Dear Admissions/Grant Funding/Whatever committee,
My name is Phyllis Rippey and I’m applying for your program in _______________. blah blah blah…
Sincerely,
Phyllis Rippey
Please, for the love of all that is holy, please stop starting letters, statements of purpose, emails, or any other kind of persuasive writing by stating your name. Your name is literally the least interesting thing about you.
So, please, please just stop.
Above all else, good writing should be clear and it should tell a story. Starting with your name clarifies nothing for the reader and unless your name is Robert F. Kennedy,* your name does not tell a story. If your name is famous enough to do this, chances are, it’s not the story you are wanting to tell.
Some very generic but better alternatives
Say it with feeling: With great enthusiasm, I am writing to apply for your MA in Sociology.
- Say why: Given your department’s strength in la francophonie, I am writing to apply for an MA in Sociology.
- Just say it: I am writing to apply for your MA in Sociology.
Starting with “I”
I have long lived with the idea that one should never begin a letter with the word “I.” Apparently, this suggests ego or some such. I don’t remember why or from where I learned this. A friend, as clueless as me, probably said it with conviction and I took it as the God’s honest truth. However, during some kind of perimenopause induced derangement, after writing so many letters, I suddenly forgot how one should begin. My Googling for suggestions led me to a slew of examples all beginning with some variation of “I am writing to recommend… ” This short and sweet framing seemed far more succinct than my usual verbal contortions. I can’t decide how I feel about this.
However, as a means to source what I found then, I just now (unsuccessfully) tried to recreate the search. Wouldn’t you just know that I found multiple websites recommending starting with “My name is…” First, how dare you. We need to vote these folks off the island immediately. Second, I agree with the spirit of one such suggestion as a means to articulate one’s qualifications for providing the reference. Still, one’s letterhead, valediction, and/or email signature will already have done much of this job. I also typically add a second sentence clarifying how I know the student (e.g. Ms. Student was in my 3rd year applied statistics course). This conveys one’s qualifications far more effectively than relying on a trite convention. Unless, of course, your goal is to demonstrate your qualification as a 9th grader at your first expository speech competition. Then, by all means, please do go ahead.
* Note: if your name is Robert F. Kennedy, your name is actually probably the most interesting thing about you. *shrug*
See also Submitting Articles about how to write a letter to a journal.
