British universities, the destination of thousands of foreign students who decide to study abroad each year, are positioned at the top of all the university rankings in the world. First in quality, research, employability and flexibility, British universities are preferred when choosing a new student.
One of the great challenges when registering for these centers is presented when submitting the applications, and especially the cover letters. Because of its characteristics, these centers expect certain conditions of their future students, which they intend to see, reflected in these letters.
For that your cover letter at a British university to be a success, you must avoid these 7 mistakes:
1) Write it without considering the idiomatic differences
It shows that you can adapt to the new language, that you care to do things well and not just in a simple way. To write in English you must think in English, not simply translate that old cover letter in your own language that you have ever armed.
2) Use too common terms
Your career may fascinate you, but if you simply refer to it in that way you will not provoke any special reaction on the reader, as it will take it as “more of the same”. You try to think what you actually described or what really motivates you to study that career, beyond the usual words or terms you know. Out of the comfort zone when writing the letter is an implicit sample of what you will do in the race.
3) Write it with passive voice
It’s your letter; you must prove it in the writing. A passive writing will show the interest that you want to transmit; the best is that you use an active voice and talk directly about what you want.
4) Mention too many extracurricular activities
Unless these are really surprising or relevant to the career you want to target, it is best to highlight them briefly and always indicating what you contributed rather than simply naming them. The English do not value the quantity, they prefer the quality.
5) Include information without indicating its importance
Do not assume that everyone should know, you better convey in your own words what it meant in your life activity. Gathering information without indicating why you are placing them in your letter will serve for nothing; the important thing is to indicate what you provided.
6) Do not use all space or exceed limits
Usually universities receive cover letters of 4,000 characters. If you do not use them all they will believe that you do not have enough motivation to apply and if you go beyond the limits they will consider that you have no capacity for synthesis. Use the characters you have, no more or less.
7) Send too many requests
If you postulate yourself to several careers of the same university they will believe that you are not interested, and that you do not have your ideas as clear as you try to explain in the cover letter that you send.
