Motivation letter hacks that help students go to universities and colleges

For admission to universities and colleges in the United States and Europe, you need a letter of motivation. We tell you how to submit it correctly and what to write to please the admissions committee.

Motivation Letter is a 500- to 1,000-word free-form essay in which you write about your life experiences, achievements, skills, and plans for the future. The motivation letter tells the admissions committee what you are interested in and why they should choose you.

A motivation letter for a university abroad is not an essay about how good, active, and fun you are. It is an essay about the most intimate things in your life: the events that shaped your life’s work, turned your world upside down, and made you choose to study abroad.

A letter of motivation is the soul of your application. Admissions officers receive hundreds of documents from applicants in which they only see dry data like IELTS, GMAT, or TOEFL scores and the names of institutions where you have studied before. The only way to show your personality is through a letter of motivation.

Let’s say at once that the length and content of the letter depends on the requirements of the specific study program of the foreign university: see the website of your university. You can use college paper help with ready-made design templates.

A motivation letter usually consists of three parts. The first is an introduction, the second is about the applicant’s success and motivation, and the third is about hobbies and accomplishments outside of school. One paragraph is allotted to the first, two or three to the second, and one to the third.

Process Explained

Introduction / Intro. Tell us what you do and why your motivation letter is worth reading to the end.

Body. Tell me why you chose this program, where you want to work in the future, what you are good at, and what you want to get pumped up in an overseas university. Awards, diplomas, experience overcoming difficult situations, internships, master’s programs – all in the same section.
Conclusion. Final phrases that should make the admissions committee fall in love with you. Here you need to write how a particular university, department, or faculty member will benefit from you.

Header/Footer

Two other important elements of an English motivation letter are the header and the footer. The former is a section with the recipient’s contacts (Contact Details) plus a message, and the latter is your signature. To make sure you get it right, use a template for the header and footer.

What to write in a motivation letter?

The task before you is not an easy one. You need to fit in 1,000 characters and show that you are a good fit for the university and that you understand the program you are applying to.

What you should be sure to reflect in the letter?

Major. Tell us what attracts you to the major, if you have any experience in the field, and what you want to do if you apply.
Experience. Perhaps you have taken courses that will help you in your studies, or you have researched a similar topic. Don’t keep quiet, talk about it.

Skills. List skills and abilities that will come in handy during your studies. For example, if you’re going to business school, tell us how you track performance and lead a team if you have that experience.

We’ve put together a list of questions below to help you structure your thoughts:

What are your short- and long-term goals after you graduate from the program?
How will the program help you achieve those goals?

Why are you a good fit for this program?
Do you have experience in this specialty?
Why do you want to study in this country?

Why have you chosen this particular major and which courses in the program do you find most useful and interesting?
It happens that the university asks its questions and demands answers from them. Before writing your motivation letter, be sure to study the requirements of your university!
How to write a good motivational letter for your studies

With these tips, your letter definitely won’t go unnoticed.
Your motivation letter should be structured and clear; the writing style should be formal.

Keep the letter to one page. Use Times New Roman and Arial fonts, size 12, single-spaced.
Every sentence counts! Don’t stretch, but write to the point.
Don’t start your letter with “My name is… and I was born …”. Think outside the box.

Specifics and case examples are important. If you’re applying to business, write about what you’ve achieved in your job, how you can manage your team, and so on.
Do not repeat information you already have in other documents you submit with your application (test scores, contest wins, diplomas). Interpret them and show how they shaped your personality and what they taught you.
Don’t copy other people’s letters, but write about yourself and specifically for a particular university. With one letter you can apply to the same major at different universities, but not too different majors. Change your emphasis in your letter according to the program you are applying to.

No grammatical errors! Proofread and edit your letter with a professional editor before you send it. Or use fluently express – their native speakers check your letter for errors in a few minutes (the first 300 characters are free).
Do not write your letter at the last moment. It’s better to write in advance, so you have time to reread your letter with a fresh brain and make corrections.
If you want to depart from the standard structure of the letter, for example, you are applying for a creative specialty, go ahead. But double-check your university’s requirements.