How to Write a Powerful Motivation Letter for Computer Science

There are a large number of opportunities in computer science. 

Experts expect jobs in computer science to grow over 13 percent annually for this decade. With such a broad area, the opportunities are almost endless, no matter where you are in the world. First, you need the education and the degree. A significant step in that is writing your motivation letter for computer science.

You send a motivation letter with your application or separately to a critical decision-maker to highlight your qualifications and zeal and stand out from the crowd. It’s an excellent tool for showing why you would make a great candidate for a degree program in computer science.

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Getting the Most out of Fiverr

The Structure of Your Motivation Letter for Computer Science

Your motivation letter for a computer science program should be no more than one page. It has three essential parts:

• Introduction – The motivation letter introduction is a simple paragraph highlighting the program you are applying for and a simple statement of why or why you would make a great candidate.
• Body – The body is where you will highlight your experience. You want to show the admissions office that you are a great candidate. This section will be different for every candidate, but here are some things to examine to make sure you write an outstanding motivation letter for computer science. The body will typically be 1-3 paragraphs.
  • Past Education
  • Past Projects or Successes
  • Any Personal Projects 
  • Personal Motivations
• Conclusion – In your closing paragraph, you want to summarize why you are a great candidate and let the reader know that you want to move forward in the process. You can also include your basic contact information like phone number and email to make it easier for the reader.

Overall, a motivation letter isn’t long and doesn’t need to be long or complex.  

Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing your Motivation Letter in Computer Science when you are applying to study for a degree in computer science:

• Address your letter to a person. You want to avoid addressing it “to whom it may concern.” These letters are less personal, and the reader quickly moves on to something else. Ideally, you want to address your letter to someone in charge of your computer science program admissions.
• Double-check spelling and grammar. You are applying for an academic program. You don’t want to distract a reader with misspellings, incorrect word usage, or bad grammar. Spell check is a minimum, but Grammarly is a great tool to help you with your spelling, grammar, and letter tone if writing isn’t your strong suit. The small investment in the paid program can be well worth it to improve your writing.
• Keep it to one page only. Many won’t read past that anyway.

We provide a template that you can use to get started. This will give you the format for your motivation letter.

Motivation Letter for Master’s for Computer Science Studies

Our samples and guidance focus on applying for a bachelor’s degree program in computer science. The same idea applies to a Master’s Degree in Computer Science or even a Ph.D.  

The important part is to remember the differences in the levels of study for a computer science degree. You may not have any formal computer science experience for an undergraduate degree. For a graduate degree, whether it’s a master’s degree in Computer Science or a Ph.D., the admissions officers will be looking for experience. 

You need to show them that.

Essential Things to Include in a Motivation Letter for Master’s in Computer Science

Here are the key differences when you write a motivation letter for a master’s degree in computer science:

• You want to show any work experience that you have. Include the benefits of that work. For example: “I worked with the marketing team to create a web service that has doubled the number of return visitors to our site, and it has added another $1.2 million in revenue.”
• Past experiences and work should show the advanced nature of the work expected in a graduate program.
• You can tell them why you are pursuing a graduate degree and what doors will open beyond your Bachelor’s degree. “I am pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Science to pursue advancement opportunities at work and contribute more to ensuring the security of our IT infrastructure.”

Admissions committees are looking for assurance that you can do the advanced work of the program. They also want to know what you will bring to the program and that you will be a great representative when you complete the program.

Sending a Motivation Letter for Computer Science Studies Via Email

While we refer to it as a motivation letter, there is a good chance that you will send it via email. That’s not a problem. The concept is very similar. Here are the differences when you send a motivation letter via email:

• You have to address it to someone specific. Even though we don’t recommend “to whom it may concern,” that won’t work at all on an email
• You can send a similar letter to everyone. You may want to tailor the introduction to the person’s role to show that you took the time, but they also may never notice.
• No address block is required.
• Include your contact information in your signature.

Other Resources for Your Motivation Letter for Computer Science

We have written this guide to help you write your own letter. Sometimes, we get asked for more help from our readers. Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources for that, but we want to give you any assistance that we can.

The best resource we have found for such help is looking on Fiverr to hire someone. Fiverr is a marketplace where you can hire someone for a specific project. They offer different projects at set prices that you can hire them for. We can’t provide any particular names on there because the freelancers change. We have created a guide to help you find the right freelancer.

Like we said above, Grammarly is a great resource when you write your own letter. 

They have a free version which is excellent for spell-checking and simple grammar checking. The paid version has much more functionality, such as robust grammar checking, style recommendations, tone analysis, etc. It’s an excellent tool for improving your writing.

Editable Motivation Letter for Computer Science Degree Program

Using this editable template, in Word format, you can make the process of writing your motivation letter for a computer science degree program even faster.  This template helps you get started on your letter by showing you the right format and helping give you an idea of how you can write your own letter. Whether you’re applying for a bachelor’s degree, a master’s, or even a Ph.D. this editable sample of a motivation letter for computer science will help you get started.

$5.00

Shop now

Summary on How to Write Your Motivation Letter for Computer Science Studies

In this article, we have gone over several tips and techniques for writing a powerful motivation letter for a computer science degree, including a bachelor’s degree or a graduate program in Computer Science.

We have also given you some tools and resources that you can use if writing isn’t your strong suit. Below we have a sample letter to help you get started. You can download an editable version here. We also have a pdf version of the motivation letter for computer science available.