Motivation letter for MSc in BA and SCM at a Dutch university

Hi! I would be happy to get your comments on my motivation letter for Master studies.

Applying for a Master Degree in Business Administration:

Transport and Supply Chain Management

Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to apply for the Master programme in Business Administration at X with the specialization in Transport and Supply Chain Management.

With the Netherlands being the heart of Europe in terms of logistics and advanced transportation solutions, as well as an important player in various industries, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam bears the country spirit of entrepreneurship and innovations brought to life. The specific cultural heritage together with highly practical approach towards studies define Vrije Universitetit Amsterdam as an amazing place to pursue the aspirations of good education in an up-to-date environment. The Transport and Supply Chain Management programme is giving the all-around understanding of supply chain management and its interrelations with governmental policies and economics as a whole, which makes it the perfect match to my personal perception of the desired Master programme.

I am a recent graduate of Y with a Bachelor degree in Logistics, accredited by CILT (UK). My academic background has been enriched by successful participation in two exchange programmes - at 1 and 2. In my graduate year I thrived to see both service and production companies from inside. I achieved this by being an intern at two different companies - parcel services at 3 and then production planning at 4. At both internships I proved to be a keen learner and did my best in the tasks I was assigned to.

Though I highly value my practical experience and my current job at 3M, I have thirst for more knowledge and academic research. As I am already familiar with Dutch educational system, I am sure that university X in itself is a great choice and will support my creativeness, initiative, strive for knowledge and proactive approach. As I am looking for demanding, challenging studies in SCM, which I have a great passion for, the programme in BA seems to be the right combination of processes understanding both at micro and macro levels. It also corresponds with my personal goal of learning more about establishment of long-term strategic planning of supply chains and the influence of the economy on that process. I am impressed by the proposed curriculum, offering Data Analytics and Research Methods as mandatory courses, which I personally consider as a must in today's reality. Above that, the opportunity to gain professional experience in the Netherlands through an internship is also a great advantage of the programme. The international environment and global perspective offered at the university is exactly what I need to pursue my personal and career development to the next level.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my application; I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Natalia, the content of your essay is more in line with a letter of self introduction than a motivational letter. A motivational letter best serves your application purpose when you aim to inform the reviewer about your work, or in this case, internship experiences that influenced your desire for advanced academic learning in this field. The motivation answers the question "Why?" in the essay. For example, you could say something like:

As an intern at ABC, I was exposed to the various facets of CDE. While I performed well in the capacity assigned to me, I felt that the system was flawed and could use some improvement. This motivated me to become a self - starter in order to find a more efficient means of doing FGH. Falling short of the theoretical knowledge in order to develop a solution, I was motivated to learn more about the field in order to enact the changes that I seek. Hence my desire to enroll at IJK as a masters student in the LMN course.

The above presentation is an example of the motivational paragraph. That is the direct response to the "Why?" question I posed. The motivation needs to have a basis in actual experience, an idea that you wish to pursue, and a reason why you chose this university. I know, to some people it sounds like a statement of purpose. I assure it isn't. A statement of purpose is an essay that broadens the scope of your motivational letter discussion. Which is why the two are normally required essays for graduate school application.

Since this is a motivational letter. It need not be extremely long and detailed. It need only reflect the motivation for your application. So a letter of 3-5 paragraphs will suffice. After reviewing your letter, It seems that you do not really have a professional motivation indicated for your desire for higher study. The professional motivation is far more important than you personal goal of continuing your education in the field. After all, it is useless to continuously study if you will not have any real world application for it. You only presented a personal motivation for your interest in this course based upon your current 4th paragraph.

My advice to you is this. Write a new letter. A letter that is more aligned with a motivational discussion instead of a self-introduction. You can base the content of your new letter on the obesrvations I made of your mistakes here (for correction) and also, the example I offered of the motivational paragraph.