How to ace your motivation letter for studying a master’s

If your university has provided questions for you to answer in your motivation letter, I recommend that you start with an introduction and answer the questions in order of how they were asked. This will make it easier for the admissions team to assess.  

When writing my letter, I kept to the following structure:  

1. What has led me to pursue this degree? 

2. What is my goal for the future? 

3. Why am I choosing this programme at this university? 

4. How will this programme help me to reach my goals? 

Make sure you provide evidence of your key skills, including any research, critical thinking, communication, organisation and planning, and time management skills. I learned that it’s helpful to draw on your own experiences as examples. 

In my motivation letter, I wrote about the projects I worked on during my undergraduate degree, including activism and participating in language clubs, and how they helped me to grow my network. I also talked about my volunteer experience in local organisations, at international conferences and on exchange programmes abroad.  

Instead of simply listing them, I emphasised the importance of a handful of experiences for my personal and professional development. When talking about your experiences, show how you were affected by each one.  

Are you a member of a community? Have you written any papers, or won any awards, scholarships or prizes? Have you worked on any relevant projects, dissertations or essays? Do you have any relevant work experience or volunteering and internship experience? It’s all important.  

Most importantly, talk about what makes you you. You can be personable and talk about the things that you’re interested in and passionate about. They want to see who you are.  

Reading other people's letters for new ideas is great, but I don’t advise plagiarising the entire content. It will be obvious that it hasn’t come from you and do you really want to gain a place at university based on someone else’s experiences? You can absolutely do this for yourself.  

Tailor your letters for each programme you apply to. I learned that you should adapt your motivation letter each time you apply for a degree. You can absolutely take parts from other letters, but if you want to illustrate how that specific programme and university will be a great fit for you, you must be specific. 

Another mistake to avoid is writing your motivation letter without thoroughly researching the university and programme curriculum. It’s important to know that the course structure, module options and format of the course work for you. You can also look into the academics studying on the course to understand what expertise they have that you can learn from.  

One final tip: Don’t be afraid to ask for help when writing your motivation letter. You can speak to your university tutor if you’re still studying at undergraduate level, or the careers service.  

Alternatively, it can be helpful to check your letter over with friends or current master’s students who have experience studying a similar subject. A second pair of eyes is always helpful when you’re writing something important that could impact your future.  

Remember that every story is unique, as are you. If you’re true to your wants and goals, and can show how the programme will help you reach your dreams, you’ll do great.