first resume for high school student with no experience

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16 High School Student Resume Examples Created for 2024

High School Student Resume

• High School Student Resumes by Experience
• High School Student Resumes by Role

High school is one of the best times of your life, but it can also be one of the most difficult when looking for your first or second job. You’ve got to fill out applications, prep for interviews, and write your resume.

Using ChatGPT for resumes  is a cool idea, but can still feel daunting and overwhelming. We’ve all been there, and up until now, there hasn’t been a good resource for high schoolers to help  craft compelling resumes or student cover letters .

We’ve analyzed countless high school resumes to discover  what would get students job interviews in 2024 . While you may want to start with a simple  resume outline , keep reading to find 16 high school resume samples (plus writing tips) that are jam-packed with essential techniques and tricks.

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• If you choose to use a template, make sure you adjust the  resume’s formatting  so that your text is big enough to read with one-inch margins on the side.
• However, you should write your bullet points like you would for a job. Highlight any responsibilities and accomplishments relevant to the job you’re applying for now.
• For example, if you’re looking for a job in sales, emphasize your ability to work in groups and create a good customer experience.

High School Student No Experience Resume

• If you don’t have work history, include projects and volunteer work instead. Treat them like a job and write bullet points according to your responsibilities.
• Make sure you start every bullet point with active verbs, and always double-check for typos. You’ve got this!
• Include your unique skills, your desired position, and the company you hope to work for to make your objective stand out from the rest!

First Job High School Student Resume

• To remedy that problem, add a  skills section on your resume  to give hiring managers an important overview of your strengths.
• To really highlight your abilities, incorporate the same skills in your work experience, too. Demonstrate how you used your skills to better your workplace, and you can’t go wrong!
• Adding stylistic elements like color and different fonts can help you show a bit of your personality (and make your resume more fun to read). 

Experienced High School Student Resume

• Remember, your resume is a highlight reel, so you need to include what’s most important (like your achievements and relevant metrics). 
• You can adjust your layout, font sizes, and margins, but keep it easy to read. 
• Use a bit of color and some fun fonts, provided it still looks professional. You’ve got this!

High School Senior Resume

• This statement must align with the potential employer’s needs, proving you understand the job requirements and have gone the extra mile to address doubts about your capabilities. As for experiences that might have prepared you for the job, workshops and volunteering programs you’ve participated in are prominent candidates.

Out of High School Resume

• Leisure activities range from soccer, hiking, drawing and sketching, robotics, and photography to journalism. But how do they fit in the picture? Well, a penchant for drawing and sketching could reflect creativity and an eye for detail, while journalism stints could hint at strong communication and critical thinking.

High School Graduate Resume

• Right from the first line of the career objective, you can see the candidate’s passion and willingness to work in this field. Notice how Serai’s love for photography is clearly backed by a previous project for a school newspaper.
• These details will be perfect when Serai’s ready for the AI cover letter generator to bring her application to perfection.

High School Student Scholarship Resume

• Your high school student scholarship resume should vividly show your positive contributions to noble causes, such as offering ADLs to seniors, and emphasize your impact on society.

High School Student College Application Resume

• Ensure your high school student college application resume shows your practical and classwork achievements that emphasize your grand vision to make a positive contribution to society.

High School Student for College Resume

• Before hitting “submit,” always  check your resume  for typos and other minor errors. It’s amazing what you can miss during your first few reviews.
• A good GPA can demonstrate, at least in part, your willingness to work hard. We’d recommend including your GPA only if it’s above 3.5, but anything above a 3 is a good average.

High School Student for Customer Service Resume

• Including projects, volunteer work, or club memberships is a great way to add value to your resume.
• Your resume should focus on your abilities and other activities you’ve engaged in that will show your value.
• Read the responsibilities and qualifications to look for key skills and tasks. Then, incorporate some of those skills and responsibilities into your high school student customer service resume.

High School Student Internship Resume

• For example, if the job description lists responsibilities like writing and analyzing data, include “written communication” and “data analysis” in your skills section.
• One easy way to customize your resume is by focusing your  resume skills  on things that apply to the internship. 
• Make sure you keep your resume professional and to the point. You don’t want to include anything too personal about your beliefs, religion, politics, or personal information.
• For example, you can list “volunteering at local church,” but avoid saying “fasting every weekend.” It doesn’t show off relevant skills and is a bit too forward for a resume.

High School Student Office Worker Resume

• Good projects include anything that demonstrates your leadership abilities or desire for knowledge. Senior projects, personal blogs, or even being on a sports team are all good examples to include!
• Add work experience directly under your contact information and name, then add any relevant projects if you’re low on space. 
• While there are plenty of  resume writing tips , your resume should be as unique as you. Don’t get so caught up in what you think you “should” do that your resume is bland and cookie-cutter. 

High School Student Sales Resume

• Numbers demonstrate your value, and they’re useful tools for the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) software that hiring managers use to sort through job applicants.
• Trust us, and incorporate metrics into at least 80% of your bullet points!
• For example, you know that different  resume templates  can change your resume’s appearance, but different templates can also stretch or streamline your content. 
• Mess with multiple templates to see what your content will look like—you may find a template that allows for more room, or one that allows you to highlight your skills better.

High School Student Athlete  Resume

• Think of a time you proved you were the MVP on your team—Did you lead your team to a championship? Perhaps you made the game-winning shot in a crucial, nail-biting game?

High School Student Music Resume

• When you include hobbies like songwriting or your interest in classical music in your high school student music resume , it conveys to your recruiter that you’re super dedicated and passionate about your craft.
• You can also include hobbies that are different, too. For example, if you enjoy experimenting with new recipes from around the world, that can show you’re ready to give new genres a whirl or that you understand that music—while art—is still supposed to be fun and adventuresome.

Related resume guides

• Entry Level

High School Resume - How-To Guide for 2024 [11+ Samples]

Whether you’re preparing your college application, applying for an internship, or looking for a part-time job, you’ll notice that every single place is asking for your resume. 

You sit down, work on your resume for an hour, trying to come up with what you can include.

And all you end up with is the name of the high school you’re attending.

“What gives?” you wonder.

“What else can I add to my resume, when I have zero work experience?”

That’s a more than valid concern and it’s exactly what we’re going to discuss in this article! 

We’re going to tell you exactly what to write so that your resume is as convincing as any other (even with zero work experience). 

• What to include in a high school resume
• 4 Free high school templates you can use
• A real-life high school resume example
• FAQ on high school resumes

Let’s start with the question you’ve been repeatedly asking yourself:

What to Include in My High School Resume?

At the end of the day, resumes are about showing an employer that you are the right person for the job. 

You want to show you’re a competent, passionate, and responsible individual, with the right skills to get the job done.

