When it comes time to ask for letters of recommendation, your recommenders will want to write a detailed, compelling letter about you. But teachers, counselors, and professors are busy people who often write letters for dozens of students.
That’s where the brag sheet comes in. A brag sheet is a quick, one- or two-page document that summarizes your accomplishments, interests, and goals. Think of it as a helpful cheat sheet for recommenders so they can highlight your absolute best qualities in their letters.
Your high school may already have a template or process for requesting letters of recommendation, and if so you should follow it. But if you need help creating one, we’ve got you covered.
Here is how to build one that works, whether you are applying to college for the first time or preparing to transfer.
What to Include on Your Brag Sheet
You don’t need a fancy design—just a simple document or bulleted list works best! Aim to include the following core sections:
Basic Info & Deadlines: Your full name, contact info, current school, intended college majors, and your upcoming application deadlines.
Academic Highlights: Courses you’ve enjoyed, major papers or projects you were proud of, your GPA, and any academic honors or AP/IB/Dual Enrollment courses.
Activities & Responsibilities: Clubs, sports, arts, after-school jobs, internships, community service, or key family responsibilities.
Personal Motivations: A quick note on why you are applying to college, what drives your interest in your chosen field, and what challenges or growth moments have shaped your journey.
Adjusting Your Brag Sheet: First-Year vs. Transfer Students
While the goal of a brag sheet is the same for everyone, the details you highlight will depend on where you are in your educational journey.
First-Year Applicants: Focus on your growth over your four years of high school, your extracurricular involvement, and specific memories from that teacher’s classroom. It’s helpful to create a slightly different brag sheet for each one of your recommenders.
Transfer Applicants: Shift the focus to college-level academics. Highlight specific research, exams, or major assignments from your professor’s class, along with your primary reasons for transferring.
Your Free Brag Sheet Template
We’ve built a ready-to-use template so you can skip the formatting and start filling in your details right away! In addition to this template, we encourage you to attach an activities resume before handing it over to your recommender as this gives them a full picture of your activities outside the classroom.
Need help saving it? Because this doc is set to view-only, you'll just need to save your own copy first:
Hit File in the top-left menu.
Click Make a copy. (Make multiple copies for each of your recommenders!)
Rename it (like [Your Name] - Brag Sheet), hit save, and start filling it out!
