7 Tools That Will Make Your Motivational Letter to Your Dream University Rock
If you have never written a motivational letter before, it is very similar to a cover letter. The difference is that instead of writing it to express interest in a job, you write a motivational letter to express interest in joining a research team, obtaining a leadership role in a volunteer organization, or gaining entry into a graduate degree program. If you are writing a motivational letter in hopes of being accepted into your dream university, you want your motivational letter to rock. After all, you are going to be up against other talented and accomplished students. Fortunately, there are many tools and resources available that you can use to make your motivational letter shine.
Grammarly.com
Grammarly is a free online grammar checker. The tool is also available as a plugin for Google Chrome and an add on for MS Word. You can use this utility to make sure that the grammar in your motivational letter is absolutely spot on. This is very important, because you do not want to appear unprofessional in your writing, and you want your message to be the most notable thing about your letter, not your grammar. Grammarly not only catches grammar errors, it also catches use of passive voice and other writing flaws.
Pomodoro
Pomodoro is both an app and a productivity method. In fact, if you would rather skip the app, you can order a Pomodoro or ‘tomato’ timer through Amazon or other similar website. If you have been procrastinating about your motivational letter, instead of writing it, you can use the Pomodoro method to get your letter written quickly and efficiently.
DragonDictation
If you aren’t 100 percent comfortable with your written communications skills, but feel as if your verbal communications skills are pretty good, you might want to write your letter using Dragon Dictation. This is an extremely popular, easy to use, speech to text translator that you can use to dictate your motivational letter, or any other document.
SmartPaperHelp.com
Sometimes, the best tool you can use is some reliable, professional help. SmartPaperHelp.com is a professional writing service that has an entire division of writers dedicated to helping students get into the college programs of their dreams. One of the staff writers would be happy to help you write, edit, or proofread your letter.
Read-Able.com
Read-Able is a tool that provides you with feedback on the readability of your writing. One of the things it tells you is the grade level of your writing. This is important, because you want to tailor your writing to your audience. In this case, your audience is going to be well-read and well-educated. Surely you don’t want to submit a motivational letter that is geared towards an 8th grade audience, correct? With read-able you can submit your letter with confidence.
Hemingway
Writing a letter of motivation can be a pretty nerve wracking experience. Unfortunately, one result of this can be that your nervousness could be reflected in your writing making it seem awkward and disjointed. Hemingway is a tool that you can use that will help you to recognize some common errors in writing style. This includes using the passive voice, long sentences, and using weak and ineffective adverbs.
Dictionary.Com
Your letter of motivation is an important document, and no important document should be written without a good dictionary app at your fingertips. You can use the dictionary.com website, or you can download the app to your mobile device. You will find it comes in very handy if you are unsure of the definition of a word, or if you want to find a better word to use in your letter.
