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Graduate School Letter of Intent Template
When you are completing an application for a Master's or Doctoral degree program, you will need to include a Letter of Intent for Graduate School . This letter will highlight who you are as a student, what you have achieved during your time as an undergraduate, and why you deserve to be admitted into a university's graduate program.
Before writing the letter you will want to research information about the program and find out the name(s) of the person(s) who will be reviewing your application. The more specific you can be when addressing the reader, the more it will appear that you have taken the time to learn about the program. You can also address the reader as [Program's Name] Committee if there will be more than two people reviewing your application. If you are unsure of the program's specific name you can always use a generic greeting to the "Graduate Program Application Committee." A Letter of Intent for Graduate School template can be downloaded below.
How to Write a Graduate School Letter of Intent?
To begin writing a Graduate School Letter of Intent you will want to include the basic information in your letter:
- Your full name, address, phone number, and email address;
- Date the letter will be sent out;
- The person or committee who will be reviewing your application.
In the body of the letter, be sure to discuss or highlight the following information:
- Address the specific program you are applying to and your current or past education at the undergraduate level . You want to make sure you have the correct title of the program name and are not talking about it in general terms (such as a computer engineering program).
- What makes you stand out as a great candidate for their program?
- Why are you interested in applying to this particular program?
- Do you have any work, internship, or research experience that would tie in well with this program or do you have a desire to attend this particular university? Don't be afraid to be passionate in your writing, you want the reader to see that you are serious about attending this school and program, even if it is your fifth choice on your list.
- What are your career or academic plans once you have graduated from this program? Talk about what you hope to achieve after completing this program and what careers or additional schooling you plan to apply for after graduation.
- Close by talking about why you feel this university and program are a good fit for you . Any specific research programs, professors, or even coursework that the particular program offers should also be mentioned, and what interests you about these topics.
This Graduate School Letter of Intent format will help keep you organized during the process and ensure you include every important detail.
How Long Should a Graduate School Letter of Intent Be?
The majority of these graduate programs will ask that your Letter of Intent for Graduate School not exceed 500 words in length, although some programs may not have a set word length in mind. If you have a specific word length limit, you are able to exceed the word length by ten or twenty percent without being penalized.
A good trick for writing an application letter is to write out everything you want to discuss or highlight in your letter and then edit it down to only the best parts to reach the word limit. By starting with a larger amount of text you are then able to refine your writing until only the best parts remain.
It's also a great idea to have professors, friends, or family members read over your letter to make sure it flows well and frames you in the best light.
Sample Graduate School Letter of Intent
[Name of person sending the letter]
[Full address of individual sending the letter]
[Contact telephone number]
[Date]
[Full address of the educational institution that you intend to send the letter to]
[Subject of the letter]
Dear Admissions Officer,
I am writing this letter to express my desire to enroll in the [insert name of graduate program] at [insert name of school]. I believe that I have the necessary experience, skills, and abilities for me to get the most out of this program and prosper as a [job title]. The facilities, program, quality of teaching and high standards present at [name of school] have made me want to steer my educational path towards the direction on the school in order for me to gain the fundamental knowledge required to have a successful career.
I graduated from [name of organization where you obtained your bachelors] with a [obtained degree] in [year]. The course I studied focused heavily on [summarize the main aims of the course]. This demonstrates my [the main, obvious useful skills obtained], which would be extremely useful in [name of program you want to enroll at]. Furthermore, I also developed [list of transferable skills that may not seem so obvious] which would be perfect to use in [instances when these skills would be useful for your chosen program]. I have attached my academic reference from [name of professor] which confirms my academic success and competence as a student.
During the time I was studying my undergraduate course, I successfully obtained a job working as a [job title] at [name of company]. This demonstrates my desire and hunger to learn more about the field of [field of graduate program] where I gained an insight and valuable experience into [relevant things you learned]. This only confirmed my interest in this field. I am certain that with the education, experience and genuine interest in the field, that I would a perfect candidate to study [name of program], one that [name of school] can take pride in.
I sincerely hope that you will consider my application to commence studies [semester and year]. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if any further documentation or information is required.
Respectfully,
[Signature]
[Printed full name]
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