When you want to enrol to a college, especially If you plan to start or even continue your studies abroad, an integral part of the documentation would be your biography (CV), as well as a motivation letter. If you haven’t met the technique of writing a motivation letter during your schooling process, please check below the rules and tips and find out how to express yourself in the best possible way, in order to earn a high rank with both technical knowledge and impressiveness when enrolling to the college.
The motivation letter, together with the CV (your short biography) makes a unique summary of your professional successes achieved by now. The CV serves to briefly summarize your basic information regarding personal information, education, volunteering, professional business experience, as well as other school and extracurricular activities that have marked your life so far. On the other hand, the cover letter, we would say, represents your broader biography, a reflection of your personality, and a more personal essence of everything you have jotted down in your CV. As a rule, both the CV and the cover letter should be summarized on one page of A4 format, while CV is written in the standard form (briefly, only basic information), and the biography should flow and contain your statements made up of full sentences. When you write a motivation letter, pay attention to save it as a separate word or written document (not as a part of your CV or part of an e-mail), and to clearly address it with a proper name (motivation letter, etc.), in order to make a job easier for those who sort out the documentation.
The main and basic goal of the motivation letter is to make an impression on the reader, as well as to make him sure that you are THE RIGHT CANDIDATE for a certain university. So, its function is to somehow clarify and summarize information about your personality, your interests, competencies, but also your desire to enter a certain university, department etc…
Since your main goal will be to write a striking motivation letter that will arouse the reader’s attention, keep the following TIPS in mind:
FOLLOW THE BASIC TECHNICAL AND SPELLING RULES
As a future (or already active) academic, it is necessary to show a high level of knowledge of technical literacy and grammar rules of a particular language. So, pay attention that your sentences are primarily meaningful and grammarly. If you are not sure about that, ask an older friend or a colleague to help you, proofread the letter, and translate it so that the meaning and the spirit of the language remain unchanged.
Regarding technical rules, every motivation letter should consist of 4 structural units, which are: CONTACT DETAILS; INTRO; BODY AND CONCLUSION.
CONTACT DETAILS
Every motivation letter in the upper left corner should contain the contact details of the recipient (in this case the university), while in the upper right corner should contain your personal contact information: name, address, e-mail address, contact phone, LinkedIn address (if you have it, of course) … University information should include the name of the Dean, e-mail address, contact service for a student enrolment, address of the university, as well as the name of the university and the department for which you are applying. You can optionally add a school year and a date.
INTRO
The introductory part of the motivation letter, next to the regular addressing part with Dear …, should also contain the following information such as: your personal information regarding your previous level of education, as well as why and where you want to enrol to your studies. In this part, you should clearly name the department, the university, as well as the main reasons that attracted you and led you to apply for it. Why am I applying? What attracted me the most? What do I get by enrolling to a certain college? What connects me to the department I want to enrol in? These are just some of the questions which you should give precise and short answers to.
BODY
In the body, you should tell a story about yourself, about your achievements and experiences gained so far. In here, you should feel free to enlist everything you think is close to the university, in terms of competitions, volunteering work, clubs, and even books and presentations that you have read / attended and that have amazed you / made you like a certain area. In this part the most important is to be honest, just to be yourself! Let the words come from the soul, tell some anecdote that will best describe you. In this part you must show your essence, what you really are, what you think they will like and remember you for. Don’t forget that this section should be reviewed and summarized chronologically. Since the motivation letter should be written on one page, your elaboration should not be longer than 2/3 of the same (the rest is the introduction and conclusion), so carefully choose the information and state it as clearly as possible, and again speak from the soul and with a personal touch.
CONLUSION
The conclusion, just like the intro, should not be long. Here you should state your plans: point out how enrolment would affect your further development and career, express your gratitude to the reader, and hope that they will recognize your huge desire to study right there. In conclusion, be precise and measured, without too much emotion, but with a dose of respect and enthusiasm.
Remember that each of these parts is equally important, and when writing each of them, do your best to ensure success. Also, consider that the information you provide in the elaboration should be supported by evidence (diplomas, commendations, newspaper articles) which you will also enclose with the letter. And for your letter to fully justify your expectations, pay attention to the tone of writing, the words you use, and the mistakes that distract the reader…
We bring you more about that in the blog to come!
