College · College Success

Hand your recommenders
the stories.

Counselors and teachers write better letters when they have specifics to quote. List your activities with the hours and one line of impact, back each strength with a true story and say what your transcript misses. The builder totals your hours, points out lines with no number and strengths with no story, and prints a clean sheet to hand over.

Build a brag sheetWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the College application season kit, $29 for 17 items.

Brag sheets

The worked example is made up: a senior with a job and a robotics team, a parent’s sheet for a swimmer, and a schedule whose numbers need a second look. Saved on this device only.

Loading the brag sheet form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

College · College SuccessAlso for College · Family Resources$5

What you finish with
A brag sheet per student: who is writing, graduation year and field of interest; each activity with role, years, hours a week, weeks a year and an impact line; strengths with stories; what a college should understand, a challenge and a parent’s view if wanted; five checks. Totals weekly and yearly hours and prints the sheet ready to hand to a counselor or teacher.
Who it is for
High school students asking for college recommendations, and parents and caregivers filling in a sheet with their student.
Format
Browser builder with a saved sheet per student. Prints the brag sheet, the full record, every sheet in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the College application season kit ($29) and the Caveat Suite pass ($299). Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The College Success space in Caveat College; also listed in the Family Resources space (parents can fill it in with the student).
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Choose who is writing.
  2. List activities, most important first.
  3. Give each an impact line with a number.
  4. Back up each strength with a story.
  5. Print it and hand it to every recommender.

Build a brag sheet

What makes a brag sheet useful

From adjective to something a letter can quoteAn adjective“Hardworking”True of mostapplicants, so areader skips itA claim“I balance a job andschool”Better, but still asksthe reader to trustyouA story with a number“I work 12 hours aweek and still kept upwith robotics”A counselor can repeatit word for wordFrom adjective to something a letter can quoteAn adjective“Hardworking”True of most applicants, so a reader skipsitA claim“I balance a job and school”Better, but still asks the reader to trustyouA story with a number“I work 12 hours a week and still kept upwith robotics”A counselor can repeat it word for word
The third version is what a brag sheet is for.

Count everything you do

A job, caring for a younger sibling or translating for family count as activities. Colleges ask about them, and they explain where your time goes.

Hours and weeks

Applications usually ask for hours a week and weeks a year. Eight hours a week for 30 weeks is 240 hours: a number that makes a commitment concrete and checks that your list adds up.

One sheet, many uses

The impact lines become your activity descriptions. The strength stories answer interview questions. Update it each semester and it keeps paying off.

Sources

  1. National Association for College Admission Counseling. Guidance on letters of recommendation and the student’s role in supplying information.
  2. Your counseling office’s own brag sheet or senior questionnaire, if it has one: use its questions first.
  3. American School Counselor Association. Guidance on the counselor’s role in writing college recommendations.
  4. College application instructions for the activities section (roles, hours a week, weeks a year, a short description).

The worked example is made up. If your school has its own brag sheet form, answer its questions and use this to draft them. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.