Same Motivation Letter for Several Universities?

Same Motivation Letter for Several Universities?

No. You can reuse your facts, but not the letter. KTH's Computer Science page asks for less than 500 words, École Polytechnique's MScT programmes ask for a minimum of about 700 words, and TU Delft wants 1,000 to 1,500 words. No single file meets all three.

Being told to tailor your letter does not answer the question. European universities do not just prefer a fresh letter. Several publish rules that force one: a separate letter per programme, the programme name at the top of the page, two different letters in one PDF. In Sweden, Chalmers says your letters can be read by evaluators at every university. This page sorts those rules, shows which parts of a letter you can carry from school to school, and adapts one paragraph for three targets. When a version is ready, you can run it through the one-page European motivation letter rubric.

Every university page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. Limits and rules change between intakes, so recheck each programme page before you upload. Germany has its own portal mechanics. If uni-assist is involved, read one motivation letter for every German university first.

Why one letter fails across countries

The lengths do not overlap. Some universities set a ceiling, one sets a floor, and they count in different units: words, pages, or a field on a form. A letter written for KTH is too short for École Polytechnique by its own published minimum. A letter written for École Polytechnique is too long for KTH. The full list of published limits, university by university, is in motivation letter length at European universities.

The questions differ. TU Delft asks for your hypothetical thesis topics ("Please limit your answer to three possible topics") and a summary of your bachelor's thesis. KTH asks you to "Include an autobiography". ETH Zurich asks for "your motivation for choosing this specific Master's degree programme at ETH Zurich". A letter that answers one list skips items on the others.

In Sweden your letters are not private to one university. Chalmers' master's application page says: "Please note, all letters of motivation can be read by the different evaluators at all universities in Sweden." If you apply to KTH, Chalmers and Uppsala in the same round, evaluators at any of the three can read all three letters. No other university we checked publishes a rule like this, so outside Sweden it is unknown who sees what. The Chalmers motivation letter guide covers when Chalmers requires a letter at all.

Rules that force separate letters

These are the rules each university publishes about length and about applying to more than one programme. The table quotes each university's own page.

Three things follow from the table.

1. At TU Delft and EPFL the problem is between universities, not inside one. You get one programme per academic year at each, so every letter you write for them is the only one they will see.
2. At KTH, Aalto, Polimi and Sciences Po, two programmes means two letters. The rules say so directly. Chalmers lets you provide one letter per programme, and Uppsala wants each document's programme in its file name. Swapping the programme name in an identical letter is the version these rules exist to stop.
3. Some uploads cannot be fixed later. Polimi says that "after paying the application fee, applicants will NOT be able to modify any of the uploaded documents or add any extra documents". Get the right letter in the right slot before you pay.

Uploading extra material does not help either. KTH says "Do not submit documents that are not requested", and Uppsala says "Submit only the documents requested." A second, generic letter in a spare slot is not a backup.

What you can keep: the evidence bank

Our view: build an evidence bank, not a master letter. Write your facts once, in short blocks. Then assemble each letter from that bank, working from the target's own question list rather than from your last letter.

The basis is in the table. Your record is the same at every university, but the questions, lengths and programme names are not. If you start from a finished letter, you inherit its order, its length and its answers to someone else's questions. In Sweden, editing one letter into the next also leaves near-copies where evaluators can compare them.

The countercase: if you apply to two near-identical tracks in one portal with the same question list, a full rebuild is wasted effort. Keep the bank paragraphs almost unchanged and rewrite only the paragraph on why you chose this programme, and the header. The rules still require two separate files, so do not skip the second one.

Recommendation letters are the opposite case. KTH says that if you apply to several of its programmes that request letters of recommendation, "you may use the same letters for several programmes." So the rule applies to your own letter, not to every document in the file.

Worked adaptation: one applicant, three letters

Constructed example: one evidence block adapted for TU Delft, KTH and ETH

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Ananya Rao has a BSc in electrical engineering and is applying to TU Delft, KTH and ETH Zurich in the same year. Square brackets mark details she must take from each programme's own page.

The bank block, written once (59 words):

In my final-year project I designed the battery-monitoring board for a three-scooter test fleet run by my department. I wrote the firmware that logged every cell's voltage once a second, and I wrote the test plan. After 60 charge cycles, two cells had drifted 40 mV apart. A teammate built the enclosure; the board, firmware and analysis were mine.

TU Delft version. TU Delft has room (1,000 to 1,500 words) and asks for thesis topics, so the block stays whole and gains a forward link:

That drift is the question I would bring to my MSc thesis. My first proposed topic is estimating cell imbalance from voltage data alone, without extra sensors, which connects to [specialisation named on the programme page].

