Grad School Resume: Examples & How to Write

A grad school resume should be included in your master’s degree application to give the university’s admissions committee a complete picture of your qualifications.

However, a graduate school resume will differ from a traditional resume. You’ll still have the same resume parts, but you’ll need to focus on your educational accomplishments rather than your work experience.

To get you started, we have two graduate school resume examples, four writing tips on how to write a resume for grad school, and a template:

Grad school resume examples

First, to help you construct a great grad school application, 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:

Download This Grad School Resume Sample

Graduate school resume example (recent graduate)

Here’s an example of a student resume example written by a recent college grad:

Download This Grad School Resume Example

How to write a resume for graduate school

Now that you’ve seen some grad school resume examples, here are four writing tips to help you write a strong resume for your graduate school application:

Craft a resume objective for graduate school

A strong resume introduction will capture the interest of admissions committees and convince them you’re the right candidate for their master’s program. 

While there are several types of resume introductions, a resume objective is an ideal choice for grad school applicants because you can use it to target a university’s admissions department directly.

Your resume objective should be two or three sentences long and inform committee members about your educational achievements and goals without focusing heavily on your formal work experience).

A graduate school resume objective should also highlight your:

• • Undergraduate degree and grades
  • Relevant internship/volunteer experience
  • Provable skills
  • University and program name you’re applying to

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.

Include a detailed education section 

Your resume education section is the most important part of a graduate school application because it gives a complete overview of your educational achievements and background.

To make an impressive education section, include the following seven pieces of information about your previous degrees and qualifications:

• Name of university or college
• College location (city, state)
• Graduation date (month and year)
• Degree(s) (including minors)
• Relevant coursework
• GPA (such as cum laude)
• Awards or honors

Regarding your relevant coursework, only list classes that qualify you for your master’s program. For example, if you’re applying to a computer science program, list your computer science coursework.

Additionally, it’s great to mention the Dean’s list on your resume if you made it at least twice or attended a prestigious university (such as Yale or Stanford).

Here’s an example of a complete, well-written education section for a graduate school resume:

Include internship, volunteer, teaching, and work experience

Your grad school resume’s work experience section is where you should highlight any significant career accomplishments you have thus far. 

Most graduate school applicants don’t have much formal work experience to list. In this case, your experience section should highlight any relevant work-related qualifications that demonstrate you’re a great fit for the program, such as:

• Internship experience(s)
• Volunteer work
• Extracurricular activities (such as on-campus jobs)
• Teaching experience (TA)
• Relevant study abroad experience

Internship and volunteer experience are great ways for students to supplement formal work experience on their grad school resume. 

Having internship experience shows you we’re proactive at university in finding a position that would give you relevant experience, and that you’re responsible enough to work while also attending class (which shows good time management skills).  

Here’s an example of how to include internship experience on your grad school resume:

On the other hand, volunteer experience demonstrates your commitment to serving society and can help you highlight some of your skills.

Here’s an example of how to list volunteer experience on your resume for grad school:

Highlight skills you learned as an undergraduate

Your graduate school resume skills section should highlight the hard and soft skills you acquired as an undergrad that apply to your master’s program.

Remember, you don’t always need formal work experience to acquire strong skills. Through your coursework, extracurricular activities, and volunteer and internship experience, you’ve likely developed various transferable skills you can list, like analytical skills.

Here’s an example of a graduate school resume’s skill section:

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

Now that you’ve learned how to write a resume for graduate school, getting your resume format correct is essential to submit a competitive application when applying to your master’s degree program. 

Here’s a graduate school resume template you can copy and paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs and fill out yourself: 

Additional resources

Finally, in addition to the grad school resume writing resources on this page, here are some other resources to help you write a competitive resume for your grad school application: