How to write a MOTIVATION LETTER

[TraiTaoXanh]

Các bạn chuẩn bị đi du học or muốn xin học bổng ở các trường ở nước ngoài, xin học bổng không lạ gì với cụm từ motivation letter/personal statement/cover letter nhưng để viết được một motivation letter hay thì ko phải đơn giản hen! Dưới đây là một số tips & hints Táo collect được trong quá trình viết motivation letter của bản thân, hope sẽ có ích cho các bạn hen! Sample sẽ được trình bày trong 1 topic khác! Okie? Have fun!

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is where the creative process begins as you mentally travel through your life and let the ideas flow. The most vital part of your personal statement is the subject matter – your accomplishments. You have already identified three key reasons for studying, so this section focuses on your key accomplishments. Here is the first, most important maxim of personal statement writing: vivid presentation of your accomplishments=an excellent personal statement. This is why it is necessary to:
• Decide beforehand what are your accomplishments.
• Think of a compelling theme which will prevent you rambling all over the place.
A successful personal statement is all about your accomplishments- if you can’t think of any (for whatever reason), then read the guide below. Accomplishments are the points that really help sell you to an admissions officer so this section is essential.
• Begin by listing your accomplishments and ask yourself if they are SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and timed)
• Try to use powerful verbs: see the powerful verb page
• Ensure that each accomplishment is relevant to your study area.
If you have limited work experience, you may want to look at the following list
• Work experiences / positions of responsibility / summer jobs
• Web site work – have you developed your own website?
• Temporary work
• Volunteer Work
• School experiences, essays, assignmen*** projects (groups / team working, hands-on assignmen*** presentations, student exchanges, simulations)
• School / college positions
• Social clubs and hobby interests
• Sports

Following identification of work experience possibilities you can now brainstorm responses to the questions below. Be sure to list the context for each accomplishment.

Answer these questions before start to write your motivation letter!

1. Describe three life experiences that have motivated your choice of study. Has it been a family member or parent?
2. What are your greatest asserts that you can bring to your chosen subject?
3. List special things that set you apart from other students.
4. List any prizes you won, such as student of the year, Assignment of the year
5. What superlatives can you list, such as the highest achievemen*** the best exam score or the highest graded essay?
6. What has been your greatest academic achievement?
7. Describe factors that have motivated you to consider a career in your chosen field of study.
8. What are your greatest assets and describe two situations when you used these assets?
9. List situations in which you have trained, taught, or oriented members. Have you spoken in public or written for an audience?
10. What are your favourite books, movies, hobbies, etc? Have these influenced you to choose your study subject?
11. Have you faced any difficulties in life? How did this difficulty change you?
12. Have you ever worked hard for something for a long time and finally achieved your goal? Give an example of your leadership ability.
13. Is there anything that the admissions officer should know that is not in your personal statement?
14. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? How does this university course fit into your plans for the future?
15. What would your friends/ family say if they were writing your personal statement?

Know Your Audience

It is important that you aware of your readership because the personal statement should be shaped accordingly. This section will address what admission officers look for in personal statements. There are two ways to approach writing for your audience.

Choosing a topic

The key is to keep it simple. Select all topics from your brainstorming list above and run them through these questions:

1. Nothing warms a reader more than a shared personal experience: is your key topic a personal experience?
2. Does my topic show motivations for my subject area? Or university of choice?
3. Make sure your topic does not list activities.
4. Make sure your topics present both social and academic goals.

[TraiTaoXanh]

Một perfect structure sẽ tăng khả năng được accept của các bạn lên rất nhiều! Hãy thử nghía coi họ đòi hỏi một motivation letter như thế nào nhé! Và bạn có thỏa mãn những tiêu chí đó ko nữa chứ! Good luck!

Perfect Structure

Introducing You

It is important to begin with a compelling introduction to arouse the interest of a weary admissions officer - who may have spent all night sifting through thousands of personal statements. Giving your personal statement a strong opening will engage the reader's attention from the outset. Common student mistakes include starting the personal statement with clichéd and overused sentences. For example, you should avoid starting your sentence with the following:
'' I always wanted to study Dentistry"
'' I want to study dentistry because….''
'' My passion has always been for dentistry''

Start your personal statement with an interesting event. Study the sample introductory paragraph below and the analysis of the introduction which follows it.
"I am fascinated with dentistry because I love to network and build computers. If I spoke these words aloud, many people would scratch their heads and appear confused. At first glance, this statement appears absurd. On a closer look, however, it makes perfect sense.When I work on computers, I must operate within a tiny space inside a computer cache, taking extreme care to avoid damaging the delicate equipment. As a dentist, I will also perform my duties within the smallest of spaces, using tiny instruments on fragile surfaces."

This paragraph contains all the elements of a good introduction. It includes a gripping statement that compels the reader to keep going. Once you have established a good introduction, you are ready to think about your qualifications and experiences in your subject area.

The Body

Your personal statement must proceed in a logical succession from one thought to the next. The body of the personal statement should lead in a convincing way from the introduction to conclusion. The paragraphing can be used as a planning tool. The beginning of each paragraph should introduce the topic and the paragraph must end in a 'hook' to the next paragraph.
Introductory paragraph
1. Whenever possible give the first sentence an interesting angle. Make sure the paragraph ends with a hook into your next topic.

Body of the personal statement
Each paragraph should follow this general structure:
Topic sentence about one of the ideas or categories mentioned in the introductory paragraph.
1. Specific detail (action that supports the point)
2. Specific detail (action that supports the point)
3. Specific detail (action that supports the point)

The Conclusion

You should round off the personal statement with an attention grabbing sentence. You may find it helpful to reflect on your main accomplishments and experience. The main point of the conclusion is to underline your desire to study. Study the sample conclusion paragraphs below.

"By combining these disciplines into a dual degree program, I can pursue my professional goal of doing education and military policy work for the government and perhaps teaching at university level. My experience as a Homeless Specialist has not only equipped me with an intellectual foundation for my future studies but has also supplied me with my career plans. After gaining knowledge of both psychology and political techniques at the highly regarded Manchester University, I plan to work for social services to use my knowledge of human behaviour to aid members of the public. My efforts paid off. At the end of the year, our team performed well and I ended up winning an 'Outstanding Student Award.' More important than the award, however, was the realization that I had found my future career-in a courtroom. This time, however, the cases will be real."

Phần in nghiêng là những motivation letter sample để các bạn có thể tham khảo! ;)

[TraiTaoXanh]

Building Your Personal Statement

Draft Outline – how to structure your personal statement

Attention Grabbing Introduction – (150 words)

Attention-grabbing paragraph: Start with a unique paragraph about you, why you want to study or who motivates you in your study topic? The first two sentences should be attention grabbing.
Fill in this sample section on your particular interests in the university course
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Opening paragraph
Paragraph 1 Educational background – (100 words)
Compose a short summation of your education background in your study area. The key here is to be brief –the admissions officer already has your exam grades.

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Paragraph 2: Your personal experiences – (150 words)
This may include a brief area on family support, your accomplishments or poor grades. You want to provide a description of how you became an excellent student. Don’t forget to include particular reasons why you wish to study at university.
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Paragraph 3: Why should they choose you? – (100 words)
This may comprise academic abilities but also on your social interests.

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Paragraph 4: Summary and Conclusion – (100 words)
This paragraph will tie everything in from all the information you have written. Integrate all the information gathered in the above paragraphs and finish on two positive sentences! The closing sentences must be attention grabbing.
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Key topics

When thinking about why you wish to study your topic you will undoubtedly be bombarded with different objectives. Attending university is a huge commitment and it will help if you capture the essence of your objectives in a few sentences. If you are pursuing a research degree, it is worth describing your areas of research and professional interest. Someone applying to a marketing program might say:

"My particular interests are in corporate identity and corporate responsibility. As an undergraduate research assistant, I studied the principles of corporate identity, both as a management issue and as an academic discipline. This subject has grown significantly over the last decade. Currently I am investigating potential discrepancies between the actual and the ideal identity of the organisation as perceived by employees. University X's program in marketing management provides the direction and environment in which I can pursue my work in corporate identity."

What experiences and qualifications do you hold?

Some universities may ask you to write about experiences and qualifications that you have undergone which have led you to pursue your field of study. Any experience can be stated as long as it is related to your subject area. It may be worth noting key historic dates, which will help you place where you were. It is important to look at major events here. Those that come readily to mind:

1982 – Completed BSC (Hons) in English
1985 – Graduate Trainee Program – IBM
1987 – Marketing Manager
1999 – Meeting Mary and settling down
1989 – MA in Marketing Management
2001 – Marketing Manager for Foods Plc
2004 - Volunteer in homeless – decide to study medicine


You can be creative in how you want to structure your personal statement. You can express your ideas in time spans, unless there are distinctive areas in your life with unique experiences. This is not a recommended structure, and you should just concentrate on a simple structure based on major events in your life and integrate your experiences and qualifications. In regard to your qualifications, it is important to talk around these and how each qualification has improved your critical thinking. It is important to remember--this is a short personal statement, not an autobiography. Focus on your subject experience, and be particular about each experience. If you are lacking practical experience, demonstrate your interest and ability to study your topic.

Remember to keep the discussion personal. How much you revel about yourself is up to you. Many students fall into the trap of keeping the reader at arms length. Having reached the conclusion, admissions officers need to feel that they know more about you than when they started. Do not get lost in jargon. The spotlight of the personal statement should remain on you and your accomplishments. A significant tool is to impart the information by showing rather than telling. The fact that you have been swimming every day is impressive, but what is more interesting is the inspiration behind it: the fact that you had seen Olympic winner Mark Spitz and the reasons why he inspired you.

Your goals in the future
It is important to outline your short and long-term goals; tell how the universities on the application form can help you meet them.

Example questions & Answers
What are the reasons you are pursuing an MBA program?

Whenever I have set a goal in life, my mind has always drifted to the example set by Lester Wunderman. Growing up poor amidst the Great Depression, he went on to become a marketing mastermind, responsible for innovative direct media techniques such as the insert card and 'Gold Box.'

Wunderman was never content to accept setbacks. When faced with a struggle, I have always sought to emulate him by emerging from obstacles--not with a sense of defeat--but with a renewed sense of determination and greater problem-solving skills.

While at school, I underwent a two-day hospital procedure that caused me to miss a considerable amount of class; as a result, I fell behind in my studies and faced extensive makeup work. I quickly made a vow, however, not to allow my schoolwork to suffer. By spending many hours on my academics even while rebuilding my physical health, I continued to excel in school, achieving straight A grades in my GCSE's.

After graduation, I decided to gain exposure to the insurance field, taking a position at Norwich Union Insurance. As a sales advisor, I primarily generated insurance quotes. After one year, I craved greater challenge, deciding to look for new opportunities. Transferring to the travel section, I assumed the position of Travel Executive, during which I performed many customer service tasks and managed the distribution of insurance certificates.

Yet, I still yearned for more challenge, more risk, and more opportunity. After two years of service at Norwich Union, I decided to enter the perpetually stimulating field of business. However, I wanted to pursue a business career after gaining a thorough mastery of the subject matter; therefore, I needed a university degree.
In June 2002, after much hard work and intense focus, I graduated with Honours, achieving a first class degree. After six months in a graduate Management Trainee position, I knew that I wanted to perfect my knowledge; an MBA would impart essential skills such as account analysis, stock valuing, and a sound understanding of finance.

During 2003, I immersed myself in thorough preparations for business school, learning to write business plans, model businesses and carry out statistical tests. Through my self-directed study and experience in the Management position, I'm thoroughly familiar with the concepts behind strategy, marketing and operations. I now wish to expand my proficiency in these areas on the MBA program.

While an academic record can reveal much about a person's character, illustrating traits such as discipline, determination, and responsibility, it does not provide the complete picture. Namely, grades and scores cannot detail lessons learned, challenges met and victories achieved. Throughout my life, I have always sought greater intellectual stimulation, and this search has typically entailed abandonment of the familiar to pursue the unknown. In my business pursui*** I will continue to adopt this risk-taking approach and will not rest until I reach my maximum level of accomplishment. By adopting the constructive, determined approach of business wizards such as Wunderman, I have a much better chance of getting there.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?

When I envision my life five years from now, I imagine two possible scenarios. In the first, I am standing in front of a boardroom of a profitable company, assisting executives in solving a central challenge to their company's maximum functioning. The other image could not be more different: in this vision, I am working to my bolster my own fledgling business.

Whichever route I ultimately pursue, an MBA will endow me with the broad business acumen to address the specific issues encountered in a broad range of positions. Particularly, an MBA from Manchester Business School will give me the practical experience to complement the thorough academic education I will receive. With its tutorial system, Manchester will continuously force me to abandon the passive process of absorbing knowledge in favour of the dynamic approach of constantly challenging my tutor's assumptions.

At Manchester, I will push my tutors as hard as they push me. In return, they will provide avenues for me to challenge my own assumptions and thoroughly analyse revered business principles before accepting them as fact. In this multidisciplinary environment, I will find the continual stimulation in which I will thrive. My risk-taking nature and my pursuit of continual challenges carried me through my first-degree, and I plan to bring these traits with me as I study in my new business environment.

Ở đây Táo ko trình bày phần dành cho Post graduate students vì nghĩ là chưa có cần thiết! But nếu ai có nhu cầu có thể PM or mail cho Táo: traitaoxanh@gmail.com

[TraiTaoXanh]

Grammar & Style

Hot Tips from Cambridge Editors

Limit use of long words:

The first mistake students make is to use very long words. There's nothing wrong with long words, but if used inappropriately - long words can hinder your application. Words such as functionality and methodology have their correct uses. If you need a concise approach, think about using function and method.

Use a combination of long and short sentences

Perfecting your sentences is the most critical element of any personal statement. A good personal statement will contain a mixture of both long and short sentences. Read your personal statement aloud, count how many words each sentence contains and look to omit unnecessary words.

Apply - Show, Don’t Tell rule (SDT)

One law in writing is ‘Show Don’t Tell’ The rule is not always obvious. Admissions officers don’t necessary believe what they are told. So when you really need them to believe something, it's better to show it to them rather than to tell them about it. A persuasive personal statement convinces the reader.

‘I'll never forget how upset I felt after Sarah died. I was sad.’

The passage above names the feeling rather than showing what they felt. Wording can be improved from changing "upset" to "distressed

Get your grammar right!

Given the importance of your personal statement, grammar and punctuation are critical. Punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence or paragraph; it is useful to be aware of the grammar and punctuation errors that frequently occur. Please see our grammar guide and get it right.

Grammar guide:


1. Keep your sentences short and to the point.
2. Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends in a fall stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
3. Avoid using superfluous word
4. Use simple words: for example, use instead of utilise/utilisation, sign(s) instead of signage, link instead of linkage, and (as an adjective) local instead of localised
5. Use serial commas, those commas that are before the “and” in a series.
6. When using quotation marks, the comma and the period are placed inside the closing quotation mark. The semicolon is placed outside the closing quotation mark.
7. Use one space after periods and colons (referred to as close spacing). Word processing programs now incorporate proportional spacing, which typewriters did not, and this precludes the need for double spaces between periods.
8. Most words with “multi” (multipage, multidisciplinary, multimedia) do NOT have a hyphen. This is also true for most “non” words; nonnative, nontoxic, nonmotorised.
9. Use that for clauses that restrict the meaning of a sentence; use which for clauses that provide additional information and are not necessary to understand the sentence.
10. Avoid the overuse of bold and italics to emphasize text. If everything is in bold or italics, then nothing is being emphasised.

Cut down your word count

Just finished the personal statement? Run the word count and panic sets in. Use these hints to reduce your word count now!

