How To Write a Motivational Letter With a Wow Effect: Expert Tips and Strategies

A strong letter of motivation is essential for success when submitting an application to many European colleges. It will highlight the applicant’s advantages and pique the committee’s attention. On the other hand, a dull communication chock full of cliches and meaningless words would utterly ruin the reputation of the prospective student.

The goal of a motivation letter

A motivation letter is a piece of writing that should show how driven and prepared the applicant is for success. Although the format of the presentation is optional, the letter has a sample structure. The goal of the motivation letter is to persuade the admissions committee that you have solid potential and are an excellent choice for a position in the faculty or department.

The recommendations in this article will be useful to you. Prepared by expert writers from Eduboard.com, they will help you write a unique and successful letter of motivation for any European university.

Structure of the motivation letter

The selection committee pays close attention to how carefully the motivation letter is written. Any letter should begin with a courteous salutation to the addressee and include a rundown of his academic accomplishments and positions held.

1. Introduction

The opening of a motivating letter must be compelling. Your essay must be concise, understandable, and interesting. Write about your desire to attend a specific university while making sure to support your claims with real-world examples from your experience.

In your introduction, try to answer the following questions:

• Who are you? What environment did you grow up in that shaped your personality?
• Why are you interested in this specialty?
• What influenced your choice?
• What incident made you think about this profession?
• What have you done or intend to do to enter the university?
• How do you see your future?

Formulate your thoughts clearly. Be sincere, do not be deceitful.

2. The main part

Here, it’s important to discuss why you choose this particular university. Keep in mind what you have learned about the university, and tell the commission that you were meant for studying there. Focus on your strengths and skills that the institution or the specialty field may find particularly valuable. Write about how your high school athletic career developed your character and taught you how to overcome obstacles if you participated in organized sports. Describe your professional background, even if you believe it to be insignificant.

Keep in mind: one paragraph, one topic. Keep your writing concise and simple; stay away from clichés and generalizations. The admissions committee wants to see how distinctive you are as a person. Be mindful of language and style, but make your expressions straightforward.

Abandon jokes, jargon, and colloquialisms. A motivational letter ought to be written in a straightforward manner. Describe your aspirations for the future in your writing. Be honest and upbeat as you describe your motives. Do not send your speech with the cliché, “I want to be a journalist so I can tell people the truth.” Mention journalists who have impressed you with their reporting. Offer an example of a story you would like to write, and explain why. Today’s world places a high importance on the capacity for planning and perspective-taking.

3. Conclusion

Describe why you are the best candidate and what you intend to learn in this section. You don’t have to praise the school or any particular professors in the motivation letter. Your earnest willingness to learn it is sufficient.

Emphasize those aspects of the program that you believe can help you become an excellent specialist. The motivation letter should convince teachers that you will be useful and help the development of the university, because the best graduates, who have become highly qualified specialists – it is always a reason for pride. At the end of the letter, it is appropriate to thank the commission for the time spent reading your essay.

Important: Before submitting your work, double-check the formal information (such as the name of the university and study program, address, and contact details).

How to write a motivation letter without mistakes

Do you know what reduces the chances of applicants for their enrollment? The mistakes they make in their motivation letters.

The following are the top 9 errors that students commonly make when writing a motivational essay:

1. One letter for all universities. You should consider each university’s unique characteristics before applying. Your athletic accomplishments will be appreciated by one university, and your charitable endeavors will be appreciated by another. Spend time and produce a motivational article that is distinct.
2. Duplication of information. Do not repeat anything that is in your resume or email to a specific educator in your motivational letter. Show off a variety of your personality traits.
3. Boring text. Improve the way you convey information. More people remember text that “hooks” them. Nevertheless, avoid being overly creative or emotional in your motivational letter. Instead, keep it professional and moderate.
4. Lack of structure. It is easier to understand well-structured content. Don’t forget the introduction, and include the main ideas in it before you break the content up into paragraphs. Making a list and emphasizing key elements is an excellent idea. Teachers read a lot of motivational letters, so make sure yours is well-written and comprehensive to prevent going unnoticed.
   
5. False. Be honest in what you write. Don’t tell lies. If you are learning French, don’t say that you can speak it fluently. Ask your teacher to write a letter about how you are doing with the language.
6. Length. It’s tiresome to read a text that’s too long. Try to fit your letter into one A4 sheet by looking at motivational letter samples. When writing the letter, be sure to follow the university’s formal guidelines for font, font size, and line spacing.
7. Excessive modesty. Sometimes smart and talented people lose out on getting into the university of their dreams because they are too self-conscious to talk about their accomplishments or don’t value their personal traits. Although constructive self-criticism is important, you must accurately assess and portray your skills and accomplishments in the motivation letter.
8. Sloppiness. Do not forget to check the motivational essay before sending it. Spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors spoil the impression of even a meaningful text. Ask to check the letter of a professional who has a good command of the language and knows the requirements for design.
9. Failure to meet deadlines. Writing an excellent motivational essay will not help if it is submitted late. Make a list of the colleges you want to apply to, together with their dates for important applications and entrance exams. This should be the first step in the admissions preparation process.

Steps to do before sending a motivation letter

Try to write your motivation letter in advance. Put it aside for a few days, then go back to the text, reread it with fresh eyes, and check whether your opus meets the following requirements:

1. The motivation letter meets all the formal requirements of the university.
2. There are no trite, cliched phrases in the text.
3. My story sounds unique and forms exactly the impression I want to make.
4. The text does not contain logical, stylistic, grammatical, punctuation, and other errors and inaccuracies.
5. The motivation letter is in line with my goals and objectives.
6. In this motivational essay, I have demonstrated all the skills, abilities, and successes that I need to gain admission to the Y faculty.
7. The introduction immediately makes it clear that it is worth spending 5-10 minutes of your precious time reading my letter carefully.
8. After reading the motivation letter, it is clear what kind of person I am and why I want to go to University X and study at Faculty Y with Professor Z.