How to build your CV when you're still in high school

Many European universities, particularly in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, ask for a CV as part of your application. Like you're applying for a job.

Which raises an obvious and completely reasonable question: what exactly do you put on a CV when you're 17, you've never had a real job, and your most impressive achievement might be that you read all seven Harry Potter books in a single summer?

More than you think, as it turns out. And knowing how to present it properly makes a significant difference.

This post is a step-by-step guide to building a university application CV from scratch, what to include, what to leave out, how to format it, and how to make it work for EU university applications specifically.

First: what a university CV is not

It's not your LinkedIn profile. It's not a list of every single thing you've ever done. It's not a document designed to make you look busy.

A university application CV is a clean, one-page (maximum two-page) document that gives an admissions committee a clear, honest picture of who you are academically and what you've done with your time outside the classroom. Its job is to support your motivation letter — not repeat it, but complement it.

EU universities use it differently from UK or US applications. In the Netherlands and Germany especially, the CV is often a straightforward factual document, they're not expecting you to sell yourself aggressively. They want clarity, structure, and relevance.

The structure: what goes in, in order

Personal information

Name, email address, phone number, nationality, date of birth. That's it. No photo unless specifically requested (some German universities ask for one - check the specific requirements). No home address unless required.

Keep this section minimal. It's functional, not impressive.

Education

Your current school, the year you started, the qualification you're working toward (IB Diploma, Hungarian Érettségi, A-Levels, or whatever applies to you), and your expected graduation date.

If you have any notable academic results already (strong mock grades, IB predicted scores, national competition results) include them here briefly. If your grades are average or you're still waiting for results, just list the qualification without drawing attention to the numbers.

If you've done any additional courses, online certifications, or language qualifications (B2 English certificate, for example), add those here too.

Work experience

"But I've never had a job."

That's fine, and more common than you think. But look more carefully before you assume this section is empty.

Babysitting, tutoring younger students, helping at a family business, a summer internship even for a week, volunteering at an event, part-time work of any kind, these all count. The key is not what the job was, but what it demonstrates: reliability, initiative, the ability to show up and do something useful.

If you genuinely have zero work experience of any kind, skip this section entirely rather than padding it with things that aren't really work experience. Admissions committees can tell the difference.

For each entry, write: the role, the organisation or context, the dates, and one or two bullet points on what you actually did. Keep it factual. "Tutored three Year 9 students in mathematics twice a week for six months" is better than "helped younger students learn."

Extracurricular activities

This is often the most important section for high school applicants, and the most misunderstood.

The temptation is to list everything. Every club you've ever attended, every activity you've ever tried, every sport you played for one semester in Year 9. Resist this.

What admissions committees are looking for is not quantity, it's evidence of genuine engagement. Two or three activities you've done consistently over multiple years, with some level of progression or responsibility, tells a far more compelling story than twelve activities you tried once each.

Include: sports teams (especially if you've held a position like captain or coach), music (grade or competition level if relevant), debate or Model UN, student council or leadership roles, academic clubs, any competition you've entered, community projects, creative work you've pursued seriously.

For each, note how long you've been involved and any role or achievement worth mentioning. "Member of the school debate team since Year 9, placed second at the regional Hungarian championship in 2025" is specific and credible. "Debate club" is not.

Volunteering and community involvement

Separate from extracurriculars; this is specifically unpaid work done for the benefit of others or the community.

If you've volunteered for anything (an NGO, a local event, a hospital, a community project, anything) include it here. EU universities, particularly in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, respond well to evidence of civic engagement. It signals the kind of person you are beyond your academic results.

If you haven't volunteered for anything yet and school is three weeks away: there is still time to do something small before applications close. Even four or five Saturdays spent volunteering somewhere relevant to your field of interest is worth including.

Skills

A short, factual section. Three categories:

Languages: List each language you speak and your level honestly -Native, C2, C1, B2, B1, A2. If you have a formal certificate (IELTS, DELF, Goethe-Zertifikat), note it. Don't inflate your levels, admissions interviews sometimes happen in the language you've claimed to speak.

Technical skills: Anything genuinely useful, like coding languages, software (Adobe suite, specific lab tools, data analysis programs), research skills. Only include things you can actually demonstrate if asked.

Other: Driving licence if relevant, first aid certificate, anything with a formal qualification attached. Don't pad this with "Microsoft Word" — that's not a skill, it's a baseline expectation.

Interests

Optional but often worth including; one or two lines about what you genuinely do in your free time that hasn't already appeared elsewhere in the CV. This is the section that can make you sound like an actual human being rather than a list of achievements.

Keep it honest and specific. "Reading contemporary Central European literature and following developments in AI ethics" is more interesting than "reading and technology." Specific interests suggest genuine curiosity, which is exactly what universities are looking for.

Formatting: the rules that actually matter

One page if possible, two pages maximum. At 17 or 18 with no full-time work history, one page is almost always enough. If yours is spilling onto two pages, something is being padded.

Clean, simple layout. No colours, no graphics, no photos unless requested, no creative fonts. Use a standard professional font (Calibri, Arial, or Georgia at 11pt). Margins of 2cm on each side. Section headers slightly larger or bold. That's it.

Consistent formatting throughout. If you use bullet points in one section, use them in all sections. If you list dates in one format, use the same format everywhere. Inconsistency reads as careless.

Proofread it twice. Then ask someone else to proofread it once. A CV with a typo in someone's name or dates that don't add up undermines everything else on the page.

Save it as a PDF before submitting. CVs submitted as Word documents can reformat unpredictably on different computers. PDF looks the same on every screen.

Name the file sensibly. "CV_YourName_2026.pdf" not "document_final_v3_ACTUAL_FINAL.pdf." Admissions offices receive hundreds of documents. A clearly named file is a small thing that matters.

A note on honesty

Everything on your CV should be something you could talk about comfortably in an interview. If you've listed a skill, a language level, or an activity, assume you might be asked about it.

This sounds obvious but it matters more than people think. Inflating your language level from B1 to C1 feels harmless on paper, until an admissions interview happens partly in that language. Listing an activity you barely participated in feels safe until a follow-up question makes the depth of your involvement obvious.

The best CVs aren't the ones that claim the most. They're the ones where every item feels earned and specific and real. That's the standard worth holding yourself to.

One last thing

Your CV is a supporting document, it works alongside your motivation letter, not instead of it. The CV tells them what you've done. The motivation letter tells them who you are and why you want to be there.

If you're building both from scratch right now and want someone to look at them before you submit; that's exactly the kind of thing we do at Lumen. Our team has reviewed hundreds of application documents for EU universities specifically, and we know what works for Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Dublin in ways that generic advice doesn't capture.

Book a free consultation and get your application on track →