Master's in Germany: Statement of Purpose 🎓 Full Guide (2022)

Let us make a guess: if you are reading this article, it means that you have already found out that one of the key documents that you would need for applying to a Master's program in Germany is the Statement of Purpose (SOP). If you did not know that, now you know it!

The purpose of this article is to provide clear answers to the most crucial questions about the SOP writing with regard to the German Master's degree context. We know that writing a Statement of Purpose for a German Master's program is one of the most (if not the most) challenging application tasks for students. That is why we decided to make your life easier and put the answers to the central questions in one place.

This is part of our "SOP for German Universities" articles' series

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The basics that you need to know about the Master's SOPs for Germany

What is a Statement of Purpose for Master's in Germany?

Generally speaking, a Statement of Purpose (SOP) is a (mandatory) application document requested by most of the German Universities, where you need to demonstrate your motivation to get into the given study program, a scholarship, a visa etc. and explain why you are the best fit/candidate. To put it differently, it is through the SOP that you can "advertise" yourself in the best possible ways (i.e. showing your strengths, your determination, your qualifications and so on) and make a formal request for placement. The same is true for the rationale behind the Statement of Purpose when it comes to the Master's degree program in Germany.

Statement of Purpose vs LOM vs Motivation Letter vs Personal Statement - What are the differences?

Do not be confused or surprised if while surfing through the different study programs listed in our Studyfinder you find out that some of them do not mention "Statement of Purpose/Motivation Letter", but instead use terms like "Letter of Motivation (LOM)", "Personal Statement" or "Cover Letter". Usually, German Master's programs use these terms interchangeably - so do not worry about that! Depending on the cultural and linguistic background of the people that administer the given study program, they will use one of the following expressions for what is called in German “Motivationsschreiben''.

Table 1: Different wordings of the Statement of Purpose (SOP)

Term	Context/Scope	Explanation
Statement of Purpose (SOP)	University Application	Dominant English-language term in German-speaking countries along with LOM; most widely used in British English
Motivation letter	University Application	The same as SOP but in a different word order
Letter of Motivation (LOM)	University Application	The same as SOP, but more dominant in American English
Personal Statement	University Application	Same meaning but less frequently used than SOP or LOM
Cover Letter	Job Application	Predominantly used for the job market

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Do Master’s applications for German programs require Statement of Purpose?

Yes, German Master's degree programs do require Statements of Purpose for application! According to our research, around 90% of Master's programs in Germany require you to submit a motivation letter in order to be considered as a candidate. This includes both English-taught and German-taught study programs. And again, do not forget various wordings that you might come across! Let's have a look at some examples.

Statement of Purpose for European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations offered by the University of Oldenburg.
Statement of Purpose for Master’s in Mathematics offered by the University of Bonn
Statement of Purpose for Master’s in Development and Governance offered by the University of Duisburg-Essen
Statement of Purpose for TransAtlantic Master’s offered by the Free University of Berlin and Humboldt University Berlin

How important is a Statement of Purpose when applying for a Master’s in Germany?

You might be wondering now how vital this document might be for your application, and you are on the right track if you are asking this question! It might be surprising, but overall the SOP is the second-most important application document after the average grade (Grade Point Average, or GPA). Interestingly, different Master's study programs usually assign the SOP 10%-40% weight of your total applicant score during the selection process. For instance:

The (German-taught) M.A. Angewandte Sprachwissenschaft assigns the Statement of Purpose 25% of the total application weight.
The M.A. Political Science program at the University of Mannheim assigns the Statement of Purpose 30% of the total applicant score. (source)

Note: You can find the SOP weights for various programs in the document called "Examination and Study Regulations" (in German, it is called "Zulassungsordnung"), which is mandatorily provided by Master's study programs in Germany.

In other words, you should take the SOP seriously and invest enough time in writing it if you want your application to be of high quality!