Well, work experience isn’t the only way to convince recruiters of that. 

Instead, you can focus on the following sections:

• #1. Contact Information - This is where you write down your personal and contact information (no surprise there) like first and last name, phone number, e-mail address, or links to other profiles.
• #2. Resume Objective - In 3-4 sentences, you should be able to describe your career goals and aspirations as well as list your skills.
• #3. Education - As you probably guessed, this is where you list your education history and relevant certifications.
• #4. Extracurricular Activities - These include participation in high school clubs, competitive events, and volunteer work.
• #5. Projects & Gigs - You can mention relevant projects you have participated in, as well as any internships.
• #6. Work Experience (optional) - If you don’t have any work experience, you can mention apprenticeships or volunteer work instead.
• #7. Languages - Language skills are always a plus for your application.
• #8. Hobbies & Interests - These offer some insight into your personality and can show that you’re passionate and interested in the industry.

As you can see, there’s a lot that can go into your resume to make up for the missing work experience. 

Now, we’ll dive into each of these sections in detail and teach you how to do each of them right!

So, let’s start with:

#1. Contact Information

The contact information isn’t too hard to pull off.

Here’s what you need to include here:

• First and Last Name
• Phone Number
• Email Address

Make sure to use a professional email address , something like: [email protected]. Using your middle school [email protected] account will not leave the right impression. 

#2. Resume Objective

A resume objective is a 3-4 sentence statement of your skills, achievements, and career goals . 

Think of it as a short summary of why you’re applying for this specific position and why you’d be a good candidate for it.

You should try your best to link this summary to the role you are applying for. 

For example, if you’re applying for a position as a sales associate, you should make a point of your good social skills, proficiency in math, and teamwork skills.

Let’s have a look at a concrete example of a resume objective for this case:

Hard-working, responsible high school student looking to contribute a positive and collaborative attitude in the retail field. Math-oriented individual with good attention to detail.

#3. Education

In a typical resume, this comes after the work experience section. 

For a high school resume, though, you’d want to do it the other way around, since you want to put more focus on your academic achievements.

This section will most probably consist of only one entry: your high school education. 

Here’s how you can format your education section:

• Name of the Degree
• Name of the Institution
• Years Attended
• GPA (if above 3.5)
• Honors (if applicable)
• Relevant Courses

High School Diploma (Honor Roll)

AB High School

09/2015 - 06/2019

• Relevant courses: AP Calculus, Statistics, Leadership

#4. Extracurricular Activities

Now, this section could be one of your biggest selling points. 

Even if you have a not-so-special GPA, extracurriculars can turn your resume around. These activities are typically school-related, like participation in clubs or student societies. 

Involvement in such, especially in leadership positions like club president or team captain, shows you are sociable and active in your pursuits. 

When listing your extracurricular activities, you should format each entry like this:

Student Body Treasurer

Student Government, AB High School

• Managed the student council’s funds and expenses, kept financial records, and worked with the president and vice president to create budgets and allot funds for clubs and events.
• Participated in organizing student activities like dances, spirit weeks, community service, and fundraising movements and assemblies.

#5. Projects & Gigs

Here you can mention (or even link to) any independent projects you’ve worked on - something you’ve done on the side, unrelated to academics. 

This could be a personal project, small business or startup, side-gig, blog, etc.

Such activities add a lot of value to your resume. They show you’re a self-starter and that’s a quality that’s very much appreciated in any role and industry.

Neighborhood Book Club 

2019 - Present

• Founded a local book club, initially for my friends, and later for all the teenagers of my neighborhood.
• Prepared a monthly book calendar for the club, combining trending, relevant, and classic books.
• Organized weekly meetings to discuss the progress on the books and our thoughts upon finishing them.

#6. Work Experience (Optional)

If you have some work experience, awesome! Here’s how you’d format it on your high school resume:

• Company Name
• Dates Employed
• Achievements & Responsibilities

Sandwich Artist

Joe’s Sandwich Emporium

06/2020 - 09/2020

• Prepared several types of sandwiches for customers.
• Promoted new products on the menu directly to customers.
• Worked with the cash register.
• Interacted with dozens of customers on a daily basis.

If you don’t have any work experience, though, worry not! You can always replace it with another “Other” section.

Volunteer work, for example, is another great addition to your resume. If you also have any informal work experiences like babysitting or dog walking, you should include them in the section. 

Even if you didn’t get a paycheck out of that work, such experiences show you are skilled and reliable. 

For example, an entry for volunteering experience can look like this:

Educational Team Member

Save the Children

2018 - Present

• Assisted in giving weekly art history and drawing lessons to children at the local orphanage
• Helped organize visits at local museums and art galleries

#7. Language skills

Are you bilingual or can speak another language apart from your native one?

Make sure to mention it on your high school resume!

Wherever you might be applying, you can rest assured that they’re going to appreciate your language skills.

Even if you’re applying for a job in the service or retail industry, proficiency in an extra language or two is going to give you an advantage over other applicants, especially if you write your CEFR level , and can back up the claim in conversation.

Who knows when some foreign customers will come in and your knowledge will come in handy!

With that scenario in mind:

Be mindful not to exaggerate your skills, as lying on your resume can only get you in trouble.

#8. Hobbies & Interests

It might feel like you’re just filling up some space, but actually, the hobbies and interests you list on a resume can be significant, especially if you don’t have a lot of extracurriculars or work experience.

You need something to hint as to who you are as a person and employee, and listing hobbies and interests will do that for you. 

They also show that you are an engaged individual and well-rounded applicant. 

However, you should be selective with what you mention here. 

Listing 6+ hobbies will end up having the opposite effect - it will look like you’re just throwing in some random words, hoping some of them will be impressive. 

A good strategy is to look for hints on the job ad i.e. if they are looking for a team player, mentioning a team sport as one of your hobbies is a great idea. 

Keep in mind, though, that you should also avoid hobbies that don’t add to your profile as a candidate.

E.g.: your gaming hobby doesn't make you a better candidate for the role of a sales manager.

4 Free High School Resume Templates

So we’re all done with theory at this point. 

There’s one thing left for you to do: sit down and start preparing your resume. 

To help you with that, we’ve gathered 4 free resume templates , perfect for a high school resume. 

All you have to do is pick the ones you like best & get started with your resume!

#1. Simple Resume Template

This versatile template works for all kinds of applicants - from those with plenty to those with zero work experience. 

The neutral colors emphasize information over flashiness and the structure is easy to follow.

#2. Professional Resume Template

This next template is an all-time favorite of ours. 

Unlike the first template, the Professional one is formatted into two columns. It’s simple, yet stands out with its blue accent color (which you can change into any color you like). 

#3. Modern Resume Template

The Modern template adds something more to the traditional resume look. There is a faded design in the background and some of the sections are boxed by large brackets.

