How to write a college application cover letter

Since many students apply for the same colleges without guaranteed admission, it's important to
create a college application cover letter that sets you apart from other applicants and reads
favorably to the admissions team. While there's no specific approach to writing a college
application cover letter, there are some general steps you can take to help you properly format it.
Follow these steps to write an impressive college application cover letter:

1. Write your name and street address

At the top of your cover letter, write your first and last name. On a separate line include your
street address, followed by your city, state and zip code on another line.

2. Include the date

Below your contact information, write the date you plan on sending the cover letter. Include the
month, the day and the year. For example, "November 20, 2020."

3. Write the head of admission's name, the college's name and the college's
address

On a line below the date, write the first and last name of the school's head of admissions. On the
next line, include the name of the college. Follow the name with its street address, city, state and
zip code.

4. Include a salutation

Open your cover letter with a formal greeting such as "Dear." Follow it with Mr. or Ms. and the
last name of the admissions officer and a comma. For example, "Dear Mr. Morrison," followed
by a comma.

5. State your purpose for applying to the school

Start with a sentence explaining the reason for your cover letter. In this case, it would be to
request admission to the school you're applying for. Make sure to name the school and express
your genuine interest in a particular program they offer. Emphasize what their school offers that
other universities don't.

6. Explain why you want to attend their school

Below your introduction, write one or two paragraphs that detail your academic and professional
career goals and how their school can help you achieve the latter. Express why you feel attending
their school offers you the best career path and opportunity for advancement in your chosen
profession.
7. Write a conclusion

End your college application cover letter with a strong conclusion. Let admissions officers know
that you've included the other requested documents with your application. In addition, let them
know that you're available should they have questions or need additional forms and that you're
looking forward to hearing from them. It's also important to thank them for their time and for
considering your application.

8. Include a sign-off

Below your conclusion, write a sign-off such as "Sincerely," followed by your first and last
name.

Related: How to Create a Resume for a College Application

Tips for writing a college application cover letter

Make sure your college application cover letter makes sense and ultimately presents you and your
qualifications in a positive light. Continuously look for ways to improve your letter before
submitting your application. Use these tips to help guide your writing:

 Research the college. Before you submit your college application cover letter, find out
more about the institution you're interested in by looking up its website. Then, use what
you learned to craft the perfect cover letter. Highlight how you're a great fit for the
college based on the information you learned. For example, maybe their mission
statement aligns with what you believe in, or maybe the program you're interested in
made recent developments that align with your career goals.
 Be concise. Keep your cover letter brief, to the point and a maximum of one-page long. If
you need help shortening your cover letter, look for information that you may have
repeated in other parts of your cover letter or application.
 Be specific. When writing your college admission cover letter, make sure you have a solid
reason for wanting to attend their particular institution over other schools. Providing the
admissions team with a specific reason as to why you choose their school or university
over other programs helps them understand your genuine interest in their school.
 Emphasize your uniqueness. As you write your cover letter, highlight your unique
abilities and skills to help you stand out among other applicants. Make sure you're
confident in your abilities, too.
 Proofread your cover letter. Before you submit your application, read through your cover
letter and make corrections to any spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. This shows
your attention to detail and ensures your cover letter's overall readability.

Related: How to Write the Best College Admissions Resume

Template
A college application cover letter follows a similar format to that of a business cover letter. Not
only does keeping to a format make your cover letter more legible, but it also presents your
qualifications and words in a professional manner. Use this template to help you format your own
college application cover letter:

[Your first name] [your last name]

[Your street address]
[City], [state] [zip code]

[Date]

[First and last name of the head of admissions]

[College name]
[College address]
[City], [state] [zip code]

Dear [Mr. or Ms.] [last name of the head of admissions],

This letter is a formal request for admission to [name of college or university]. Over the past few
years, I've researched many colleges that offer [type of degree]'s in [field of study], but have
ultimately chosen [name of college] because of its commitment to [school's or program's goals,
objective or mission]. Unlike other colleges, your program [state what the program is about and
how it differs from other college's offering a similar program].

Currently, I'm looking to begin my undergraduate studies. My goal is to complete the [college
program] program at [name of college]. Upon graduation, I hope to gain employment as a [job
title] where I can [career goals]. I believe [name of college] gives me the best option in preparing
for my future endeavors thanks to its [the program or college's unique offerings].

My application form and the requested documents are enclosed. I'm available for additional
questions and look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time and consideration
regarding my application.