You can normally delete the following without changing the meaning of the paragraph

‘’amazing, fantastic, nice, terrific, cohort, context, interaction, materialise, syndrome, pretty, ambience, wanted, really, very, believe, always, honestly, seriously, confidentially, personally, surprisingly, even, for my sake, as much as possible, even, only, concerned, why, where, who, what, how, if, ideally, economically, officially, obviously, clearly, surely, undoubtedly, to conclude, conclusion, introduce, knew, surprised, therefore, however, moreover and Illustrating’’

• Remove "that" - unless it's necessary
• Reword sentences containing "and, I, the, he, she, his, and her,"
• Delete adverbs ("ly" endings,)
• Amend using the ending "ing."
• Delete "just" and "so."
• Erase "was" and "were" (These normally make the sentence passive and you should not have more than 2% in one document).

Revising

The advice of other readers is invaluable as you build and improve your essay.

• Does your personal statement original purpose?
• Are the paragraphs linked to represent you in a clear and concise way?
• Are your sentences short?
• Are there errors?
• Are sentences clear and easy to read?
• Is the vocabulary admission officers?
• Are the long sentences easy to follow?
• Have you avoided excessive repetition?

[TraiTaoXanh]

Action Verbs Sheet

(Rất có ích cho các bạn để impress người đọc motivation letter của các bạn đó! Hope you use it helpfully!)
Action Verbs beginning with A
• Accelerated
• Accomplished
• Achieved
• Acted
• Activated
• Adapted
• Addressed
• Adjusted
• Administered
• Advanced
• Advertised
• Advised
• Advocated
• Aided
• Allocated
• Analysed
• Answered
• Applied
• Appraised
• Approved
• Arbitrated
• Arranged
• Ascertained
• Assembled
• Assessed
• Assigned
• Assisted
• Attained
• Augmented
• Authorised
• Awarded

Action Verbs Beginning with B
• Balanced
• Began
• Boosted
• Briefed
• Budgeted
• Built

Action Verbs beginning with C
• Calculated
• Captured
• Catalogued
• Centralised
• Chaired
• Charted
• Checked
• Clarified
• Classified
• Coached
• Collaborated
• Collected
• Combined
• Communicated
• Compared
• Compiled
• Completed
• Composed
• Computed
• Conceived
• Conceptualised
• Condensed
• Conducted
• Conferred
• Conserved
• Consolidated
• Constructed
• Consulted
• Contacted
• Continued
• Contributed
• Controlled
• Converted
• Conveyed
• Convinced
• Coordinated
• Corresponded
• Created
• Critiqued
• Cultivated
• Customised

Action Verbs beginning with D
• Debugged
• Decided
• Defined
• Delegated
• Delivered
• Demonstrated
• Designated
• Designed
• Detected
• Determined
• Developed
• Devised
• Diagnosed
• Directed
• Discovered
• Dispensed
• Displayed
• Dissected
• Distributed
• Diverted
• Documented
• Drafted

Action Verbs beginning with E
• Earned
• Edited
• Educated
• Effected
• Eliminated
• Emphasised
• Employed
• Encouraged
• Enforced
• Engineered
• Enhanced
• Enlarged
• Enlisted
• Ensured
• Entertained
• Established
• Estimated
• Evaluated
• Examined
• Executed
• Expanded
• Expedited
• Experimented
• Explained
• Explored
• Expressed
• Extended
• Extracted

Action Verbs beginning with F
• Fabricated
• Facilitated
• Fashioned
• Finalised
• Fixed
• Fit
• Focused
• Forecasted
• Formed
• Formulated
• Fostered
• Found
• Fulfilled
• Furnished

Action Verbs beginning with G
• Gained
• Gathered
• Generated
• Governed
• Grossed
• Guided

Action Verbs beginning with H
• Handled
• Headed
• Heightened
• Helped
• Hired
• Honed
• Hosted
• Hypothesised

