Electrical energy conversion; Motivational Letter/ Edinburg MSc (or PhD)

in the application site they say this

- Personal Statement *
This should include why you feel you are qualified to enter the programme and how you think it may affect your career prospects. If you are applying for a Masters programme and your chosen programme has more than one area of specialism or theme you should indicate here which area(s) you wish to specialise in(max 3500 chars - approx. 500 words).

that is my go at it. any help would be highly appreciated.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am really interested in following one of your MSc/PhD by research program, the Energy systems program in the power electronic conversion and conditioning research profile.

I was born and raised in Athens Greece and here i took the first pieces of education. From a very young age i was attracted by science and as i grew up i saw how only through science we can really understand how the world really works, picture its rules and principles and construct the great machines that help as from the simplest everyday things like reading this e-mail to taking "Curiosity" on Mars. And that's what caught my heart and mind. The exploration of the Final Frontier, Space exploration! From that very young age i dreamt of stars, of human colonies in alien planets and moons and of space travel.

After high school i got my bachelor's degree from the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, one of the best of the country in the School of Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering. As long as i was studying I took great interest in specific classes such as Power Electronics (in which i chose to undertake my Thesis) but also Systems of Automated Control, Microprocessor Programming, Electrical Motion and Renewable Energy Systems (in which relevance i took my internship in the Photovoltaic Park of the T.E.I. of Crete for half a year). But what excited me the most was the fact that through those classes, those childish dreams that i kept in the back of my head, started to look more and more feasible.

That's why i decided to study for a MSc/PhD at your university. So i can acquire great theoretical understanding and practical skill in the extremely broad and ever spreading field of Power Electronics. Starting with understanding real life innovative power converters for wave and/or solar generators i plan of continuing my carrier and become part of a team that manufactures power, protection and control circuits for equipment that explore the great sea of stars in our small place of the universe that we call Milky Way.

The reason i believe i am the right person for this MSc/PhD Program is that i have an appropriate background in power electronics because i undertook my graduate thesis in this class titled "Analysis and simulation of a forward DC-DC converter using the resonant reset technique" and because of my great interest in the field of electrical energy conversion using resonant and quasi-resonant switching mode power supplies. This MSc/PhD Program is the logical and required next step in my academic carrier and the realization of my goals.

Thank you very much for considering my application and I look forward for your response.

Yours sincerely,

Hello KomhKs,

This is overall a good essay however I will see if I can offer some improvements.

"...one of the best of the country in the School of Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering". I found this like kind of awkward, because of the word Engineering appearing twice in such a short space, I would suggest taking out "School of Engineering" and leaving just "...one of the best of the country in the Department of Electrical Engineering". This makes the line flow more smoothly without taking out any clarity because we already know which school the Dept. of EE is in.

I would also suggest that instead of saying "Dear Sir or Madam", address it to a specific individual or if you don't know one person then say "Dear Ph.D admissions commitee" or something of that nature. This will make your essay seem much more personal to the reader.

Last thing: the prompt says "why you feel you are qualified to enter the programme". You devote one paragraph to specifically answering this (the last paragraph) and this is fine, however if you are competing against someone who spends their entire essay elaborating on how they are very qualified for admission, and have done such-and-such things that make them the perfect candidate, then this person will doubtless look more impressive to the admissions committee and you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage to them. Therefore I would suggest elaborating much more on your own qualifications and achievements, even if this means taking out some parts of your childhood story.

first of all thank you very much for your answer Doctor i really appreciate it! :D

i just wrote a larger paragraph as to why i am the right person for the MSc/Ph.D detailing more of my experience while i deleted some parts in the other three paragraphs and merged two of them. i believe it is now in a good equilibrium between qualifications-achievements and personal story.

Dear Ph.D admissions committee

I am really interested in following one of your MSc/Ph.D by research program, the Energy systems program in the power electronic conversion and conditioning research profile.

I was born and raised in Athens Greece and here i took the first pieces of education. From a very young age i was attracted by science and as i grew up i saw how only through science we can really understand how the world really works, picture its rules and principles and construct the great machines that help as from the simplest everyday things like reading this e-mail to taking "Curiosity" on Mars. And that's what caught my heart and mind. The exploration of the Final Frontier, Space exploration!

After high school i got my bachelor's degree from the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, one of the best of the country in the Department of Electrical Engineering. As long as i was studying I took great interest in specific classes such as Power Electronics (in which i chose to undertake my Thesis) but also Systems of Automated Control, Microprocessor Programming, Electrical Motion and Renewable Energy Systems (in which relevance i took my internship in the Photovoltaic Park of the T.E.I. of Crete for six months). That's why i decided to study for a MSc/Ph.D at your university. So i can acquire great theoretical understanding and practical skill in the extremely broad and ever spreading field of Power Electronics. Starting with understanding real life innovative power converters for wave and/or solar generators i plan of continuing my carrier and become part of a team that manufactures power, protection and control circuits for equipment that explore the great sea of stars in our small place of the universe that we call Milky Way.

I have an appropriate background in power electronics because i undertook my graduate thesis in this class titled "Analysis and simulation of a forward DC-DC converter using the resonant reset technique" which gave me a great deal of knowledge and experience with programs like Cadence Pspice and Altium 10 for the Schematic and PCB design. Beyond that as part of an assignment in the lab of the Electronics Circuits Construction Class i have also analyzed, designed (PCB) and constructed a control circuit for household power plugs that alters the voltage to 10V DC from 230V 50Hz AC (Greek Electrical Standards) if no load greater than a predetermined value is requested. Finally during my internship in the Photovoltaic Park and my time as Lab Assistant in the Power Electronics lab i acquired great familiarity with lab equipment and academic procedures. To conclude, all of the above paired with my great interest in the field of electrical energy conversion make me an ideal candidate for your university.

Thank you very much for considering my application and I look forward for your response.

Yours sincerely