It’s a template that stands out without being too loud or wild. 

#4. Creative Resume Template

If you’re applying for a position in a creative field (marketing, design, etc.), this is the template for you. 

It uses accent colors and has a bold header that makes a statement. 

High School Resume Example

As important as picking the right template is, the content of the resume is what’s going to seal the deal. 

Here’s one example of a high school student resume, so you can get a clearer idea of what it should look like!

High School Resume FAQ

If you still have some questions regarding your high school resume, check out the FAQ and our answers below:

1. How can I write a high school resume with no work experience?

As a high school student, it’s more than normal for you to have no work experience. This shouldn’t scare you. 

There’s a lot of activities you can add to your resume that can substitute work experience.

Extracurricular activities, like participation in school clubs, projects, and gigs, are a great indicator of your skills and personality. Any informal work experiences should also be mentioned.

As long as you are showing the recruiter that you are capable of doing the job, your resume will be just fine without a work experience section.

2. How long should a high school resume be?

When it comes to high school resumes, the answer is undebatable: one page. 

A 2018 eye-tracking study showed that recruiters spend about 7 seconds skimming a resume before deciding whether to discard it or not. 

A 2-page resume will be simply excessive. 

Heck, even if you’re a professional with 10 years of work experience, we’d still recommend sticking to 1 page.

For more on resume length best practices, check out our article.

3. What’s the best way to make a high school resume?

An important and time-consuming part of making a resume is getting the formatting right. 

This means meticulously editing a Word or Google doc in order to get the right typeface, font size , line spacing, margins, etc.

What we’re getting at here is, if you’re making your resume manually, it can take you hours…

And then you make a tiny change on your layout, and your resume starts spilling into the second page!

Want to save time and effort?

Just use a resume builder ! The formatting is done for you, and all YOU have to do is fill in the resume!

Key Takeaways

That pretty much covers all you need to know about writing a high school no-experience resume . 

Quite simple and doable, right?

Finally, here’s a recap of what you should keep in mind when writing your high school resume:

• Instead of work experience, talk about extracurriculars like school clubs, personal projects, or gigs.
• Use sections like education, hobbies & interests, and languages to emphasize your skills and give an idea of your personality.
• Grab the recruiter’s attention with a concise resume objective that clearly highlights your top skills and career goals.
• Keep your resume at a maximum of 1 page.

And finally, good luck with your job search!

Related Resume Examples

• No Experience Resume
• Internship Resume
• College Resume
• Research Assistant Resume
• Students and Graduates Resume
• Teacher Resume

Suggested readings:

• The Complete Guide to Remote Work [W/ Tips & Tricks]
• 101+ Achievements to List On Your Resume [In 2024]
• The Ultimate Guide to Job Hunt - Land Your Next Job in 2024

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High School No Experience Resume Examples and Templates

This page provides you with High School (No Experience) resume samples to use to create your own resume with our easy-to-use resume builder . Below you'll find our how-to section that will guide you through each section of a High School (No Experience) resume.

If you’re a high school student stressed about writing your first ever resume, don’t worry – it’s not just you! When you’re young and inexperienced, resumes can seem like a serious challenge. All you want is to land your first ever part-time job – but how do you fill all that space, when you’re totally new to the world of work?

Don’t give up hope! You probably have more relevant experience than you think, even if it isn’t directly related to work. As a high school student, employers will expect you to include things like club activities, school-based responsibilities, and even volunteering work on your high school resume.

To give you a head start, we’ve written up a helpful guide to writing your first ever resume. We’ve put together examples of what a good resume should look like, hints on what to do (and what not to do) when writing, and advice on what to expect from the job application process – including some tips you may not get from your school’s careers counselor. Read on, and you’ll be sending out your first resume in no time!

How to Write Your High School No Experience Resume

As a high school student with no work experience, it’s unlikely that youve never had to write a resume before. Don’t let it scare you – it’s not as complicated as you might expect! In general, most resumes will contain the following sections:

• A summary and/or objective
• A record of your past work experience
• A list of your qualifications, certifications, and licenses
• A list of your relevant skills

Your resume needs to show a hiring manager two things, especially when you have no previous work experience. The first is that you have relevant qualifications for the role you want – whether that’s an academic qualification in a relevant field, or just some relevant experience that may not have anything to do with work. The second is that you have the skills that will allow you to excel in the role.

This means that it’s okay if you don’t have much to fill out your experience section. As a high school student, new to the workforce, you won’t be expected to bring any real professional experience to the table. The more important thing is how you present yourself in your resume – which means calling attention to the skills, qualifications and experience that you do have, so hiring managers know why they should give you the opportunity you want.

We’ll cover each section of your resume one by one, so you can build it one step at a time.

The Best Format for a High School No Experience Resume

Before you actually write your resume, you’ll need to choose the right layout! The format of your resume dictates what hiring managers will notice first when they see your job application. The right format will draw their attention to your best qualities, and draw it away from the areas where you know you aren’t as strong as you would like.

This is something to keep in mind when you choose your professionally-designed resume template from our selection. As you won’t have any previous work experience, you will benefit from choosing a format that will highlight your skills instead. That way, recruiters can see what you bring to the table, rather than what you don’t!

Remember, this is only your first resume – when you have more work experience behind you, you’ll be able to create a brand new resume for future job applications. After you’ve built up a stronger work history, you will benefit from choosing a resume format that balances your skills and qualifications with your work experience. When that time comes, our resume guides for a wide range of different industries will help you make the best and smartest choices!

• Applicant Tracking Systems

Some companies use an applicant tracking system (or ATS) to sort through the job applications they receive for each open position. ATS software filters resumes based on keywords (usually taken from the job description) to help weed out resumes that are generic, not qualified for the role, or otherwise unsuitable to progress to the interview stages. This is really useful for hiring managers – it allows them to speed up the hiring process, which saves them a lot of time.

But for candidates, it isn’t such good news! If your resume doesn’t get through the ATS software’s filtering system, it is likely to be rejected before a human gets to see it at all. That can be upsetting, especially if you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your resume.

You can boost your chances of getting through the ATS software by paying close attention to the requirements of the job description. Wherever possible, you should use the exact words used in the job description when describing your skills: for instance, if a job description asks for ‘high levels of personal organization,’ use that exact phrase when writing about your experience of balancing multiple AP classes at school. Treat the job description as your guide, and you can maximize your chances of success.

ATS software can sometimes get confused by complex resume formatting. But don’t panic – all of VisualCV’s resume templates are designed to make your resume easy for ATS software to read. That means you don’t have to worry about the software being confused by the format of your resume – you can focus on your resume’s content, instead.

How to Write a Summary for Your High School No Experience Resume

Most resumes open with a summary, which means it’s the first thing most recruiters will see when they pick up your resume. A summary is meant to give recruiters a short, clear description of your best qualities. The key to a good summary is keeping it brief – think about the three main reasons why you are qualified for the job you want, and write them down in three sentences or less.

It’s important to remember that your summary should be specific to the role you’re applying for. You can’t get away with reusing the same summary for multiple applications! Recruiters will notice, and it will affect your chances of getting hired.

Since you’re applying for your first ever job, you can’t talk about your past work experience in your summary. However, you can bring up your educational background, your skills, your best qualities, and any relevant non-work experience you have. Later in your career, you can use your summary to lay out your career journey so far, so recruiters can easily see where you’re coming from and what you bring.

• 3 High School No Experience Summary Examples:
• Junior year student at William McKinley High, achieving a 3.5 GPA. Student editor of the school magazine, with experience of teamwork and project management. A fast learner with a strong work ethic.
• Senior year high school student maintaining a 3.8 GPA. Active member of the school field hockey team, bringing my drive to succeed and my passion for teamwork to everything I do.
• Current student at West High School, maintaining a 3.6 GPA. Three years of volunteer experience at a local animal shelter. I deliver great customer service, compassion and care in all areas of my life.
• How Not to Write a High School No Experience Resume Summary

You might be tempted to use your summary as a second cover letter – a longer piece of writing telling the story of why you want the job you’re aiming for. In fact, this is the number one thing you shouldn’t do when writing your summary!

A summary needs to be clear and to-the-point, focused on what you can offer your employer. You need to keep it focused, professional, and short. If you want to talk more about yourself, you can do that in your cover letter instead – your resume simply doesn’t have the space to accommodate it.

We know that summaries can be tough to pin down. Some recruiters don’t think you need a summary at all – in fact, opinion is divided – so don’t feel too bad if you’re having a hard time! Leave it out for now, and think about coming back to it later on.

• For the past three years, I have worked as a volunteer at the Soft Paws Animal Shelter, cleaning the animals’ environments and providing enrichment activities. I believe this history of taking responsibility for my surroundings will give me a head start in the role of Part-Time Janitor, as I already know the best cleaning and sanitation techniques.

Do You Need a Resume Objective?

By now, you should be pretty clear on what a summary is – but what about your resume objective?

When you’re just starting out on your career journey, an objective is a great way to give hiring managers more information about your long-term plans. Your objective should be a one-sentence statement about where you want to work or what you want to do in the future. While it might sound obvious, you do need to make sure that your objective is relevant in some way to the role you’re applying for!

You won’t always need a resume objective. They’re much less useful when you already have an extensive work history, because your career so far can tell a hiring manager a lot about your long-term goals. But when you’re applying for a first job, most recruiters agree that an objective is a smart thing to include.

• High School No Experience Resume Objective Example:
• Current student at William McKinley High, hoping to build experience in the food service industry.

How to Describe Your Experience on Your High School No Experience Resume

We know you don’t have any previous experience of holding down a paid job – after all, this is your first ever resume! But you almost certainly have more relevant experience than you think you do. Here are just a few things you might be able to include in this section of your resume:

• High school clubs and extracurriculars
• Sporting activities
• Volunteering experience
• Work experience placements
• Relevant hobbies and achievements

As long as you can use the experience to show how it has prepared you for the role you want, you can include it! Try taking the time to list all of the skills you have used or learned during your non-work experience. Then you can include any experience where those skills match up with the skills listed on the job description.

Remember, you don’t have to add everything you’ve ever done to your resume! If you’ve participated in a lot of extracurriculars, be selective about which ones you include. On the flip side, if you don’t have much experience, don’t lie to pad it out – you will probably get caught, and it will throw up some serious red flags for any recruiter or hiring manager.

• Describe Your Experience Effectively

Each ‘item’ of experience on your resume should come with a bullet-pointed list of things you achieved while doing it. But as you’ll see in the example we’ve provided, it’s not always that straightforward! Every bullet point should prove that you have a skill or quality listed in the job description.

That’s why you should do your best to write about what you actually achieved – not just about the basics of what you did every day. Instead of ‘cleaned floors,’ try ‘maintained a clean and sanitary work environment in accordance with health and safety guidelines.’ Doesn’t that sound more professional?

Generally, hiring managers want to see evidence that you were able to succeed in your previous work. If you can show the results you achieved by completing each task, hiring managers will be more likely to believe that you can get those results again in a future job.

Do: Volunteer, Soft Paws Animal Shelter | 2019-21

• Provided a clean and sanitary environment for employees and animals by participating in a regular cleaning rota
• Delivered great customer service and well-researched advice to members of the public looking to rescue a pet
• Participated in a volunteer dog-walking and play rota, delivering enrichment and stimulation to animals in the shelter’s care
• How Not to Describe Your Experience

You should never write a simple list of the tasks you completed! Without any context, a basic list of responsibilities assigned to you won’t tell a hiring manager anything. They won’t have any reason to believe that you did a good job when you carried out those tasks, or that you might do them just as well in a new job.

The most important thing about writing a resume is showing hiring managers that you have the skills to succeed. Be explicit about those skills and how you have applied them in the past! You can’t afford to assume that they will make those connections without your input.

Don’t: Volunteer, Soft Paws Animal Shelter | 2019-21

• Cleaned work areas
• Greeted the public
• Walked dogs

How to List Skills on Your High School No Experience Resume

Your resume’s skills section is a list of your skills – specifically the ones that will help you in the role you’re applying for. You can refer to the job description to find out what those skills are! Most of the time, job descriptions include a list of qualities that applicants should have, so use that as a guide for this section.

It will help to know the difference between ‘hard skills’ and ‘soft skills.’ Hard skills are the practical skills you’ll use in your role – like the use of particular tools or equipment, or the ability to use a certain software package. If you don’t have all the hard skills necessary for the role you want, don’t give up – you can let hiring managers know, either in your cover letter or as part of your skills section, that you’re keen to learn on the job.

Meanwhile, you definitely have some relevant soft skills already! We’ll cover those in more detail in the next section.

For general information about skills on your resume, check out our resume skills guide here!

Important Soft Skills for Your High School No Experience Resume

Soft skills are the skills you rely on in every aspect of your professional life. Skills like communication, organization and attention to detail are vital in almost every line of work, and will help you navigate a new job more easily. When you don’t have any past work experience, a good list of soft skills can show an employer that you have the tools to succeed.

Whatever the nature of the job you’re applying for, certain soft skills are always useful. Here are some of the most important soft skills to include on your high school no experience resume!

• Communication

Can you share information clearly and appropriately in person, in writing, and over the phone? Communication is absolutely critical in most jobs. Being able to communicate well will bolster your customer service skills, as well as your ability to work effectively as part of a team.

