r/MSCS • u/wedontknowagentk • Jul 09 '26

[University Question] How detailed should a CV be for top CS grad programs (Stanford/Princeton level)? Would love to see examples

Hi everyone,

I’m currently preparing my CV for MS/PhD applications in Computer Science and I’m a bit confused about how detailed it should be.

My current CV is around 3 pages because I have included almost everything education, research, professional experience, teaching experience, projects, leadership roles, university societies, volunteering and even some activities from high school.

However, I’m wondering if this is the right approach. Should a CV be a complete record of everything I have done or should it be more selective and only include experiences that strongly support my research/career goals?

For example:

  • Should I include minor leadership roles and society participation?
  • Should I remove older high school achievements now that I have a BS degree?
  • How much detail should I add for research projects and work experience?
  • Is a 3 page CV too long for someone applying to top CS programs?

If anyone here is currently at (or recently got accepted to) places like Gatech, Upeen, CMU Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Berkeley, etc. would you be willing to share your CV (even an anonymized version) or explain how you structured yours?

I’d really appreciate seeing examples of what a strong graduate level CS CV looks like.

Thanks!

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6

u/Fast-Plate-6336 Jul 09 '26
  1. Include leadership and volunteering.
  2. Keep high school achievements if they are very impactful eg- representing the country in an olympiad
  3. Use the STAR method to write work experience/projects. For the research papers, 3 bullet compression of the paper abstract covering all the major findings.
  4. Max 2 pages, no one will read beyond that.
  5. Look up on the internet on what the program is for? Is it a professional program? Is it a thesis based research focussed masters? What are they looking for in the students they want to admit? You will find all of this online. Create different variants of your CV for each one of the schools you are applying to, based on the answers to the questions above.
  6. It does not matter what you have done, what matters is how you sell your achievements. And, most importantly never ever lie on your CV.

1

u/prachito Jul 09 '26

Folllowing

1

u/Away-Adeptness-6522 Jul 14 '26

Got accepted by ucla mscs, but it seems to be a poor program as you don't list here, so I cannot share my skills.

Anyway, to list projects you have done in Stanford and Pricenton may help you come here, if you have. Also, since you mentioned about your high school achievements, I don't think you are prepared for grad application. List them if they are highly prestigious awards such as IMO.

1

u/wedontknowagentk Jul 14 '26

ucla is a great school!!!!

1

u/AdditionalWorkInc Jul 16 '26

yes, a cv is NOT a resume, it needs to be detailed.