, Dean Z has said often that she really likes to see interests sections, so if you're applying to Michigan it could be a good idea to add one. I wouldn't necessarily advice cutting an internship to fit it in, but I think there's no harm in having a 2-page resume (though I get that it's annoying if you have it at exactly 1 page right now). Just something to consider!
I think it humanizes the app and I heard that some interviewers like to bring it up as a topic of discussion. However, I wouldn't cut a significant experience to add that in.
Just a general question but does it have to be 1 page? I thought it could be 2 pages.
@DaisukeKaga no it can be 2 mine is