Sincerely,
[Your first name] [your last name]
Example
When you're ready to write your cover letter, consider what specific information you want to
include. If you need help guiding your writing, consider the following college application cover
letter example:

Monroe Carter
5555 Cherry Blossom Way
San Clemente, CA 55555

November 18, 2020

Joan Harvey
University of Santa Ana
5555 Maple Drive
Santa Ana, CA 55555

Dear Ms. Harvey,

I would like to express my interest in the Journalism program at University of Santa Ana. Over
the past few years, I've researched many colleges that offer a bachelor of science degree in
journalism, but have ultimately chosen the University of Santa Ana because of its commitment to
educating students with a digital-first mindset. Unlike other colleges, your program focuses on
the growth of each individual student with a "learn by doing" mentality. Not only that, but the
program's efforts have proven successful based on the impressive number of alumni currently in
the news media. I would be honored to receive the quality education your institution offers its
students, both in the journalism program and beyond.

I'm currently looking to begin my undergraduate studies, with a goal of completing the
Journalism program at the University of Santa Ana. Upon graduation, I hope to gain employment
as a news reporter where I can share breaking news stories while giving a voice to the voiceless
in my community. I believe the University of Santa Ana can provide me with the best opportunity
to pursue these endeavors.

My application form and the requested documents are enclosed. I'm available for additional
questions and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time and
consideration regarding my application.

Sincerely,
Monroe Carter
What is a motivation letter?
A motivation letter is an essay 1 page A4 long that a student attaches to other documents when
entering a higher education institution. Depending on the university, the presentation of a
motivation letter may be needed at the undergraduate, graduate and even doctoral levels.
Depending on the institution, the list of entry requirements may also be referred to as “statement
of purpose” or “personal statement”.

In the essay, the student should write about himself, talk about his merits, talents and why he
should be enrolled in the course. It is on the basis of a motivation letter that the selection
committee can judge the identity of the applicant, its goals and its advantages.

When submitting documents to a university for the first time, most students are faced with the
need to write an essay about themselves, so they often make mistakes. In this article, we will talk
about the basic principles of writing a motivation letter and how to maintain the desired style and
semantic balance in our text.

Motivation letter structure

The classic motivation letter is divided into three parts – the introduction, the main part and the
conclusion.

Pay special attention to writing the introduction and conclusion, they will remain in the memory
of the host committee and help you make the right first impression.

All three parts of a motivational essay should be clearly structured. In order for your letter to be
interesting and informative, it may contain answers to the following questions:

 How and why did you become interested in the selected subject or course?
 How can you demonstrate this interest?
 Why did you choose this particular institution?
 Why did you choose to study abroad?
 What career prospects are you considering?
 Have you had to overcome difficult situations and obstacles (financial, social, physical) to achieve
your goals?
 What skills and personal qualities do you have?
 What are your achievements and experiences?
 How do you show the strengths of your personality in life?
 What should make a person who reads hundreds of such texts daily remember and distinguish
you?

Samples of motivation letters to the university

As we have already noted, a good motivational letter for a university must meet several criteria at
once, so it is important to pay attention to the competent preparation of this document. On the one
hand, the letter should reflect your motivation, and on the other hand, motivate the university to
accept you for study.

Dear Sir or Madam,

With this letter, I would like to express my interest in studying a Bachelor’s Degree in Design at
ABC University. I am interested in beginning a career in design and I am certain that this degree
will help me to fulfil myself in both professional and personal contexts.

Currently, I am finishing my last year of high school, where I have spent a lot of time and effort
learning arts and drawing, among other subjects. While studying in high school, I also attended
art and design school courses, which clearly reflects my preferences and interests. In recent
years, with the support of my school, I participated in a number of cities and regional design
competitions where I often ended up in prize-winning places. Examples of my prize-winning
works are presented in my portfolio.

My current goal is to start my career in design. After doing some research I realised that a
Bachelor’s Degree in Design at ABC University is the best choice for me for a number of
reasons.

First of all, this program covers a number of topics that interest me the most, such as Interior
Design, Art History, Contemporary Design Concepts, Design Software, etc. As a future designer,
I must be an expert in these fields. I am certain that the numerous traineeships and workshops I
will take part in during my studies will help me to gain the necessary knowledge and skills.

Secondly, my attention was attracted by a highly international environment of ABC University.

Looking at my future, I understand that I want to become a successful designer working in an
international context. At your university, one of the most international universities, I will learn
how to communicate with people from different backgrounds to achieve the best results which I
believe will be the next big step in my development.

Thirdly, studying at ABC University will significantly improve my English skills. As one of the
most important languages in the world, English will help me to form new connections and expand
my social network to a global level.

Finally, a Bachelor’s Degree in Design at ABC University will help me to develop myself as a
team player. The program will help me to establish strong international relations and to meet a
lot of famous and influential people from the global design industry. Besides, I am attracted by
the possibility of doing an internship during my studies. This great opportunity will give me the
valuable professional experience necessary to build a successful career in modern competitive
conditions.

