Example of a Motivation Letter

Dear Sir or Madam:

With this letter, I would like to express my interest in studying at the University of XY as an
Erasmus student.

I am currently studying Masters Degree programme in Regional Geography at the ABC

University in London. Having looked through the materials of the Foreign Department of my
university, I was very delighted to find the opportunity to spend one semester learning
geography at the University of XY. I have decided to apply for this programme because I am
sure it would strongly enrich my future studies and help me in my prospective career. Moreover I
consider this programme as a great opportunity to get in touch with British culture and
educational system. Last but not least, I am very curious about different approaches to the
geography at the foreign university.

I have chosen to apply for University of XY, because I really like its module system of study. I
specially appreciate the wide range of offered modules and the freedom in making your study
plan. Many of the modules offered are unique for me, because there is no equivalent at my
home university. Very important for me is also an Excellent rating for teaching of the
Geography department and the overall friendly atmosphere at both the university as well as the
city. The third main reason why I have chosen XY is its Urban and Regional Policy Research
Institute. It specializes in interdisciplinary research on key regional and urban policy issues,
which is the field of geography very familiar to me.

During my prior studies I have found out, that I would like to specialize in Urban and Transport
Geography. The University of XY gives me a chance to get in touch with these subjects through
modules from both Department of Geography and Department of Town and Regional Planning.
In my last year at the ABC University I worked on an empirical study with main focus on
transportation costs of suburbanisation and urban sprawl. I really liked my project and I am keen
to continue in it. I would like to use my stay in XY for further developing my skills in empirical
research and starting working on my diploma project. The possibilities that gives me University
of XY further expand those at my home university. I would take modules focusing on Transport
and Urban geography and European Studies.

I would very much like to spend one semester at the University of XY. This would give me a
chance to deepen my geographical knowledge in the inspiring, creative, and cosmopolite
environment of one of the largest British universities. Furthermore I could improve my English
and increase my confidence in passing the TOEFL examinations after I return. Moreover, I am
confident that my experience in London would be extremely exciting, fun, and valuable for both
my studies and overall general development.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours faithfully,
Suzan Parent
Sample College Admission Essays

College Essay One

Prompt:Please submit a one-page, single-spaced essay that explains why you have chosen State
University and your particular major(s), department(s) or program(s).

State University and I possess a common vision. I, like State University, constantly work to explore the
limits of nature by exceeding expectations. Long an amateur scientist, it was this drive that brought me to
the University of Texas for its Student Science Training Program in 2013. Up to that point science had
been my private past time, one I had yet to explore on anyone elses terms. My time at UT, however,
changed that. Participating for the first time in a full-length research experiment at that level, I felt more
alive, more engaged, than I ever had before. Learning the complex dynamics between electromagnetic
induction and optics in an attempt to solve one of the holy grails of physics, gravitational-waves, I could not
have been more pleased. Thus vindicated, my desire to further formalize my love of science brings me to
State University. Thanks to this experience, I know now better than ever that State University is my future,
because through it I seek another, permanent, opportunity to follow my passion for science and
engineering.

In addition to just science, I am drawn to State University for other reasons. I strive to work with the diverse
group of people that State University wholeheartedly accommodates and who also share my mindset.
They, like me, are there because State University respects the value of diversity. I know from personal
experience that in order to achieve the trust, honesty, and success that State University values, new
people are needed to create a respectful environment for these values. I feel that my background as an
American Sikh will provide an innovative perspective in the universitys search for knowledge while helping
it to develop a basis for future success. And that, truly, is the greatest success I can imagine.

This emphasis on diversity can also be found in the variety of specialized departments found at State
University. On top of its growing cultural and ethnic diversity, State University is becoming a master at
creating a niche for every student. However, this does not isolate students by forcing them to work with
only those individuals who follow their specific discipline. Instead, it is the seamless interaction between
facilities that allows each department, from engineering to programming, to create a real learning
environment that profoundly mimics the real world. Thus, State University is not just the perfect place for
me, it is the only place for me. Indeed, having the intellectual keenness to absorb every ounce of
knowledge presented through my time in the IB program, I know that I can contribute to State University as
it continues to cultivate a scholarly climate that encourages intellectual curiosity.

At the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at State University, I will be able to do just that.
In a department where education and research are intermixed, I can continue to follow the path that
towards scientific excellence. Long-mesmerized by hobbies like my work with the FIRST Robotics team, I
believe State University would be the best choice to continue to nurture my love for electrical and
computer engineering. I have only scratched the surface in this ever evolving field but know that the
technological potential is limitless. Likewise, I feel that my time at State University would make my
potential similarly limitless.

