Letter of Motivation for M.Sc.

in Development Economics,
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Dear Sir or Madam,

I consider myself fortunate as I found a degree which is compatible with 21 st century and also
relevant to my bachelor degree. My bachelor degree was focused mostly on Economics. During
my first phase of bachelor degree I found the quantitative courses very mesmerizing because in
secondary school my study group was in science where mathematics was a crucial subject. Later
all other courses in economics started to capture my attention though I never thought it would
happen. Before bachelor my thoughts about a country’s or international economic factors were
very simple but then I later began to understand all the deep components of how economics lies
beneath in every sector. Even science-oriented organization such as NASA depends on the
country’s economic situations for their annual budget.

As my bachelor degree was majored in Economics, it is obvious that master programs in related
field will be suitable for me. But there are other factors which drive me to apply for this degree
which deals with several development related economic circumstances. For instance, developing
country like ours, faces a lot of problems when it comes to the matter of sustainable development.
Right now, a lot of mega development projects are active in my home country but, I fear, most of
them will be stopped in mid because of improper budget or demographic and socio-economic
changes. It seems that the responsible authorities most of the time cannot identify the reasons
because they do not initiate sufficient number of researches or surveys before implementing a
mega project. In future, I believe I will be able to understand the reasons behind those issues and
I will have the chance to showcase my work to government development agencies if I have the
adequate knowledge in Development Economics and also, I will be able to present myself in any
organizations that are required to have professional figures who can deal with development related
issues. If I get selected for this master program, I believe this program will make me more informed
and more flexible towards ‘economic development’ sector, this is why I would love to be a student
of this program.

My professional goal is to pursue a career where ‘economics’ will be number one factor, such as
career as a development specialist which is also this program’s core objective. In my country,
career in development field is highly respected. But, here, to become a development specialist is
almost impossible because a program like Development Economics, which is rigorously focused
on development related sector and which also able to make a student profound with deep
knowledge in Development Economics, cannot be offered to us by any of our home universities.
Besides offered programs in our home universities are hardly research oriented.

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After learning about modules of the Master Program in Development Economics I came to know
that compulsory modules are highly connected with development issues of both micro and macro,
but what caught my attention was the specialization module table. Specialization Economics has
modules named Empirical Political Economy and Quasi-Experiments in Developing Economics
about which I know very little. These are the example courses, along with Empirical Development
Economics, Empirical Trade Issues etc. which are unique courses and can hardly be learned in our
home universities. Besides program structure, I read the career perspectives section in the
university website as well, where it says successful existing master students will get opportunities,
such as employment in many international organizations, research institutions, and even further
education at the Ph.D. level. These alluring offers are enough to make a student excited about this
master’s program.

I know there will be fierce competition to get letter of acceptance but at the same time I think I am
ready and my academic result backs my claim. I believe I have explained my career goal in clear
context and also stated the key attributes of my interests in development field, particularly interest
in this master’s program. I hope you would like it and evaluate my application with appropriate
consideration. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours faithfully,

Mohammad Niaj Uddin Ahmed

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