Application Letters: Examples

Hello lovely people!

This is a collection of my application letters.

I made a diverse set - it includes motivation letters for scholarships, personal statements for admission to a master's, cover letters for public interest fellowship and law firm internships.

I know it's insanely hard to write a letter about yourself. Especially if you come from a background where applications don't require you to think deeply about your qualifications and motivation and talk about it in English.

It’s for you if:

• you don’t know what a successful application letter looks like
• you don’t know how to write about yourself
• you think application letters are about bragging and want to avoid that but stay authentic in the letter
• you’re not a native English speaker & find it really hard to write a letter about yourself in English
• you don't know the difference between a successful and unsuccessful application

Some of my applications got me admissions to and funding from Harvard, NYU School of Law, Master's of International Dispute Settlement in Geneva, the University of Cambridge, a 4-year PhD in the heart of Italy, The Hague Academy of International Law, Paris Arbitration Academy, the UNIDROIT and Max Planck Institutes, Humboldt University of Berlin, and many more.

In this collection, however, I’ve included both successful and unsuccessful letters. I believe it's incredibly important to see both sides of the matter, not only successful and polished one but also the one that is messy. Because the messy part - provided you don’t stop there - is usually a stepping stone to success.

If there is one thing I find consistent across my applications is that nothing gets wasted. 

Application letters that did not work out, I later redrafted and used for other applications that became successful. 

Example: Right after law school, I wanted to practice international arbitration. So I applied for a law firm internship in Paris. I didn't get the internship, but the letter - the letter I revised, adjusted, reoriented, and submitted for a Master’s of International Dispute Settlement in Geneva. And I got it. Of course, I’d have to write that letter anyway, but I had the advantage of having thought about my application for a really, really long time. I had the time to develop my thinking and writing.

I wanted the letters in this compilation to reflect that and be representative not just of success, but of the entire path to it.

Whatever your application journey is, think about it long-term. As NLP practitioners say, there is no failure - only feedback.

A final note: Please don't copy the letters. They are informational purposes only. Please don’t plagiarize them. You are better than that - that's why I'm publishing them in the first place.

I hope this will be of help to you in your academic journey.

You are free to decide how much you are able & willing to pay. Think of it as a thank you for my work rather than a payment.

* для русскоязычной аудитории: если Вам хочется отблагодарить меня в рублях, пишите в личные сообщения - пришлю данные карты. У меня на территории России находятся близкие люди, поэтому рубли для меня крайне актуальны.