Overall, I believe I will make the most of the knowledge and experience gained through the study
program at ABC University. I hope to contribute my talents and efforts to your university and
become a worthy member of the team.
Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours faithfully,
Sasha Petrov

As you can see, a good motivational letter to the university is by no means a short text, which
consists of several thematic parts. The above sample contains both the student’s story about
himself and his strengths, as well as an explanation of why he chose this particular curriculum
and university.

Tips for writing a motivation letter

So, here is a monitor with a clean sheet of Word and the need to write an essay. Follow our tips,
and your letter of motivation will certainly be successful and will attract the attention of the
university admissions committee!

Make an essay informative

Before writing a motivation letter, collect all the information about yourself that is worth
knowing the admissions committee. Remember that your essay should be as informative as
possible, otherwise it may seem superficial, and you – a person who is inattentive to details. Do
not forget to carefully select the information, because you should cause positive emotions in
people who do not know you personally.

Meet the interests of the institution

Some universities publish questions on their websites that students are asked to answer in a
motivational essay. Do not ignore them! In your letter of motivation, try to give the admissions
committee all the information that it wants to receive.

Take into account the requirements of the university

A number of educational institutions have specific requirements for students’ motivation letters.
For example, you may be asked to send a handwritten essay, mentioning even the ink (black or
blue) with which it should be written. Follow the recommendations of the university!

Place accents correctly

Correct semantic accents are the key to a successful motivational essay. Regardless of the
requirements of the institution, in your text focus on three critical issues:

 Why do you want to study on this course?

 Why do you want to study at this university?
 Why do you want to live and study in this country/city?
 Your answers will demonstrate your personal and academic goals and help the commission
understand why it is worth accepting for your studies.
Do not be afraid to praise yourself

In fact, your main goal when writing an essay is to show your candidacy in a favourable light. Do
not hesitate to praise yourself, tell about your merits and talents, but do not be boring and
monotonous! Tell us about your advantages, as well as how you would like to improve, and how
the chosen course will help you with this.

Write in a beautiful and fairly simple language

Without being a native speaker, writing on it can be quite difficult. A motivational essay should
be written in a competent, but relatively simple language. Do not overload him with long
sentences and abstruse words, avoid conversational vocabulary and do not try to demonstrate on
one sheet your knowledge of all revolutions of a foreign language! Remember that everything
written by you should be clear and appropriate in meaning.

Be careful with your personality.

Each student, due to his motivation letter, seeks to stand out from hundreds of other applicants.
You can do this by maximally showing your personality. However, do not overdo it – do not add
pictures, photos, videos and graphics to the essay if this is not required. Do not try to joke or
come up with an original format, all this may be inappropriate. A much better recommendation
will be given to you by a structured and competent essay containing important information and
written in the correct style.

Motivation letter for a Bachelor's in Computer Science and

Engineering
Dear Sir/Madam,

I have read the information about the Bachelor in Computer Science & Engineering study
programme with great interest on your website. Through this motivational letter, I would like to
put forward my candidacy for enrolment in this course.

In May 2016, I have finished my high school diploma at the [University name] in Italy and
received the Diploma from the [Institute name]. My diploma is mainly aimed at mathematics and
the sciences. I have decided to take the most advanced courses in mathematics, chemistry and
physics available in school in order to challenge myself and make sure that I will be as prepared
as possible for your study programme. Even though I have been reluctant many times to follow
this combination of courses, as it is regarded as having the largest workload, I have pushed
through the past two years of school work and I have made it possible thanks to my passion,
commitment and hard work in mathematics, chemistry and physics.
My interest in computer science began around three years ago when I first came into contact with
computer coding in school while creating a small website. From there on, I was captivated. I
started working on small projects of my own, creating other websites and a simple calculator. I
have learned small pieces of codes from several languages through the Harvard lectures that are
available online freely as well as through other. For me, working on computer code is my way of
being creative, since I find it difficult to be creative in more common ways such as drawing.
Every time I write a piece of computer code, I get the feeling I have created a piece of art and
reading computer code, to me, feels like looking at a piece of art.

Furthermore, in June 2015, I have participated in an internship for a week at Scania Financial
Services Italy, where I worked together with the IT manager. During this week, I worked on
creating a database. This was the first time I ever encountered SQL programming language.
During this week, I managed to learn basic SQL and create the database. This week of work
experience was very useful as it enabled me to deepen my understanding of computer science. It
was an excellent opportunity to gain work experience in my chosen field of computer science.

Even in school, I have tried to contribute as much as I can with the technical team, getting
involved throughout several events, particularly the International Evening. After the first year, I
was elected to be a team leader in charge of organising the participants and technical manager
who delegated tasks for the duration of the events. The most important thing I have learned from
this is that it is very important to take initiative whilst working in a team, but also that, as a
leader, you must not expect the rest of the team to do all the work on their own.

