What is a Brag Sheet?
A brag sheet is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an opportunity for a student to brag about
his/her accomplishments thus far, like a casual resume or CV but a detailed one could be of 3-4
pages.
The bragsheet document not only solves the purpose of CV preparation but also helps in
analyzing the profile progress of a student. This document serves to both admission as well as
the writing department therefore it has to be comprehensive enough to cater the requirements
of university applications and its essay guidelines.
Teachers and counselors writing recommendations often ask for brag sheets from the student
so they have a better idea of what to include, like interests and accomplishments.
In the case of the school counselor, who you might not have spent much time with, and who
could be writing 100+ recommendations, a brag sheet will also remind them of who you are
and help them craft a strong letter.
Letters of recommendation are more important than many students expect. Every university
weighs different parts of the application differently, but generally, you can expect a breakdown
of 35% academics (test scores and GPA), 30% extracurriculars, 25% essays, and the last 10% to
comprise recommendations, interviews, and miscellaneous factors.
When to get Brag Sheet Ready?
The best time to start preparing the bragsheet is during the month of October- November of
11th grade and have the intial draft of the bragsheet ready by the month of March and the final
bragsheet document by the month of June, so preparing well before hand will help you beat
the rush.
If you prepare your brag sheet in spring, make sure to include any summer plans or confirmed
fall roles (for instance, if you have applied for a summer program or internship) so their
recommendation isn’t already outdated when you return in the fall.
Otherwise, try to prepare your brag sheet before school starts in the month of July. Once the
semester starts, students will be plenty busy with the rest of their university finalisations with
their admission counselor and school exams on top of their usual commitments. Having it out
of the way early on means you’ll have less to worry about.
The brag sheet offers you a chance to shine beyond academics – especially if your GPA or test
scores aren’t quite as high as you’d like. Take the opportunity to show off your individuality and
highlight your personal attributes, which more than make up for a score, because that’s what
makes you unique.
Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs for readability, making sure that whoever reads
your sheet can easily scan and still get the main points.
What should be included in the brag-sheet:
Your grade point average (GPA) and any test scores (such as the PSAT, SAT and ACT) but
your brag sheet will also include many other highlights of your high school career as
well.
At the top of your brag sheet, include your name, address and contact information.
Additionally, some brag sheets include a question and answer format, which is your
option.
Starting from ninth grade, include all of your experiences like any extracurricular
activity, sport, club, travel time, volunteer service, as well as any awards, leadership
positions, etc.
You will have to determine what the best option for your application situation. Some
example questions include:
Background and Goals
o What would you consider to be your most outstanding accomplishment thus far,
academic and personal?
o Talk about an event or happening in your life that had a significant impact on
you. How did it affect your life, both personally and academically?
o Describe yourself using only five positive adjectives.
o What do you consider your three greatest academic strengths and weaknesses?
Please briefly explain your answers.
o What do you consider your three greatest personal strengths and weaknesses?
Please briefly explain your answers.
o Are there any factors or circumstances in your life related to your grades or
admission test scores that you would like colleges to be aware of?
Activities Specific:
o Are you excited to explore a particular academic area in college? If yes, which
area of study and why?
o Are you interested in a particular profession? Why?
o Why did you picked up this activity?
o What you did to excel in this specific activity?
o What were your takeaways from the activity?
o If it was a team activity, what contribution you made?
o Does this activity offer any credit?
o What educational preparatory programs have you taken for exploring your area
of interest?
o Have you ever assisted somebody in the interested career field or ever got chance
to understand the real implications of this field?
o If it was a science project, explain about the project and the result of it?
o How much time was spent while working on an activity/ task?
Key high school experiences and activities that colleges will look for include (but are not
limited to):
o Volunteer and community service work
o Leadership positions you’ve held
o Non-academic extracurricular activities such as your involvement in music, arts
or athletics
o Academic clubs or academically-focused extracurricular activities you are (or
have been) involved in
o Honors and awards you’ve received (in school, community or otherwise)
o Internships or Job shadowing in an organization
o Other coursework
o Academic writing based project
When listing items like jobs, volunteer work and community service, you want to be sure to list
the organization supervisor’s name and number with the description, so that colleges are able
to verify your experience, should they feel the need.
