7/12/2017 How to write Motivation Letter / Statement of Purpose | EMA Pakistan

How to write Motivation Letter / Statement

ofPurpose
A statement of purpose, motivation letter or letter of intent is a technical
essay that is required when student apply for higher studies. The essays
purpose is to let the application reviewers know why should they choose a
particular applicant for the study program he is applying to. In other
words, its an interview of the candidate in his absence. In the text below,
we will try to explain what constitutes a good personal statement, the
important parts of it and how to construct a quality document that can
bolster chances of an applicants selection.

Introduction

Whether you put it in the beginning of the essay or somewhere in the

middle, there must be a paragraph where you introduce yourself. Start
with a strong introduction as engaging and inviting to read as possible.
Discuss your background and what you have done so far in your
academics. Since, in majority cases, the essay you are about to write is
for masters studies, mention your previous education. Possibly ,mention
why you chose this area of studies and the majors. Just give a short
introduction of yourself. It isnt really important to use fancy words and
complex sentences. Important is that you sound very genuine with your
words. It is also not necessary to write that typical first catchy paragraph
to catch the eye of the reader. People dont buy into that stuff most of
the time. People buy into genuine stuff.

Body

This is the most important part of your essay and very much focus of the
whole document. Here you should be very precise and thorough about
what you have done in your past. Remember that what you write should
somehow relate to the purpose of the essay. For instance, if you are
applying for MS in Electrical Power Engineering, make sure you write those
things that you can relate to Power Engineering. This is essential since
your reader is only interested in a to-the-point article and for him
everything you write should support why should he choose you for this
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masters. if there are unnecessary details, the reviewer might wrongly

guess the whole document as irrelevant.

Go step by step. Discuss everything briefly but in a concise, complete and

correct manner. Discuss your bachelor studies and particularly your thesis.
Explain what you did in it and how you did it. Most importantly, explain
how does your thesis relate to the master program you are applying to.
Discuss the projects and assignments you did in your university and
explain how they relate to this application that you are submitting. Discuss
the field trips you made or the science project you worked on or the
training you participated in etc. etc. and explain how do all these relate to
the master program you are applying to. Try to improvise. Discuss some
research work you did or if your grades were outstanding in all those
courses whose knowledge and expertise is critical in master program you
are applying to. Think about you! Think about the Master program and
think what is in you that relates to the master program you are applying
to.

If you have been employed in the past. Discuss that! Its not just enough
only to mention dates and job roles (your CV already has that info). Your
essay is an opportunity for you to relate all your work experiences to your
desired master program. Mention every related job no matter how simple
it was. Describe what you learned and how is that going to help you
during your master studies.

Make sure you divide all this into nicely constructed paragraphs. Dont
cram too much into a single paragraph! Dont make one line paragraphs
either! Your essay should have a flow. From one sentence to another.
From one paragraph to the next.

What you are going to do?

Now write about what you are going to do during the Master course. For
this you need to have a look at the course structure of your program
(Check their websites. Google!). Find out what interests you most in the
curriculum and why. Read about the labs and other practical
things/activities your masters program will offer and then explain which of
these activities you want to be part of and why. You must really convince
the reader that you are the person who has a perfect profile for the course
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and that there are enough similarities between what you aspire to do and
what the course will offer. Discuss how do you imagine the experiences in
the programme will relate to your academic, professional and
personal goals.
Most applications fail to convince because the motivation letters are
crammed with personal achievements and fancy adjectives. There is too
little information about the program and its features, too little effort on
developing an argument that the applying candidate is a perfect match for
the position.?

Add a small paragraph about yourself other than studies. Your extra-
curricular activities, the social work you have done, some good hobbies
and your interest off the studies. Write a sentence or two on how
interesting you are. your ability to work in a team and being
independent. Surprisingly or not, most selection committees do not simply
choose the student with the highest grade point average. Instead,
application review committees are equally interested in students
extracurricular activities. The social and communal activities help and
applicant stand out in the selection process. Also, you should present
yourself as a rational, optimistic and motivated person who is willing to
learn and improve. Do all this making sure, you stay decently formal. Be
genuine and do not blow your own trumpet.

Conclusion:

Try to conclude your essay here. Mention that you are really eager to
study this program. And that your inclusion in the program will benefit you
in your career and profession a great deal. Not only that, but also that
your inclusion will benefit other people like the very university you are
applying to, like your people back home, like scientific community etc. etc.
simply because you are very committed and motivated.

Important things to remember

1. Check out if there are any restrictions on the length of the essay. If
so, follow those restrictions.
2. The reader of your essay (the application reviewer) does not have
free time. He might be least interested in reading your stories. Avoid
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stories! Write to-the-point! Remember, more is not always better. It is

said that Woodrow Wilson once gave the following reply to a speaking
request: If youd like me to speak for five minutes, Ill need a month
to prepare. If youd like me to speak for 20 minutes, Ill need two
weeks. But if youd like me to speak for an hour, Im ready right now.
Good essay are concise and short. Hence difficult to write consuming
more time. Challenge yourself to cut as many words as possible from
each sentence without losing the lines meaning.
3. Dont overkill the reader by throwing in dozens of adjectives and
adverbs. Concentrate on powerful nouns and verbs that do the job
better and keep things shorter.
4. No need to be Shakespeare. Write nicely constructed simple
sentences that make clear sense. If you use fancy words to make
complex but senseless sentences, you lose.
5. Be yourself. Your essay is a virtual interview of yourself. Write what is
true. Do not copy other people essay. Do not mention things that are
not coherent. Again, it is very important to be brief and concise.
6. Dont consider your essay a burden. Enjoy writing it. You will learn far
more things about how to present yourself with this one essay than
you have learned so far during your entire studies. Its an opportunity
to learn how to market yourself. Market yourself! Take enough time to
write it. You can write the first version, then after a few days write
another one, compare them and write the best final version. You can
use the Internet to find some examples of motivation letters, read a
couple of them and then write something completely different! Make
sure not to copy/paste whole sentences from templates available
online! You need to stand above your competition; you need to be
honest but also interesting in writing so that people who are reading
your letter can feel a different vibe in comparison to other applicants.
7. Finally, proofread your letter, let other people read it, and make sure
its good enough and free of errors before you send it off.

Enjoy writing your essay! Good luck!

Disclaimer: The suggestions above are solely based on the authors

personal experience and shall not be seen as any guarantee for success.
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The readers are very encouraged to seek more suggestions from other
people or consult literature to get a further grasp on writing effective
motivation letters.

2015 Rizwan Mumtaz. All rights reserved.

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