• Organization

You might get away with disorganization in high school, but the world of work is a lot less forgiving. You’ll need to be able to balance your various obligations, show up on time, and look put-together. If you can show that you’re an organized person, you’ll stand a better chance of landing almost any job!

• Willingness to Learn

For high school students looking for their first job, this one is vital – you’re likely to need more on-the-job training than more experienced candidates, after all. Being willing to absorb and adapt to new information is an important skill that will stand you in good stead with hiring managers!

There are very few jobs that will let you work independently of a larger team. Having a job means getting on effectively with people from all backgrounds, regardless of whether or not you actually like them. Teamwork also means taking on your fair share of responsibilities in partnership with the rest of your team.

Final Thoughts

Writing your first resume can be an intimidating prospect, especially when you’re young and inexperienced. But we’ve given you all the tools you will need to write a well-constructed resume, regardless of your experience level. Remember, it’s not about what you don’t have – it’s about how you present what you do have!

Copyright © 2024 Workstory Inc.

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• High School Student First Job Resume Example

Resume Examples

• Common Tasks & Responsibilities
• Top Hard & Soft Skills
• Action Verbs & Keywords
• Resume FAQs
• Similar Resumes

Common Responsibilities Listed on High School Student First Job Resumes:

• Greeting customers and providing them with assistance as needed
• Operating cash registers and handling financial transactions
• Restocking shelves and maintaining inventory levels
• Ensuring the cleanliness and organization of the store or work area
• Assisting with the preparation and packaging of products or food items
• Answering phones and providing information or taking messages
• Helping customers locate products and providing recommendations
• Assisting with promotional events or sales campaigns
• Learning and applying company policies and procedures
• Completing training modules or attending training sessions
• Collaborating with team members to complete tasks and projects
• Handling customer complaints and resolving issues in a professional manner

Speed up your resume creation process with the AI-Powered Resume Builder . Generate tailored achievements in seconds for every role you apply to.

High School Student First Job Resume Example:

• Enhanced customer satisfaction by consistently greeting and assisting an average of 50 customers per day, leading to a 10% increase in positive customer feedback within three months.
• Streamlined the checkout process by efficiently operating cash registers and handling financial transactions, contributing to a 15% reduction in average customer wait time.
• Maintained a 98% accuracy rate in financial transactions over a six-month period, demonstrating strong attention to detail and reliability in handling cash and card payments.
• Proactively restocked shelves and managed inventory, resulting in a 5% decrease in out-of-stock incidents and contributing to a smoother shopping experience for customers.
• Implemented a new organization system for the work area, which improved overall store cleanliness and efficiency, leading to a 20% increase in store audit scores.
• Assisted with the launch of a promotional sales campaign that boosted store traffic by 30% and increased sales by 25% during the event period.
• Customer Service
• Cash Handling
• Transaction Accuracy
• Time Management
• Inventory Management
• Organizational Skills
• Sales Promotion
• Communication Skills
• Problem Solving
• Adaptability
• Attention to Detail
• Professionalism
• Product Knowledge

Top Skills & Keywords for High School Student First Job Resumes:

Hard skills.

• Organization
• Basic Computer Skills
• Math Skills
• Sales Skills
• Basic Food Preparation Skills

Soft Skills

• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Time Management and Punctuality
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Teamwork and Collaboration
• Customer Service Orientation
• Organization and Planning
• Initiative and Proactiveness
• Resilience and Perseverance
• Professionalism and Work Ethic
• Learning Agility and Openness to Feedback

Resume Action Verbs for High School Student First Jobs:

• Collaborated
• Participated
• Communicated
• Contributed
• Volunteered
• Demonstrated
• Facilitated

Generate Your Resume Summary

Resume FAQs for High School Student First Jobs:

How long should i make my high school student first job resume, what is the best way to format a high school student first job resume, which keywords are important to highlight in a high school student first job resume, how should i write my resume if i have no experience as a high school student first job, compare your high school student first job resume to a job description:.

• Identify opportunities to further tailor your resume to the High School Student First Job job
• Improve your keyword usage to align your experience and skills with the position
• Uncover and address potential gaps in your resume that may be important to the hiring manager

Complete the steps below to generate your free resume analysis.

Related Resumes for High School Student First Jobs:

High school graduate, high school senior, high school student with no experience, beginner teacher assistant, substitute teacher with no experience, childcare worker.

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First Resume With No Work Experience Example

What to include on a resume when you don't have work experience

Writing Your First Resume

What to include in your resume.

• Tips Preparing Your First Resume

Resume Template and Example

More resume examples and templates.

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Writing your first-ever resume can be a challenge. How do you sell yourself to an employer when you’re a student who doesn’t have any experience in your targeted field?

When writing your first resume with no formal work experience, it's appropriate to include casual jobs like babysitting, pet sitting, lawn mowing, and shoveling snow. You can also include volunteering, internships, and school and community activities.

All experience counts, and the best way you present yourself, your skills, and your assets to a hiring manager is to provide them with a strong resume that showcases your own unique talents.

Here's how to write your first resume, what to include, how to show employers the skills you have, a sample resume to review, and a template you can use to get started writing your resume.

To get started, review information on the  different parts of a resume  and what is included in each element. It's a good idea to review high school resume examples to get an idea of what is appropriate. Even if you've never held a formal job, you still have important life experience that's applicable to the job search.

Don't forget to look at volunteer work, civic groups, and youth organizations (for example, the Scouts or 4-H). The skills you have developed doing these things have given you valuable experience that will impress employers.

The bottom line is that you actually have a lot more experience than you think you have.

Writing your first resume  can seem intimidating, but if you take it step-by-step, you will be able to put together a document that will highlight your abilities and show the hiring manager that you’re worth calling for an interview.

Start by mining your life experience and academic achievements to show that you'll be an asset to the company, despite the fact that you don't have any related job titles to show off at this stage in your career.

For your first resume, take the soft skills (also known as “people skills”) you have and show how they translate into success where you choose to apply them. Include volunteer experience, school achievements, sports, clubs, and organizations you belong to.

Scan the job descriptions for the positions to which you're applying. Look for keywords that indicate what the hiring manager values in a candidate.

For example, the job listing might say, "Successful candidate will be a self-starter who delivers on time and on budget." In that case, despite the fact that you don't have relevant work experience in the same field, you can get the hiring manager's attention by being sure to include (and emphasize) projects that you've successfully led, such as high school clubs in which you held a leadership role that required you to manage both your time and the team's money.

Other “ people skills ” that employers often seek in entry-level job applicants include traits like dependability, good communication and organizational skills, a solid work ethic, and teamwork.