Geeky Stuff Box

Do not forget that the motivation letter is where students can stand apart from the crowd. This document is not set in stone, meaning that it gives you a great chance to improve the quality of your application, hence increasing your admission chances. For instance, if you are applying for a Master's program and your desired program requires you to have a Bachelor's degree from a related field, a specific minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) and a Statement of Purpose, the latter is the only document which gives you an opportunity to strengthen your application, as the other two are more or less fixed.

How do I write a Statement of Purpose for a Master's degree in Germany?

This is a very popular yet very broad question to answer compactly. Hence, let us break it down into five frequent questions that we get at MyGermanUniversity.

What is the structure for the Statement of Purpose?

Luckily, there is a standardized structure for the SOP available for you, which you should always follow:

Introduction and salutation.
Main body. This is supposed to be the longest part because here you elaborate on why you are a very good fit for the program and vice versa.
Conclusion and valediction.

What is the format for the Statement of Purpose?

Keep in mind that your desired Master's program may have some specific guidelines regarding the format. If it is not the case, follow the standard recommendations:

Margins: 2.5 cm, or one inch, on all sides.
Font size: 11- or 12-point of a standard script like Times New Roman or Arial.
Line spacing: 1.5-point.
Text alignment: justified (text is aligned with both margins).

How long should the Statement of Purpose be?

Usually, it should be between 500 and 800 words. In pages, this means between one and two pages of text if you follow the standard format. For example,

The M.Sc. in Integrative Neuroscience at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg asks you to write at most 500 words.
The M.A. American Studies program at Leipzig University asks for an SOP of about 750 words.

However, some Master's programs might require you to have even more than 800 words. Therefore, we suggest you to follow the specific requirements set by the individual program. If the program of your choice does not provide any details, go for the standard "formula".

How do you start a Motivation Letter for a Master's Program in Germany?

You start a motivation letter for a Master's program by jumping straight into the point:

Introduce yourself;
State what is this letter for;
Briefly present your most important details;
Briefly describe why the program is the best fit for you and vice versa.

What to cover?

Basically, the last point of the previous paragraph is the answer to this question. To be more precise, in the Statement of Purpose, you should convincingly demonstrate why you are the best candidate and why the given study program is the best fit for you. To put it simply, you can do this by showing that you are very well aware of the specifics of the program, which perfectly fit your profile with respect to your education, experience etc.

Guidelines provided by Master's in Germany

In general, German Master's programs do not provide any specific guidelines for writing a Statement of Purpose (intentionally - it’s supposed to be an open-ended task). In fact, sometimes it seems impossible to find any. But do not worry - we did that for you! Our team managed to find some examples, which you can explore in the table below.

Table 2: Guidelines by German Master's Programs

University	Program	City	Status	Guideline
University of Bonn	M.Sc. Neurosciences	Bonn	public	link
TU Munich	general	Munich	public	link
Leipzig University	M.A. American Studies	Leipzig	public	link
Heidelberg University	general	Heidelberg	public	link
Hochschule Niederrhein	general	Krefeld/ Mönchengladbach	public	link
University of Hannover	M.Sc. International Horticulture	Hannover	public	link
University of Stuttgart	M.Sc. Computational Mechanics of Materials and Structures (COMMAS)	Stuttgart	public	link
Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg	MBA CSR & NGO Management	Rheinbach/ Sankt Augustin	public	link
University of Bremen	M.Sc. Control, Microsystems, Microelectronics	Bremen	public	link
University of Potsdam	M.A. Anglophone Modernities and Culture	Potsdam	public	link

Sample: Statement of Purpose for Master's in Germany

Actually, before writing their own SOP, students often try to find a Statement of Purpose Example online (especially in the pdf format) so that to have a hands-on guideline. In general, we do not recommend you to use any samples. It is fine to use a sample as long as you want to use it just as a guideline. However, beware that the Internet is full of low-quality samples, meaning that even if you use it as a guideline, you are at high risk of ending up with a bad Statement of Purpose. Find out more about the Statement of Purpose samples here.

How to write a Statement of Purpose for a Master's Degree in Germany? A Guide for International Students (2022/23)

Get Accepted into Your Dream German University — with the Perfect Letter of Motivation!