This is a picture-perfect response to a university-specific essay prompt. What makes it particularly effective
is not just its cohesive structure and elegant style but also the level of details the author uses in the
response. By directly identifying the specific aspects of the university that are attractive to the writer, the
writer is able to clearly and effectively show not only his commitment to his studies but perhaps more
importantly the level of thought he put into his decision to apply. Review committees know what generic
responses look like so specificity sells.

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College Essay Two

Prompt: What motivates you?
For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of science. Where others see the engineering,
experimentation, and presentation of science as a chore, I only see excitement. Even as a child I
constantly sought it out, first on television with Bill Nye and The Mythbusters, then later in person in every
museum exhibit I could find. Science in all its forms fascinated me, but science projects in particular were
a category all to themselves. To me, science projects were a special joy that only grew with time. In fact, it
was this continued fascination for hands-on science that brought me years later to the sauna that is the
University of Alabama in mid-June. Participating in the Student Science Training Program and working in
their lab made me feel like a kid in a candy store. Just the thought of participating in a project at this level
of scientific rigor made me forget that this was supposed to be my summer break and I spent the first day
eagerly examining every piece of equipment.

Even at first, when the whole research group sat there doing rote calculations and others felt like they were
staring down the barrel of defeated purpose, I remained enthusiastic. Time and time again I reminded
myself of that famous phrase "great effort leads to great rewards," and sure enough, soon my aspirations
began to be met. This shift in attitude also coincided with a shift in location: from the computer desk to the
laser lab. It was finally time to get my hands dirty.

Now things began to get really interesting. During the experimentation phase of the project, I spent the
majority of my waking hours in the lab and I enjoyed every minute of it. From debriefing with my
coordinator in the morning to checking and rechecking results well into the afternoon, I was on cloud nine
all day, every day. I even loved the electric feeling of anxiety as I waited for the results. Most of all, though,
I loved the pursuit of science itself. Before I knew it, I was well into the seventh week and had completed
my first long-term research experiment.

In the end, although the days were long and hard, my work that summer filled me with pride. That pride
has confirmed and reinvigorated my love for science. I felt more alive, more engaged, in that lab than I
have anywhere else, and I am committed to returning. I have always dreamed of science but since that
summer, since my experiment, I have dreamed only of the future. To me, medical science is the future and
through it I seek another, permanent, opportunity to follow my passion. After all, to follow your passion is,
literally, a dream come true.

In addition to its use of clear, demonstrative language, there is one thing that makes this an effective
essay: focus. Indeed, notice that, although the question is broad, the answer is narrow. This is crucial. It
can be easy to wax poetic on a topic and, in the process, take on too much. Instead, by highlighting one
specific aspect of his personality, the author is able to give the reader a taste of his who he is without
overwhelming him or simply reproducing his rsum. This emphasis gives the reader the opportunity to
learn who the writer is on his terms and makes it a truly compelling application essay.

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College Essay Three

The winter of my seventh grade year, my alcoholic mother entered a psychiatric unit for an attempted
suicide. Mom survived, but I would never forget visiting her at the ward or the complete confusion I felt
about her attempt to end her life. Today I realize that this experience greatly influenced my professional
ambition as well as my personal identity. While early on my professional ambitions were aimed towards the
mental health field, later experiences have redirected me towards a career in academia.

I come from a small, economically depressed town in Northern Wisconson. Many people in this former
mining town do not graduate high school and for them college is an idealistic concept, not a reality. Neither
of my parents attended college. Feelings of being trapped in a stagnant environment permeated my mind,
and yet I knew I had to graduate high school; I had to get out. Although most of my friends and family did
not understand my ambitions, I knew I wanted to make a difference and used their doubt as motivation to
press through. Four days after I graduated high school, I joined the U.S. Army.

The 4 years I spent in the Army cultivated a deep-seated passion for serving society. While in the Army, I
had the great honor to serve with several men and women who, like me, fought to make a difference in the
world. During my tour of duty, I witnessed several shipmates suffer from various mental aliments. Driven by
a commitment to serve and a desire to understand the foundations of psychological illness, I decided to
return to school to study psychology.

In order to pay for school and continue being active in the community, I enlisted in the Texas Army National
Guard as a Medic. Due to the increased deployment schedule and demands placed on all branches of the
military after September 11, my attendance in school has necessarily come second to my commitment to
the military. There are various semesters where, due to this demand, I attended school less than full time.
Despite taking a long time and the difficulty in carving separate time for school with such occupational
requirements, I remained persistent aiming towards attending school as my schedule would allow. My
military commitment ends this July and will no longer complicate my academic pursuits.