If you start with the job listings instead of with the blank page, the hiring manager's keywords will guide you, and help you focus on which of your academic or after-school experiences have prepared you for this first step in your career.

Once you've compiled a list of what you need in your resume, it should include:

• Contact information
• Experience (casual work, volunteering, clubs, youth organizations, teams)
• Skills (related to the job)
• Awards and Achievements (academic and extracurricular)

Tips Preparing Your​​ First Resume

• Don't lie.  No matter how tempting it might be to stretch the truth, lying on your resume is always a bad idea. You might make it through this round of interviews and even get the job, but you won't be able to deliver on the promises your resume offered. Plus, you'll probably be caught—and fired.
• Don't pad.  You don't need to include the line "references upon request," or personal information beyond your contact information, or a bunch of unrelated hobbies. In fact, there's a lot of  stuff you don't need to put on your resume , even when it's your first one.
• Proofread.  Nothing is less persuasive than a resume full of typos and inconsistencies. Have a trusted friend or family member  proofread your resume  before you submit it.

Download the resume template  (compatible with Google Docs and Word Online) to use as a starting point for your own resume.  

Resume Example (Text Version)

Michelle Washington 18 Sunnyside Boulevard Arlington, NY 16543 mwashington@email.com 111.123.1234

EDUCATION Arlington High School, Arlington, NY CLASS OF 2022 (3.9 GPA)

Pet Sitter — Arlington, NY JUNE 2020 - PRESENT

Established and run successful pet sitting business including dog walking, feeding, and yard care. Responsible for obtaining clients, scheduling and attending visits, organizing visits, and maintaining client relationships.

Soup Kitchen Volunteer — Arlington, NY SEPTEMBER 2020 - PRESENT

Act as weekend/holiday volunteer manager at local soup kitchen, scheduling volunteer time slots, managing intake of donated food, and assisting with preparation and distribution of meals on Sundays and holidays including, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

Child Care Provider — Arlington, NY JUNE 2018 – JUNE 2020

Provided child care for several families after school, on weekends, and during school vacations.

SKILLS                                                  

Customer service Hospitality Microsoft Office Google Drive

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

National Honor Society Honor Roll President of high school Volunteer Club MVP, Arlington Varsity softball team

Here are more examples that you can use to get ideas for your own resume:

• Entry-Level Resume Example
• High School Student Resume Example
• High School Student Resume Template

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Use this sample resume as a basis for your own resume if you:

• Have completed (or are currently completing) VCE 
• Have little or no formal (paid) work experience

For sample resumes designed for other levels of education/work experience, check out our Sample CVs page . 

Download this sample resume template:

• Sample Resume: VCE + No Work Experience - Word (133.87 KB)
• Sample Resume: VCE + No Work Experience - PDF  (123.51 KB)

NOTE: DON'T SUBMIT YOUR RESUME AS A .PDF. Always submit your resume as a .doc, .docx or .rtf. If you have trouble with this sample resume, contact us at [email protected] .

If you've finished or are currently doing VCE (or an equivalent) but you haven't had much - or any - paid work experience, this sample resume can help you focus on the personal attributes you can contribute to the needs of an organisation.

This sample resume has been designed to focus on:

• A marketing statement that highlights your capabilities and demonstrates what you bring to the job
• Personal attributes that will help you to transition into the work environment
• Any achievements, commendations or awards you received at high school that show you are honest and reliable
• Any volunteer placements that demonstrate your willingness to contribute to the community

Other things you can put on your resume include:

• Any sporting or community club participation (if relevant to the job)
• Work placements or work experience that show you know how to work in a professional environment
• Key skills that demonstrate your employability (and examples of their use) 
• Written testimonials provided by supervisors, sporting club coaches, teachers or others involved in volunteer and community clubs
• Any hobbies or interests that are relevant to the job

This sample resume is one page long. A one-page resume is more than acceptable when you're just starting out in the world of work. You may end up with two pages if you include all of the suggested additional information.

If your resume ends up being three pages long, you're probably providing too much information - try cutting some things out and sticking to two pages maximum.

For more about resumes and cover letters, check out these pages:

• Sample Cover Letters
• How to Write a Resume
• How to Write a Cover Letter

Email: [email protected] Mobile: XXXX XXX XXX

VCE graduate seeking casual employment in a dynamic organisation

Personable and astute student with proven time management and collaboration skills developed from sporting and volunteer engagements. Strong interpersonal skills enhanced by taking part in theatre activities to develop confidence and communication abilities. Understanding of general employability skills and the importance of working as part of a team, learning from others and developing as a professional. VCE graduate looking for first-time employment in a position that requires a dedicated, young and enthusiastic employee.

• Customer Service (phone and face-to-face)
• Problem solving
• Cash management
• Sales reconciliations
• Transaction processing
• Sales refunds
• Dispute resolution
• Data processing
• Inventory control
• Store-based security
• Stock receipting
• End-of-day processing
• Sales negotiations
• Product selection

Software Skills: Microsoft Word ~ Microsoft Excel ~ Microsoft Outlook ~ Firefox ~ Internet Explorer

All Saints Anglican College VCE 2013 ATAR: 88.7

Achievements:

• 2013: Class captain (in partnership with one other class representative)
• 2012: Represented school at National Youth Day events
• 2012: Recognition award for contribution to the local community and volunteering

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Effective Communication Skills:  Articulate communicator with appreciation for the different communication styles required when working with other team members or with customers.
• Honest and Reliable:  Strong morals and ethics ensure honesty, reliability and ability to undertake tasks responsibly.
• Flexible:  Understanding of need to remain flexible to support last-minute demands and changes. Comfortable in changing environments and situations, ensuring ability to remain flexible and adaptable at all times.

STUDENT WORK EXPERIENCE PLACEMENTS

Taylor Smith Partners (2-Week Work Placement - 2013)

Achievements and Contributions

• Customer Service:  Responded to incoming calls. Screened telemarketing and direct sales calls while transferring customer enquiries to appropriate department.
• Administration:  Typed general communication and letters to customers and businesses as directed. Ensured accurate development of communication by providing correspondence to supervisor for approval.
• Records Processing:  Entered customer information into internal records management system. Updated existing customer records while creating new data files as directed.

VOLUNTEER PLACEMENTS

Melton Community Gardens (2011 - current)

Worked in community gardens assisting members of the local community in planting and caring for allocated sections. Assisted with setup and preparation of community garden, including general repair and maintenance works.

St Vincent De Paul (2010-2013)

Provided support during various fundraising activities for local community group. Assisted at events and gatherings including providing suggestions to help meet fundraising targets. Personally attended various events, including spending time with homeless youth in Melbourne CBD.