At home, I have also been very interested in computers. Around May last year, I build my second
personal computer from scratch as well as one for my brother. I have also managed to assemble a
server, which has been a very interesting experience as it gave me more insight into how a
computer works and how the different processors and chipsets interact together to be able to
function like a computer. Additionally, I have identified and overcome the technical difficulties
associated with building a computer.

In regards to studying at [University2 name], I seek to combine all the knowledge I have gathered
over the years and try to deepen my understanding of computer science and engineering. I have
decided to go down this route which contains more software compared to hardware, because of
my greater interest in software engineering combined with my ability to solve problems and the
joy I take in doing so. I feel that this is my driving passion that will allow me to succeed during
the years that I will be studying at the [University2 name].

I hope that I have been able to convince you of my excellent capabilities and my passionate
motivation to start studying computer science and engineering at [University2 name]. I really
look forward to your reply and to start studying at your University!

Kind Regards
Things to keep in mind when writing your motivation letter
 Do not repeat what is already written in the application form or CV – this one is very
important to keep in mind as the admission officers will receive many motivational letters
from many candidates and if you repeat yourself it will become [Link] to place
yourself in their position! You might notice that you need to be either more creative,
interesting, or bold in your motivational letter.

 Write based on university specifics – while you are constructing your motivational letter
be careful to prioritize interests that correlate with the programmes provided by the
university. Think of how you will benefit from the programmes you are going after and
why you are motivated to attend those courses. Usually, universities have very clear and
informative requirements on their websites, as well as what qualities and qualifications in
candidates they are looking forward to.

 Making a flat introduction – your introduction is the most important part of your letter.
It will determine whether the admission officers will engage and continue reading through
the whole [Link] is where they will decide if they are going to proceed with your file
or dismiss it completely. Think of a way to not sound cliché and yet at the same time
intelligent and engaging.
 Do not try to make too many points – another thing is that you might get very excited
and wanting to show many of your important assets, and somehow on the road make a
mess in the connection between [Link] may seem as if you are trying to say a lot in
order to make them like you. You wouldn’t want to seem desperate or a show-off, in both
cases you will not be a very attractive candidate, so be consistent!

 Share something about yourself – share your interests and your feelings when you take
part in activities that correlate with the programme in question. Think of ways how it has
manifested in your thought-patterns and motivation. Share a moment or a story where you
understood the importance of the subject.

 Do not force the letter towards humor – sounding positive is very important, but trying
to be very humorous in the motivational letter can turn out the wrong way, as you for one,
cannot know the kind of things people find [Link] can be funny and interesting to
you may not be the same for another person and the case may be that you are not on the
same frequency as the [Link], try to keep humor on the side while all the time
keeping positive and interesting. Humor can be overdone and it can be the one thing that
will set you away from your dream programme.
 Do not be someone else – always bring forward your own voice, tone, and self. Do not
try to be someone you are not and in this way cause yourself to fall out of selection. Tell
them things that are true to you and in your truest voice! These things are easy to spot for
the admission officers and you wouldn’t want to be spotted pretending you’re someone
you’re not! You have very interesting things that have happened to you and your life is
important and you surely have unique qualities, so think of those things and present
[Link] you think hard enough, you will see you are enough. There is no need to pretend.
 Sometimes, being very involved in our own lives may make us not believe we are
interesting enough!
 Answer all questions – pay attention to answering all the questions that are asked of you.
Do not neglect them since having been written in prospects, they must be important! Keep
that in mind and try not to think less of any.
 Do not write your personal statement/motivational letter at the last minute – this one
is very, very important. Give yourself enough time to write many drafts until you bring to
life your personality. If you do it within a matter of a few or in the last days, you may
forget valuable things and it will not have the consistency required. Start writing your
motivational letter, at least, a month ahead. Be clear about your goals!
 Do your proofreading – proofreading is a must. When it’s time to proofread, after
correcting all grammatical or punctuation, or line structuring mistakes, give your
motivational letter to someone whose opinion you value and listen to their suggestions.
Do not give it to a lot of people as you might lose your voice completely. After reading it
too many times you may become unwary of the little mistakes. Also, because in your head
you know exactly what you mean, you may not see the sentence inaccuracies. That’s why
it is important that someone with a fresh sight gives it a good look!

Hobby

"I play badminton twice a week with a club that plays in local competitions and I play in both singles and
doubles matches. Doubles matches requires good team working, an ability to support your partner, to
devise a game plan but be able to adapt it as required and fast reactions. I enjoy the social side of the
club and take responsibility for organising the social activities and fundraising events. This gives me an
opportunity to develop my organisational and planning skills. Fitting in all these activities while keeping
up with my academic studies demands good time management and I think I do that very well."

Experience

"I spent two weeks managing customer enquiries at a department store. I learnt how to interact with
customers and handle complaints. The experience highlighted the importance of positive communication
between a business and its customers, and taught me how to manage difficult enquiries effectively. I
would like to develop this skill further by studying a degree in public relations."