Action Verbs beginning with I
• Identified
• Illustrated
• Imagined
• Implemented
• Improved
• Improvised
• Incorporated
• Increased
• Indexed
• Influenced
• Informed
• Initiated
• Innovated
• Inspected
• Inspired
• Installed
• Instituted
• Integrated
• Interacted
• Interpreted
• Interviewed
• Introduced
• Invented
• Inventoried
• Investigated
• Involved
• Issued

Action Verbs beginning with J
• Joined
• Judged

Action Verbs beginning with K
• Kept

Action Verbs beginning with L
• Launched
• Learned
• Led
• Lifted
• Listened
• Located
• Logged
• Lectured

Action Verbs beginning with M
• Maintained
• Managed
• Manipulated
• Marketed
• Maximised
• Measured
• Mediated
• Merged
• Mobilised
• Modified
• Monitored
• Motivated

Action Verbs beginning with N
• Navigated
• Negotiated
• Netted

Action Verbs beginning with O
• Observed
• Obtained
• Opened
• Operated
• Ordered
• Orchestrated
• Organised
• Originated
• Outlined
• Overcame
• Overhauled
• Oversaw

Action Verbs beginning with P
• Participated
• Performed
• Persuaded
• Photographed
• Pinpointed
• Piloted
• Pioneered
• Placed
• Planned
• Played
• Predicted
• Prepared
• Prescribed
• Presented
• Presided
• Prevented
• Printed
• Prioritised
• Processed
• Produced
• Programmed
• Projected
• Promoted
• Proofread
• Proposed
• Protected
• Proved
• Provided
• Publicised
• Purchased

Action Verbs beginning with Q
• Qualified
• Questioned

Action Verbs beginning with R
• Raised
• Ran
• Rated
• Reached
• Realised
• Reasoned
• Received
• Recommended
• Reconciled
• Recorded
• Recruited
• Reduced
• Referred
• Regulated
• Rehabilitated
• Related
• Remodelled
• Rendered
• Reorganised
• Repaired
• Replaced
• Reported
• Represented
• Researched
• Reshaped
• Resolved
• Responded
• Restored
• Retrieved
• Reviewed
• Revised
• Revitalised
• Routed

Action Verbs beginning with S
• Saved
• Scheduled
• Screened
• Searched
• Secured
• Selected
• Separated
• Served
• Shaped
• Shared
• Simplified
• Simulated
• Sketched
• Sold
• Solved
• Sorted
• Spearheaded
• Specialised
• Specified
• Spoke
• Sponsored
• Staffed
• Standardised
• Started
• Streamlined
• Strengthened
• Structured
• Studied
• Suggested
• Summarised
• Supervised
• Supplied
• Supported
• Surpassed
• Surveyed
• Sustained
• Synthesised
• Systematised

Action Verbs beginning with T
• Targeted
• Taught
• Terminated
• Tested
• Tightened
• Totalled
• Tracked
• Traded
• Trained
• Transcribed
• Transformed
• Transmitted
• Translated
• Travelled
• Tutored

Action Verbs beginning with U
• Uncovered
• Undertook
• Unified
• United
• Updated
• Upgraded
• Used
• Utilised

Action Verbs beginning with V
• Validated
• Verbalised
• Verified
• Vitalised
• Volunteered

Action Verbs beginning with W
• Weighed
• Widened
• Won
• Worked
• Wrote

[ninja lynh]

wonderful, very useful stuffs, make sure you add a source at the end incase people think that you actually wrote it

[TraiTaoXanh]

Ah, these documents were sent to me by my close friend! If I know source, I wrote it, like in ML Sample. I post it here to share with you is a good work! If you wanna documents from source, search in google or yahoo! It's too easy! Donot lazy, gal!


Dưới đây là một số tips & hints Táo collect được trong quá trình viết motivation letter của bản thân, hope sẽ có ích cho các bạn hen!

READ CAREFULLY before saying anything, gal! Nobody thinks I wrote them, except YOU! =))

[ninja lynh]

I'm so sorry, next time I would pay more attention to your half viet half eng posts

[TraiTaoXanh]

Almost my posts in this topic contains 2 languages, gal&#33; It&#39;s too easy to realize it&#33; ><