PROFESSIONAL REFEREES

Joanne Boyle Manager St Vincent De Paul Society Phone XX XXXX XXXX

Allan Blue Maintenance Manager Melton Community Gardens Phone: XX XXXX XXXX

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How FAFSA 'fixes' have turned College Decision Day into chaos

The effects of recent delays in college financial aid could be felt by a vast array of students for years. we spoke with students across the country about their experiences. here are their stories..

Instead of attending college this fall, a Massachusetts teen plans to join the Marines. 

A first-generation student from Illinois hopes her restaurant job will cover college costs.

A Floridian in her 30s says she might go back to exotic dancing to afford tuition. 

May 1 has long been the deadline for many students to decide where to attend college. But for applicants across the country, 2024 has been the year the systems in place for decades fell apart. While picking a college is anxiety-inducing in a normal year, the government's botched handling of financial aid upended that decision-making process, disrupting the lives of a broad swath of American students.

The stress stems from a form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which opens the door to government help with tuition and, many say, to a better quality of life. This year, glitches and holdups with the form kept many vulnerable people from getting across the finish line. 

Historically, the application required students and their families to answer dozens of complicated questions using decades-old technology. Facing a mandate from Congress, Biden administration officials set out to fix it. But the new FAFSA was beset with issues and corrupted data, delaying aid offers for months and jeopardizing the prospects for some of the students the updates were supposed to help. 

Even employees in the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office, which was charged with streamlining the form, expressed frustration with their bosses’ handling of the rollout, two agency officials not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY . Then, last week, seemingly capping off the fiasco, the top Biden administration official overseeing the revised process resigned from his post.

“FAFSA is the stepping stone to everything,” said Galawe Alcenet, a senior in Minnesota who lost her chance at getting several private scholarships because of the processing delays. “The biggest challenge has been the waiting.”

Applicants’ experiences were also complicated by colleges’ evolving stances on standardized entrance exams, last year's Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action, feelings about the Israel-Hamas conflict and the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threw their middle and high school years into disarray. 

The FAFSA fiasco hit low-income students the hardest. The vast majority of America’s college students – 85% as of the 2019-20 school year – rely on aid . But by late March, 40% fewer high schoolers had completed their FAFSA compared with the same period last year, according to federal data. 

“We were out of runway,” said Alyssa Dobson, the financial aid director at Slippery Rock University, a public school in western Pennsylvania. By the time the Education Department announced in late March that it had flubbed key details on the already-tardy FAFSA information, Dobson said she had no more time to waste. 

“The entire operation is a house of cards,” said Melissa, a student in Florida who kept getting error messages when she tried to submit her application – and still hasn’t gotten a clear answer on how much aid she’ll get. “I feel like if I make one wrong move it’s just going to collapse on itself.” 

Melissa is among several students who asked USA TODAY to withhold her last name to protect her prospects. She is in her early 30s and pursuing college for the second time after earning her associate’s degree in her 20s. She had worked as an exotic dancer to cover her bills and said she will probably return to that gig given her precarious financial aid circumstances. 

“The whole ‘we’re making FAFSA easier’ thing? Not true,” she said.

"It is an overhaul – it’s not just a new website," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at a Senate hearing Tuesday on his department's budget. But, he said, “there’s no excuse. Our students deserve better.”

In interviews over the past month, students, parents and financial aid professionals told USA TODAY many of them have struggled to cope with the bungled process. 

Military or college? FAFSA changed his mind

Growing up, Sam envisioned he’d be on the front lines after high school, protecting his community as a police officer or in the military. He brushed aside the idea of college. It wasn’t for him, he decided. He wanted to avoid student loans at all costs. He had been raised by a single mom in Milford, Massachusetts, and there was no way he could afford tuition.

Things changed his junior year when he learned of a national program at his school called OneGoal that works to transform postsecondary advising. The teacher who led the OneGoal class didn’t dismiss Sam’s blue-collar dreams but encouraged him to at least consider college. 

That teacher made Sam realize getting generous financial aid for college was possible for a student like him who didn’t get perfect grades. Then he visited a campus, and the dream seemed within reach. Sam had pictured college as “a bunch of people just running around and partying, like in the movies,” he said. “I just can’t justify that money – that’s just stupid. I can party for free otherwise.” During the visit, Sam realized “people were actually taking this seriously.”

He applied to some nearby state schools – and was accepted. Then came the financial aid part. 

“Man, the FAFSA killed me,” he said. 

The form kept telling him there was an error with his mother’s information. None of his attempts at troubleshooting resolved it – not filling the form out backward, not using all caps or no caps. Like many students who spoke with USA TODAY, he tried to access a helpline. “It was rough. I was getting so mad.”

Sam never managed to submit his form. He has given up on going to college this fall. The endless dead ends were so frustrating he took them as a sign: He should just enlist in the Marines. The FAFSA frustrations, he said, were “what really, really made me not want to go to school and just go straight to the military.”

Students in mixed-status families waiting on answers

In mid-April, Janet Leon, 18, still hadn’t sent in her FAFSA. Like so many others, it wasn’t for lack of trying. 

By the time Cardona, the education secretary, designated a “FAFSA Action Week” urging seniors to submit the form as quickly as possible, the senior had tried just about everything. But the FAFSA continued to boot out her parents, who are Mexican immigrants, every time they checked the box saying they didn’t have Social Security numbers. 

Her father is a chef at a senior home, and her mother spends most of her time running around after her younger siblings. Getting the pair of them to sit down simultaneously and work through the form with her was a challenge. She’s busy, too: She has worked a restaurant job all through high school, pays her phone bill and is trying to piece together a college fund. 

“It’s just so hard to get everyone in one place,” said Leon, who hopes to attend Iowa State University, several hours from her home in the Chicago suburbs. She would be the first person in her family to go to college – if word comes through that she can afford it.

Challenges have been widespread for students from mixed-status families, which is often when at least one parent is a non-U.S. citizen who doesn't have a Social Security number. Reports suggest many applicants, like Leon, continued to run into trouble long after the Education Department announced it would fix the problem in February. 

It took until Tuesday, April 30 – one day before the traditional college decision deadline – for the agency to allow people without Social Security numbers to submit the form. The department called it a temporary fix and said students who didn't have one would have to verify their statuses with schools before they receive federal aid.  

The news came too late for people like Angel Ulloa, a student in New Jersey who is still awaiting crucial financial aid information. When the 18-year-old was rejected from Princeton after being waitlisted, he felt disappointed on multiple fronts. Princeton covers tuition for families like his that fall under a certain income threshold. But that was no longer an option.

Ulloa faced FAFSA problems from the get-go: He couldn’t discern which information needed to go where or why error messages kept popping up. His mother was anxious about being on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars and tried calling customer service dozens of times. She made four calls every morning and often several more at night over a month. 

