Begin with your education. Since this is primarily an academic resume, that is the most important thing to emphasize. List your high school name and address and include your expected graduation year and GPA. Below the list of your high school, you may want to point out special classes you have taken, such as advanced placement classes. But keep this section short, because your high school transcript will provide a complete list.
List your extracurricular activities, from most important to least important. For example, if you were captain of the varsity lacrosse team but only a member of the drama club, list the varsity lacrosse team first. You should list each item on one line, with a brief description of your involvement, and the years in which you participated. If you ask a coach or activity sponsor to be on your reference list, be sure to list the sport or activity here.
Create a section for your awards and achievements, especially academic honors such as honor roll, deans list or admission into an honor society. Include awards from Scouts, community service or church activities too.
List your community service under a separate heading. Most colleges like to see some involvement with the community, so whether you are a volunteer tutor or baked cookies for your church bake sale every Sunday, make sure you list any type of volunteer activity. Explain your specific involvement and the number of hours (for a particular activity like Habitat for Humanity) or years (for continuing activities) of experience. Consider asking an adult sponsor or supervisor of any of these activities for a reference.
Include relevant work experience. If you worked while in high school to support yourself or your family, this is especially important, since colleges will want to see that you were responsible for earning a living while earning your grades. If you just worked a part-time job, you should focus mainly on relevant experience. Internships and other jobs within your field or academic-related jobs may be more important than part-time jobs such as babysitting. But any job where you demonstrated responsibility and learned skills helps your resume. List the job, your supervisor and a brief description of what you learned.
Include a reference section. This should include the names and complete contact info- including email address, physical address and telephone number--of people who can attest to your character, work ethic, academic achievements or other aspects of yourself that you want the college admissions committee to see.
To fill in your reference section, think about which teachers, employers, activity sponsors or community service members know you the best and will have the most positive thing to say about you. Be sure to ask your references for permission before you list them. Give each a copy of your resume to jog their memory of all the great things you've done.
Edit and revise. The resume should be about one page long and should be easy to read, organized and grammatically perfect. Have a couple people--a teacher, parent or friend proofread and evaluate the resume to make sure it is the best reflection of you as a candidate.