Should I put my predicted IB grades on my university resume?

Include predicted IB grades only if the university requests or permits them and your school has formally issued them. Label them clearly as predicted, never as achieved or final results. Some schools send predictions confidentially through a counselor and do not authorize students to report them independently. Your resume must also match the prediction shown in school-submitted documents. If the instructions are unclear, ask your counselor before adding any score.

How should I list IB subjects on my resume?

List each subject under your education section using its official course name and the correct HL or SL designation. For example, write “Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL” rather than simply “Advanced Mathematics.” You may group all six subjects in one compact line if space is limited. Do not convert IB courses into AP, honors, A level, or university equivalents unless an institution specifically instructs you to do so. Accurate naming allows admissions readers to evaluate your curriculum within its proper context.

Can I include my Extended Essay if it is not finished?

You can include an unfinished Extended Essay if the topic and work completed are relevant to your application. Mark it as in progress or use present-tense verbs so the reader does not assume that you have completed the research. Describe your research question, method, or sources without claiming findings that you have not reached. Avoid publishing confidential data or overstating the independence of work completed with normal supervisor guidance. Update the entry before later applications if your question, method, or status changes.

Does completing CAS count as an award or extracurricular achievement?

CAS completion is an IB Diploma Programme requirement, not a competitive award. Instead of listing “Completed CAS” under honors, describe the individual projects or sustained experiences that reveal your contribution. Include your role, actions, dates, approximate commitment, and a verified result where one exists. A project may still be impressive even though it counted toward CAS, because its value comes from what you did rather than the label. Never suggest that routine CAS completion represents an externally judged distinction.

How long should an IB student's university resume be?

For most secondary-school applicants, a focused one-page resume is enough. Two pages may be appropriate when a university requests an expanded resume or you have substantial research, employment, artistic, athletic, or service experience. Do not reduce the font or margins so severely that the document becomes difficult to read. Prioritize sustained and meaningful commitments over a complete record of every club meeting or one-day event. The institution's instructions take priority over any general length recommendation.

Can I use AI to help write my university resume?

AI can help identify repetition, suggest a clearer structure, or test whether a bullet is understandable to an unfamiliar reader. It should not invent outcomes, leadership responsibilities, numerical impact, technical methods, or personal reflections. Check every proposed sentence against your own records and rewrite it in language you can explain confidently. You remain responsible for meeting the university's rules and for ensuring that every claim is true. Treat Jojo AI as a feedback tool, not as the author or source of your experiences.

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Building a Resume That Reflects Your IB Experience

IB Diploma University Applications IB Study Guides

• 3 Oct 2026•10

Building a Resume That Reflects Your IB Experience

Join 650k+ students breezing through the IBReady to breeze through the IB?

Building a Resume That Reflects Your IB Experience | RevisionDojo

Back to all posts

Building a Resume That Reflects Your IB Experience

IB Diploma University Applications IB Study Guides

• 3 Oct 2026•10

Building a resume that reflects your IB experience means translating what you studied, researched, created, and contributed into concise, verifiable evidence. It does not mean presenting every IB requirement as an award or inflating routine participation into leadership.

During the September-November application period, your resume should support your transcript, predicted grades, essays, activity entries, and school reference. This guide explains what to include, how to use official IB terminology, and how to avoid misleading claims.

Check whether the university wants a resume

A resume is not a universal application requirement. The Common App first-year guide already provides sections for activities, responsibilities, honors, and academic information, so an optional resume should add relevant detail rather than repeat those fields.

UK applications through UCAS do not normally require a separate resume. A university may request one for a particular course, scholarship, or supplementary form, but you should follow its current instructions. UCAS also warns that false, incomplete, or misleading application information may be investigated.

Use this rule:

Required: submit it in the requested format.
Optional: submit it only when it adds useful information.
Not requested: do not send it unless the university confirms that additional documents are accepted.

What an IB student resume should contain

For most IB students, one page is sufficient. Two pages may be appropriate if an institution requests an expanded resume or you have substantial employment, research, artistic, athletic, or community experience.

Section	Include	Avoid
Contact details	Name, professional email, city and country	Photograph or sensitive personal data
Education	School, expected graduation, IB Diploma status	Invented GPA conversions
IB coursework	Six subjects with correct HL and SL labels	Renaming every course as advanced
Research	EE, significant IAs, independent projects	Ordinary assignments without context
Activities	Role, organization, dates, actions, scale	Treating participation as leadership
Responsibilities	Employment, internships, caregiving	Excluding commitments outside school
Honors and skills	Verified awards, languages, technical skills	Unverified proficiency claims

The official IB Diploma Programme curriculum includes six subject groups and the DP core: Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, Service. Use exact subject names and levels, such as History HL or Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL. Do not describe an SL subject as an advanced or honors course simply to make it sound more demanding.