“No matter how many times we got through, I just never felt like any of our voices were being heard,” Ulloa said. “I just wanted to bang my head on the computer.” 

Eventually, Ulloa printed the form, filled out the information on paper and mailed it in. In late February, he got an update that his FAFSA had finally gone through. But after two months – and weeks later than students who graduated last year – he was still waiting to hear how much aid schools would offer him.

Some transfer students remain in limbo

Ximena Penuelas Quinonez wasn’t always an expert on how people pay for college. 

After graduating from a public high school in Phoenix a few years ago, she didn’t apply to too many places. Like lots of students from low-income backgrounds, she didn’t want to give her parents something else to worry about. “I can’t afford college on my own,” she used to tell herself. “And I can’t ask my parents, because they’re already struggling as it is.”

So she applied to community college and continued living at home to save money and spend time with her siblings. She got a job in the financial aid office at Phoenix College, where she witnessed this year’s FAFSA disaster close up. 

She’s on track to finish her associate’s degree and is heading to Arizona State University in the fall. ASU, like many four-year schools, funnels nearby community college grads onto campus as transfers, hoping they’ll turn their associate’s into bachelor’s degrees. 

Penuelas Quinonez was admitted to ASU in March. By mid-April, she had determined which classes she’d be taking there. What she didn’t know was how much she’d be paying. 

She struggled through the spring to submit her FAFSA, tripped up because her parents don’t have Social Security numbers. Without an idea of next year’s sticker price, she worried she’d have to keep living at home, even though the ASU campus is a longer drive.

She finally got her aid offer in late April, though it still didn't show how much tuition she’ll have to pay. She’s now looking for an on-campus job and planning to take out loans so she can get an apartment and avoid commuting about two hours, there and back, every day.

A tale of two FAFSAs: Corrections create a waiting game

Ashly and Derick Callejas are twins, two of four children raised by working-class immigrants in Plainfield, New Jersey. The teens’ financial information is identical. Yet when it came to filling out the FAFSA this year, they had very different experiences. Ashly submitted her form with very few hitches. Derick, meanwhile, encountered problems at almost every step. 

In their case, it appeared successfully submitting the FAFSA came down to luck.

Perhaps because he pressed a button too many times or triggered some other glitch, Derick was informed he needed to correct his form once it was processed and couldn’t see his estimated aid until he fixed the problems. Making the necessary corrections promptly would be impossible. He’d have to wait weeks. He learned this not from the Education Department but from TikTok videos of students who had experienced similar problems. 

The administration indicated the revised forms would accept corrections in March. Then officials extended the timeline, anticipating corrections could be submitted in mid-April. Most of these changes were simple (like adding a missing signature) and would take only a few minutes, Education Department officials and observers said.

Derick recently learned, again through TikTok, that he could finally correct his form. But after he submitted the revision, he realized he needed to make another correction. The processing delays prevented him from knowing how much aid he’ll get for the University of Pennsylvania, where he was accepted earlier this year. 

Penn is one of several hundred institutions that uses the CSS profile, an online application that lets students apply for nonfederal financial aid. Derick is optimistic he’ll get most of his tuition covered, but he has refrained from committing to Penn until he knows more. Neither he nor Ashly wants to leave their parents with bills they can’t afford – sending one kid to college is expensive enough. And because of other changes to this year’s FAFSA, parents no longer get the same automatic discount for having two kids in college at once. 

A smooth FAFSA experience and an alternative: success stories

Henry Wolfe will probably remember April’s total solar eclipse for the rest of his life – but not because of the rare astrological event. 

Between his weekend track meets, he and his mother squeezed in a visit to Wake Forest University. While everyone else was busy staring at the sky outside, they were more concerned with the stuff on the ground: The band playing on the quad, the school’s mascot (the Demon Deacon), and the Department of Health and Exercise Science, where Wolfe hopes to study. 

On the car ride back home to Columbia, Missouri, Wolfe seemed to make up his mind. “This visit moved the needle,” his mom said from behind the wheel. 

While Wake Forest apparently still hadn’t received Wolfe’s FAFSA weeks later, the private North Carolina college uses the CSS Profile and estimated his aid that way. Wolfe got an offer in March that shaved tens of thousands of dollars off tuition, making it more affordable than the University of Pittsburgh, which he then eliminated from his shortlist. “Demon Deacons it is!” his mom wrote in a text to USA TODAY. 

On the other side of the country in Stockton, California, 18-year-old Diorue Hodges has decided she’s attending North Carolina A&T, a top HBCU known for educating the most Black engineers in the country. The aspiring mechanical engineer said her relatively painless FAFSA experience allowed her to focus on other matters this semester – studying for finals, connecting with fellow students at her future school and spending quality time with her California classmates. 

Hodges didn’t even know what the FAFSA was until her junior year. But her school hosted a week dedicated to teaching students and their families about the ins and outs of the process. Counselors also consistently reassured Hodges and her peers when there were delays and changes from the Education Department. “The form was just really easy,” she said. There weren’t any in-depth, confusing queries. “A lot of it was just, like, ‘Click this if it applies to you.’” 

Even for the luckiest students this year, some questions remain. Because of processing delays, Hodges is still awaiting a finalized aid package. 

Eroded trust: Colleges may struggle to solve enrollment problems

For years, the government wanted to put more money in the hands of more low-income college students. And over time, that will surely happen. The new FAFSA allows hundreds of thousands more students to qualify annually for federal aid. 

Yet the success stories have been subsumed by an overwhelming frustration over how officials in Washington went about trying to make things better. The resentment that built up devolved into a broader erosion of public trust in the federal financial aid system. 

Paul Dieken, financial aid director at Pomona College in California, said the Education Department hasn’t done a good job of rebuilding that trust. When the agency suggested that colleges could use corrupted data to get aid offers out the door as quickly as possible, Dieken was flabbergasted. 

The government has a lot of work to do to regain credibility, experts told Congress a few weeks ago. In the meantime, all the students caught up in this year’s mess will have to live with choices they were forced to make more quickly than many felt was reasonable. 

As of mid-April, the FAFSA completion rate at public high schools with the most minority students was down by more than a third .  

Dieken worries about the long-term repercussions of the messiness that has defined this admissions cycle. If the number of students of color at Pomona were to decline, it would be all but impossible for the college to figure out why it had happened. 

“We don't know if that's because of the FAFSA problem or the Supreme Court decision problem or even the campus protest issue,” he said. “It's really going to be hard for us to figure out what's causing changes in our class. ... If we don't know what the problem is, how do we course-correct?"

Alia Wong covers inequities in education for USA TODAY. You can reach her at (202) 507-2256 or [email protected]. Follow her on X at @aliaemily.

Zachary Schermele covers education and breaking news for   USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele .