1

I am going to apply for a visiting research program in Physics. The institute asks for a Curriculum Vitae (a single pdf file) which will provide all my academic background and professional background info, copies of my academic transcripts, and a Statement of Purpose describing my background and explaining why I feel that the program is right one for me.

I have an "ordinary" CV. Now I am a bit confused about how to add all those things into one such CV. Please suggest me how to go about it. If there are some sample documents,please let me know.

4
  • This sounds like they just want one combined pdf for ensuring , rather than a weird CV version. But I'd need to see their exact phrasing to be confident of that, as this is quite different than any request I've personally dealt with.
    – BrianH
    Feb 22, 2016 at 20:59
  • Here it is : "Please attach here (in PDF format only) your Curriculum Vitae, which will provide all of your Academic Background and Professional Background information, copies of your academic transcripts, and a Statement of Purpose describing your background and explaining why you feel that this is the right program for you". Feb 22, 2016 at 21:02
  • @PhysicsMoron And they only let you upload one file? Feb 22, 2016 at 21:19
  • Yes. Only one pdf file. Feb 23, 2016 at 4:08

2 Answers 2

5

This sounds like a case of the ambivalent comma to me. In the quote that you provide:

"Please attach here (in PDF format only) your Curriculum Vitae, which will provide all of your Academic Background and Professional Background information, copies of your academic transcripts, and a Statement of Purpose describing your background and explaining why you feel that this is the right program for you".

it is ambiguous whether it should be interpreted as "Curriculum Vitae (which has your background) and copies of your academic transcripts and a Statement of purpose" or as "your CV should have: academic and professional information and copies of your academic transcripts and a Statement of purpose"

The typical practice would be for an institution to be requesting the second, so I would recommend interpreting it in that manner. If they allow you to upload only one PDF, just bundle the documents together into one PDF.

4
  • I agree with your general assessment (fuzziness due to comma use). However, why would one should take a risk by making a particular interpretation, when it is so easy to request a clarification from the institute and be certain of the expectations? Feb 22, 2016 at 23:05
  • Should I scan those transcripts and add them to the CV? Feb 24, 2016 at 16:49
  • 1
    @PhysicsMoron Do they let you upload multiple files, or just one? If they only let you upload one file, you should concatenate all of the PDFs together. If they let you upload multiple, I would upload each document separately.
    – jakebeal
    Feb 24, 2016 at 17:00
  • Only a single file! Also should I add all of my academic transcripts? By "all" here I mean class 10 onward. I am a PhD student, by the way :) Feb 24, 2016 at 17:21
1

It doesn't sound like they want anything out of the ordinary.

If they do indeed only let you upload a single file then just append all of your documents together. Adobe Acrobat or other common PDF tools can easily do this. I've had to do this before.

It is probably just more convenient for them to have one document per applicant rather than 3-6 documents (CV, SoP, and transcripts from different schools).

1
  • Should I scan those transcripts and add them to the CV? Feb 23, 2016 at 11:01

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .