headerheader

Sample: Letter of Motivation for Master's in Germany (2024)

Are you looking for a PDF, template or example for your Motivation Letter for a Master's application at a German University? Here is what you can find, and why you should generally NOT use it.

As you may already be aware, no matter whether you are applying for a Bachelor's, Master's, scholarship or student visa in Germany, you need to write a Letter of Motivation (LOM). When it comes specifically to Master's in Germany, over 90% of German Master's programs include the LOM in the list of compulsory application documents. Moreover, in the case of Master’s admissions, the weight of this document usually varies from 10% to 40% of the total application score. In other words, you need to take the LOM seriously if you want to get into your desired Master's program in Germany. The problem is that, based on our experience and research, students usually find LOM-writing is the most challenging task of their application. 

 

That's why many students browse the internet to find a high-quality LOM sample. Unfortunately, this decision can lead to dramatic consequences because

1. Students end up using a poor LOM sample as a guide, as finding a very good LOM example is extremely difficult (and they are by virtue of their situation unable to tell the difference), and/or 

2. Students end up plagiarizing.

Both of these generally lead to students having their applications rejected. In order to help you to avoid this trap, in this article, we decided to address the key issues when it comes to the Letter of Motivation sample for Master's in Germany.

Check out our Video Course (64 min.) on "How to write a Letter of Motivation"

22 videos plus checklist and template

Go to the video course

What is a Letter of Motivation for Master's in Germany?

Generally speaking, a Letter of Motivation (LOM) is a (mandatory) application document requested by most German universities in which you demonstrate your motivation to get into the given study program/ scholarship/visa/etc. and explain why you are the best fit/candidate. Put another way, it is through the LOM 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 Letter of Motivation when it comes to applying to Master's degree programs in Germany.

header

Further Reading

LOM for a Master's in Germany: A Guide (2024)

Do German Universities provide LOM samples?

No, German universities do not provide Letter of Motivation samples. This is done intentionally, as LOM writing is supposed to be an open-ended task. At most, German universities sometimes provide students with guidelines for writing their LOM. We provide several examples in the table below.

Table: Letter of Motivation Guidelines by German Master's Programs

Why should you NOT use a Letter of Motivation sample?

1

Samples are usually of low quality

 

The Internet is full of LOM samples. However, we do not suggest relying on these while writing your own LOM for your German master's program applications. As was already mentioned, one of the reasons is that, in most cases, the quality of these LOM examples is quite poor. To be more precise, 90% of the Letter of Motivation samples that you can find on the Internet would be rejected by selective German master's programs.

 

Why? Because the guidance they provide in terms of format, content, length, etc. in general does not meet the expectations of German professors, the people who will check your LOMs and decide whether they accept you or not. You can find examples of these kinds of bad LOM samples here.

2

High risk of plagiarism

 

Even if the sample is of high quality, you still should not heavily rely on it, as you might end up plagiarizing it, which is a no-go. You should rather use the good LOM sample as a general guideline for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the LOM should look like. In general, if you plagiarize or copy anything directly from any source, you will not be able to get away with it. The study program will find out about it, and your application will be immediately rejected

 

You can find examples of good Letter of Motivation samples here. Although the Charité University Medical School (based in Berlin) does not specifically provide a sample, we strongly suggest you to read through their advice regarding LOM writing, which is relevant for various Master's programs in Germany. You can find their recommendations here.

icon

Advice Box

If you want to be on the safe side and at the same time learn how to write a very good Letter of Motivation for your German Master's program application, check out our comprehensive video course on this topic and familiarize yourself with our articles, which you can find here. By the way, in our video course, you can also find a high-quality Letter of Motivation sample created by our team!

 

Do not forget about the danger of plagiarism! Just use our sample (or any other high-quality sample) for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the LOM should look like.