How to Make a Brag Sheet: Ultimate Guide for Students & Professionals

A brag sheet is a list of your skills, achievements, and experiences created to help your teacher or counselor write a strong, detailed letter of recommendation. Despite the name, a brag sheet isn’t about showing off, it’s more like a personalized, holistic and slightly informal version of a resume or CV.

Essentially, it serves as a well-organized snapshot of who you are and what are your academic accomplishments, extracurricular activities, personality traits, goals and any context that might help your recommender write a meaningful letter. It is quite common to include a brag sheet with the request for the recommendation letter and it sounds surely nice to do it, one which would facilitate the recommender's task and substantially increase your chances of getting an abstracted or compelling letter.

If you are not sure how to create one or what to put in it then you should keep reading because this guide covers all the basics of brag sheet.

What is a Brag Sheet?

A brag sheet is a comprehensive list of educational degrees, achievements, and skills that you have acquired throughout your academic career. One writes for you to help you have a strong, specific letter of recommendation or to prepare for a review. As it may sound a bit like a resume or CV, you can say, but both are quite different types of documents. It is like a personal brochure that tells about you to your teacher or counselor with a detailed dossier of your many achievements and unique strengths. A brag sheet is one of the close cousins of the more familiar resume, whereas a brag sheet is supposed to represent you in a positive light. 

Brag Sheet vs. Resume: What’s the Difference?

When it comes to showcasing your accomplishments, both a resume and a brag sheet have their role to play but before we proceed further, it's essential to understand that they serve different purposes.

The Key Benefits of a Brag Sheet

A brag is more than just an accomplishment put together it is one of the resources that helps you to present the complete picture of yourself. And by learning how to make a brag sheet, it is not any chemistry equation; here, one just needs to have a good and professional recommender to help with the processing.

• Unlike a resume, which is limited to professional experiences, a brag sheet covers academics, awards, achievements, and personal interests. 
• This makes it way too useful for the students, job seekers, or to anyone preparing for the recommendation letters and applications. 
• One of the biggest advantages of a brag sheet is that it is helpful to recommenders. 
• The teachers, mentors, or supervisors that one may know about in context, but your brag sheet enables them to see your full range of strengths. 
• It is a personalized letter that can highlight your achievements more effectively. 
• Another advantage is self-reflection. By writing down what you have accomplished, you realize what you can accomplish and what you have accomplished and this helps make people more confident and prepared to take interviews. 
• It is a record-keeping tool as well, and in the future, the resumes, scholarship applications, or personal statements would be easy to revise.
• Lastly, a brag sheet ensures that your efforts and achievements are not overlooked, and this gives you an edge over others in both academic and the workplace.

What to Include in Your Brag Sheet: A Complete Checklist

A brag sheet is like an opportunity to highlight your various achievements and experiences in a nutshell. Unlike a resume, it doesn’t need to be restricted to only professional details but it's a broader showcase of who you are. Make your brag sheet impactful, follow the key elements that you should include:

Pro Tips for Maximum Impact

By sticking to the tips, you need not dig deeper; just lay your information in a well-structured format in the brag sheet. 

• Provide Context: So if you are looking forward to applying to a specific program or are undecided but with a specific strategy for marking an academic career, or make sure that you have a specific and compelling reason for applying to certain kinds of universities or programs, then be confident to include that contextual information in your recommendation.
• Know what To Include: Put important information like your name, contact information, and purpose of application, to understand you better. Emphasize personality, life story, inspirations, academic and extra-curricular achievements. This assists your letter writer in making a more precise and specific recommendation.
• Impact: A well-organized and concise brag sheet helps to secure a stronger, more convincing letter. As it ensures the writer has all the details that are required to create a comprehensive recommendation, which distinguishes your application in the eyes of your admission counselors. 
• Purpose: Present your brag sheet as a courtesy to aid the letter writer and to make the recommendations process easier and more relevant. There is no time to mention or propose to have any intention of influencing the process of letter writing.

How to Make a Brag Sheet: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a brag sheet may sound daunting at first, but if you follow the structural approach and use the brag sheet template, then you will be able to create a valuable resource for your recommenders. Here is a step-by-step process to be able to compose a good one:

Step 1: Academic Achievements

You can start with your GPA, honors, awards that you have won, or with some advanced courses that you have taken. And if you have received recognition for academic excellence, like honor roll, scholarships, or competitions, put them accordingly. This will help to paint a picture of your dedication and performance in school. 

Step 2: Volunteer and Community Services

Be sure to mention your volunteer activities, service projects, or charity drives. Community participation demonstrates care, character, and the desire to give out of the academics.

Step 3: Extracurricular Activities

It encompasses sports, drama, clubs or leadership roles and responsibilities that you have assumed. Whether you were a captain of a sports team, a newspaper editor, or an active member of some student organization, all these numerous experiences can prove the devotion and collaboration. 

Step 4: Skills and Personal Interests

Remember to mention your personal talents and hobbies. So, you speak another language, you are a coder, you write; these little touches of personalization make you shine. 

Step 5: Goals and Aspirations

Lastly, stick to your multiple ambitions, like career goals or majors in college. This provides every mentor and counselor with an idea of where you are going and how they can most effectively help you along. 

Note: Creating a professional brag sheet helps demonstrate confidence, readiness and organization for new career opportunities. Unlike a resume it focuses on accomplishments in greater detail, making it a valuable tool for performance reviews, promotions or networking.

Brag Sheet Examples and Templates

Creating strong brag sheet examples and templates helps students understand how to make a brag sheet for college, highlight achievements, organize activities, and impress teachers, counselors, or admissions officers with a well-prepared academic and extracurricular profile.

Annotated Example: High School Student (College Application)

This example demonstrates how a high school student might structure a Brag Sheet to give their high school counselor or teacher the detailed, personal stories and specific context required to write a powerful, customized Letter of Recommendation for college admissions.

• Example of a High School Student's College Application
• Click on the link to download it:

Annotated Example: Professional (Performance Review)

In this example we show how a professional would have structured a document, sometimes functioning like a brag sheet in the corporate world to enumerate accomplishments and growth throughout the year. The document is usually relevant for updating a Resume justifying a raise, or preparing an annual appraisal with a manager.

• Example of Professional Performance Review 
• Click on the link to download: 

Free Downloadable Brag Sheet Template

I also have created a template so you can use it to crete your own brag sheet: 

• Click on the link and use the brag sheet as you like: 

Tailoring Your Brag Sheet: Academic vs. Professional Use

A brag sheet is a good option to rely upon; make sure that you make the best use of it for both academic and professional uses to make sure that your achievements are fully put forward.

How to Ask Someone to Be Your Recommender

Knowing about the right way ensures that the recommenders are willing and able to highlight your strengths effectively, and would help you with how to make a brag sheet as well. Below are the steps following which you can get going with it- 

1. HIRING THE RIGHT PERSON

Hire someone who knows you well inside and out and who can speak well about your many accomplishments, growth, and character. Your brag sheet should be written by someone who has observed your performance in academics, community services, extracurricular activities, or work. 

2. BOOK WRITER EARLY 

One needs to provide enough time to respond. So, keep in mind to book your writer in advance, allowing them some time to reflect on your achievements and then write a thoughtful recommendation without feeling rushed. 

3. BE RESPECTFUL 

The way you conduct yourself is really important, be polite and explain them why you are seeking their help in your brag sheet. Mention why you give value to their perspective and in their experience of writing. 

4. PROVIDE WITH MATERIALS 

Share your brag sheet, CV, or say relevant accomplishments so that they have clear details to reference. This also helps them to write a personalized and detailed recommendation letter rather than a simple one. 

5. BE GRATEFUL AND SHOW GRATITUDE 

And if they do not agree with you, thank them then too for considering your request. After the recommendation has been closed, make sure that you follow up with a thank-you note by expressing your appreciation for their time and support. 

Conclusion 

Getting remarkable recommendations is really important and difficult at the same time. But with some good luck, you can make all the differences. You can’t always tell what your recommender will write about you, but with the last-minute brag sheet in hand, you can help guide your writer to emphasize your best achievements and skills. Make sure to use the template and examples that are used here to help you for your next time when you are asking for a letter of recommendation, salary raise, college admission, or just for a job promotion. Plus, keep your brag sheet updated often so you can use it to draft a resume for your next goal.