Letter of motivation
A letter of motivation (also called a "statement of purpose" or "personal essay") is a brief essay in which you explain what you hope to achieve during your studies or the scholarship program for which you are applying, as well as what it is that qualifies you as a top candidate for the scholarship.
The letter of motivation is an extremely important part of the application documents because it provides the selection committee with a description of your personality, as well as in what way you plan to contribute to and benefit from the scholarship program for which you are applying.
Useful advice
- Make sure you know the exact format of the letter of motivation required by the competition before you start writing (required number of words/pages, spaces, etc.)
- Make sure your text is clear and readable
Samples of letters of motivation
- Statement of purpose #1
(Source: http://owl.english.purdue.edu; PDF format, 10 KB, English) - Statement of purpose #2
(Source: http://web.ceu.hu; PDF format, 10 KB, English) - Statement of purpose #3
(Source: http://www.accepted.com; PDF format, 10 KB, English) - Statement of purpose #4
(Source: http://www.uni-mainz.de/; PDF format, 80 KB, English)
Additional information
- Preparation courses on how to write a letter of motivation
- "How to Write a Successful Application" weekend workshop – Institute for the Development of Education
- Preparation books on how to write a letter of motivation
- IRO library - Institute for the Development of Education
- Internet resources
- Statement of Purpose
(Source: http://www.ceu.hu; English) - How to write a motivation letter
(Source: http://www.znanje.infostud.com; Serbian) - How to Write a Motivation Letter (Source: http://www.eastchance.com; English)
- A list of useful words and phrases to use in motivation letters(Source: http://www.prospects.ac.uk; English)
- Statement of Purpose