Present grades and IB status accurately

Your resume is not an official academic record. The IB sends an official transcript of grades to authorized institutions, while your school may submit transcripts and predicted results separately.

If you are still completing the programme, appropriate wording includes:

IB Diploma candidate, expected May 2027
Current subjects: Biology HL, Chemistry HL, English A HL...
School-issued predicted total: 38/45, only if formally released and permitted for self-reporting

Never present predicted grades as achieved results. School policies determine whether students can view or disclose predictions. The RevisionDojo guide to IB applications in the US also explains why students should not create their own GPA conversion unless a university requests one.

Compare every academic claim with the documents your counselor will submit. An unexplained difference between your resume and school report can create doubt, even when it began as an innocent mistake.

Turn the Extended Essay into evidence

The IB defines the Extended Essay as an independent, self-directed research project culminating in a paper of up to 4,000 words. Its resume value comes from your question, methods, sources, and judgment, not merely from completing a compulsory requirement.

A concise entry could read:

Extended Essay, Economics | September 2025-March 2026
Investigated how a municipal transport subsidy affected weekday bus use; evaluated government reports and passenger data, compared pre-policy and post-policy trends, and addressed limitations in the dataset.

Only name methods you genuinely used. If the essay is unfinished, use present-tense language such as “investigating” and do not claim conclusions you have not reached. RevisionDojo's guide to tailoring the EE for university applications explains how to select useful research details without turning the entry into an essay summary.

Describe CAS without exaggeration

CAS is required but not formally graded. The official IB CAS overview explains that students document experiences, demonstrate seven learning outcomes, and complete a CAS project. “Completed CAS” is therefore not an award.

Universities learn more when you identify the activity and your contribution:

Weak description	Honest, specific description
Led an international education initiative	Co-organized four online reading sessions and prepared materials for 22 participants
Volunteered extensively	Volunteered 2 hours weekly at a food center, sorting donations and preparing packages
Founded a tutoring organization	Started a peer tutoring group with three classmates and scheduled weekly sessions

Use “founded” only if you created the initiative. Use “led” when you directed people or held responsibility for decisions. The RevisionDojo extracurricular application guide offers a useful role, action, evidence, and result structure.

Write evidence-based bullets

A strong resume bullet usually follows action + context + result or scale:

Analyzed water-quality samples from five sites and presented findings to the school environmental committee.
Coordinated rehearsals for a 14-member ensemble and performed at three school events.
Tutored two younger students in algebra weekly, preparing exercises from teacher feedback.

Numbers improve clarity only when accurate. If you cannot verify an outcome, describe the work completed instead of inventing impact. Keep a private evidence sheet containing dates, approximate hours, supervisors, awards, and measurable results. The Common App's official activities guidance advises using a reasonable estimate when exact activity hours are unavailable.

Avoid accidental dishonesty

Misleading resumes often result from inflated language rather than completely invented experiences. Check for:

Title inflation, such as calling yourself director when you were a volunteer.
Outcome inflation, such as claiming improved grades without evidence.
Hours inflation based on your busiest week rather than a typical week.
Status confusion between predicted and final results.
Award confusion involving CAS, IAs, or the EE.
Skill inflation, particularly unsupported language fluency.
Authorship problems when AI-generated wording introduces claims you cannot verify.

Ask: Could I explain and support this statement in an interview? Jojo AI can identify vague or repetitive wording, but every suggestion must be checked against your records.

A practical September-November schedule

In September, inventory activities, responsibilities, awards, projects, and IB work. Verify subject names, dates, levels, and your school's predicted-grade policy using the global IB university application guide.

In October, select experiences showing sustained commitment, responsibility, or academic interest. In November, tailor the resume to each institution, compare it with your application fields, proofread every number, and save the final version as a clearly named PDF.

Final resume checklist

Before submitting, confirm that:

The institution accepts or requests a resume.
Subjects have accurate titles and HL or SL labels.
Predicted grades are authorized and clearly identified.
CAS entries describe activities rather than an award.
Unfinished EE work is presented as ongoing.
Dates, hours, leadership titles, and results are verifiable.
The resume matches your transcript, essays, activities, and reference.

Conclusion

An effective IB resume depends on precision, selection, and honest terminology. Present courses accurately, distinguish predictions from final grades, and describe the EE and CAS through specific work rather than inflated labels. RevisionDojo Study Notes and Questionbank can protect revision time, while Jojo AI can review clarity without replacing your judgment.

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