So, You Want to Write a Great Letter of Intent?

This was written for the students in the program I ran at the University of New Mexico. I learned as much or more from them as they learned from me. They are my lifelong colleagues.

Why doesn’t my letter work? This document was written to help prepare letters of intent for graduate school, but these letters can be useful for other purposes. I tend to talk to scientists, but clear writing, good narratives, and writing so that the person reading it really WANTS to get to know you are universally appreciated. I’ve seen wonderful people not get accepted simply because they left something out in their letter or wrote a letter that could have come from anyone off the street. That’s not you. Don’t be arrogant, but, in this process, you might begin to see what you bring to the table or the small things you need to do to be a real star.

Why write a great letter of Intent? You will learn a great deal in this process about yourself and your abilities and get important, new perspectives on your path forward. A great letter of intent requires you to have insight about yourself, your values, background, research experiences, and goals. In one or two pages, you can convince the reviewer — even if they have kids, it’s 10PM, they want to sleep or work, and the last thing they want to do is read your letter that they WANT to meet you.