In college, as I became more politically engaged, my interest began to gravitate more towards political
science. The interest in serving and understanding people has never changed, yet I realized I could make
a greater difference doing something for which I have a deeper passion, political science. Pursuing dual
degrees in both Psychology and Political Science, I was provided an opportunity to complete a thesis in
Psychology with Dr. Sheryl Carol a Professor in Social Psychology at the University of Texas (UT) This fall
I will complete an additional thesis as a McNair Scholar with Dr. Ken Chambers, Associate Professor in
Latin American studies in the UT Political Science Department.

As an undergraduate, I was privileged to gain extensive research experience working in a research lab
with Dr. Carol. During the three years I worked in her lab, I aided in designing a study, writing an
Institutional Review Board (IRB) application, running participants through both pilot and regular studies,
coding data, and analyzing said data, with these experiences culminating in my honors thesis. This thesis,
entitled Self-Esteem and Need-to-Belong as predictors of implicit stereotypic explanatory bias, focuses on
the relationship between levels (high and low) of self-esteem and an individuals need to belong in a group,
and how they predict whether an individual will tend to explain stereotype-inconsistent behavior.
Participating in such a large study from start to finish has validated my interest in academic research as a
profession.

This fall I will embark on writing an additional honors thesis in political science. While the precise topic of
my thesis is undecided, I am particularly interested in Mexico and its development towards a more
democratic government. Minoring in Spanish, I have read various pieces of literature from Mexico and
have come to respect Mexico and Latin American culture and society. I look forward to conducting this
research as it will have a more qualitative tilt than my thesis in psychology, therefore granting an additional
understanding of research methodology.

My present decision to switch from social psychology to political science is further related to a study
abroad course sponsored by the European Union with Dr. Samuel Mitchell, an Associate Professor in the
Political Science Department at UT. Professor Mitchell obtained a grant to take a class of students to
Belgium in order to study the EU. This course revealed a direct correlation between what I had studied in
the classroom with the real world. After spending several weeks studying the EU, its history and present
movement towards integration, the class flew to Brussels where we met with officials and proceeded to
learn firsthand how the EU functioned.

My interest in attending the University of Rochester in particular, relates to my first semester at OU and the
opportunity to take an introductory course in statistics with the now retired Dr. Larry Miller. Through the
combination of a genuine appreciation and knack for statistics and with his encouragement, I proceeded to
take his advanced statistics class as well as the first graduate level statistics course at OU. I continued my
statistical training by completing the second graduate statistics course on model comparisons with Dr.
Roger Johnson, a Professor in the Psychology Department. The model comparison course was not only
the most challenging course I have taken as an undergraduate, but the most important. As the sole
undergraduate in the course and only college algebra under my belt, I felt quite intimidated. Yet, the rigors
of the class compelled me to expand my thinking and learn to overcome any insecurities and deficits in my
education. The effort paid off as I earned not only an A in the course, but also won the T.O.P.S. (Top
Outstanding Psychology Student) award in statistics. This award is given to the top undergraduate student
with a demonstrated history of success in statistics.

My statistical training in psychology orientates me toward a more quantitative graduate experience. Due to
the University of Rochesters reputation for an extensive use of statistics in political science research, I
would make a good addition to your fall class. While attending the University of Rochester, I would like to
study international relations or comparative politics while in graduate school. I find the research of Dr.s
Hein Goemans and Gretchen Helmke intriguing and would like the opportunity to learn more about it
through the Graduate Visitation program.

Participation in the University of Rochesters Graduate School Visitation Program would allow me to learn
more about the Department of Political Science to further see if my interests align with those in the
department. Additionally, my attendance would allow the Political Science department to make a more
accurate determination on how well I would fit in to the program than from solely my graduate school
application. Attending the University of Rochester with its focus on quantitative training, would not only
allow me to utilize the skills and knowledge I gained as an undergraduate, but also would expand this
foundation to better prepare me to conduct research in a manner I find fascinating.

From attending S.E.R.E. (Survival/POW training) in the military and making it through a model
comparisons course as an undergraduate, I have rarely shied away from a challenge. I thrive on difficult
tasks as I enjoy systematically developing solutions to problems. Attending the University of Rochester
would more than likely prove a challenge, but there is no doubt in my mind that I would not only succeed
but enable me to offer a unique set of experiences to fellow members of the incoming graduate class.