KTH version. Under 500 words in total, with the programme named at the top, so the block shrinks and points at the KTH question about how your skills will help you succeed:

Letter of motivation: Master's programme in [programme name]

For my final-year project I designed a battery-monitoring board, wrote its firmware and found a 40 mV cell drift after 60 cycles. That embedded design and testing is what I would bring to [course or track named on the KTH page].

ETH version. About one A4 page, centred on why this specific programme at ETH:

The battery-monitoring board and firmware I built for my final-year project ended with a measurement I could not explain: two cells drifting apart under identical charging. I am applying to [programme name] at ETH Zurich because [the courses named on the programme page] teach the modelling I lacked when I tried to explain it.

Why this works: the facts are identical in all three, so nothing contradicts anything else. Her share (she designed the board and wrote the firmware) survives in every version, because no limit is so tight that you should drop your role. Only the end of each paragraph changes, and each ending answers that university's own question. If Ananya had pasted the TU Delft paragraph into her KTH letter, it would have spent words on thesis topics KTH never asked for, inside a 500-word limit.

The EU one-page letter guide for ETH and EPFL and the Nordic master's letter guide cover what each of those letters should contain as a whole. For the TU Delft thesis summary itself, see how to put your bachelor thesis in a motivation letter.

Before you upload: a five-step check per letter

1. Unit and limit first. Words, pages or form field. Fit the letter to the target before you polish a sentence.
2. Question list second. Open the programme page and tick each item it asks for. Delete paragraphs that answer another university's list.
3. Names everywhere. Programme and university in the text, in the header where KTH asks for it, and in the file name where Uppsala asks for it.
4. Facts against the bank. Your role, dates and results must match the bank block and your CV.
5. Right slot, before you pay. Two programmes means two letters: separate files at KTH and Aalto (and at Chalmers and Uppsala, one per programme), separate sections at Sciences Po, and two letters combined in one PDF at Polimi.

Questions about reusing a motivation letter

Can I use the same letter for two programmes at one university?

No, at the universities we checked that allow two programmes. KTH says to "submit one for each", Aalto says to "prepare and upload a separate letter for each study option", Polimi says "2 different motivation letters", and Sciences Po wants them "in separate sections". TU Delft and EPFL allow only one programme per academic year, so the question does not arise there.

Will a university know I reused my letter?

In Sweden it is possible, because Chalmers says letters "can be read by the different evaluators at all universities in Sweden." No other university we checked publishes how letters are shared. Do not rely on that silence: a letter written for another programme also misses the questions this one asks.

Is it fine to change only the university name?

No. ETH asks for your motivation for "this specific Master's degree programme", and Polimi asks "why you have chosen Politecnico di Milano among other universities". A letter that answers the question for a different university with a new name pasted in does not answer either. Before you reuse a letter, check which of four tasks your programme's questions set; a taught-programme letter and a thesis-topic letter cannot share text.

In Denmark the letter often has another name, such as DTU's fee-waiver statement; see the Denmark master's motivation letter guide.

Polimi asks for "2 different motivation letters" when you apply to two programmes; see two letters for a first and second choice at Polimi.

Reuse is one of several rule mistakes; see motivation letter mistakes to avoid for a master's for the others.

For management master's, the MiM motivation letter guide shows one constructed letter recut from ESCP's one-page format into Gothenburg's four 2,000-character answers.

Get a free review of your motivation letter

Get a free Quick Review of your motivation letter against GradPilot's one-page European motivation letter rubric. It reads whether the letter names its programme and why you chose it, answers what that programme asked for, ties your preparation to the programme's demands, and fits the space it is given. For a longer UK or European letter, use the master's motivation letter and personal statement rubric; for TU Delft, use the TU Delft research motivation letter rubric. Review each version separately, one programme at a time.

More guides for European applications:

• Motivation letter length at European universities: every published limit in one place.
• Aalto: two study options, two letters: two Aalto letters built from one record.
• Erasmus Mundus motivation letter rules: one letter read by a whole consortium.
• Graduate school essay guides: every master's and PhD guide by destination.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• TU Delft, Required documents, MSc international diploma (no intake year stated on the letter item): 1,000–1,500 words; thesis topics; bachelor's thesis summary.
• TU Delft, Application procedure, MSc international diploma: one MSc programme, one application per academic year.
• EPFL, Master's online application: 1,000-word ceiling; career strategy; one programme per academic year.
• ETH Zurich, Master's in Computer Science, application: approximately one A4 page for this specific programme.
• KTH, Computer Science entry requirements: under 500 words; autobiography; one letter per programme with its name at the top; shared recommendation letters; no unrequested documents.
• Chalmers, Apply for master's programmes: one page; one letter per programme; optional thesis proposal; visibility across Swedish universities.
• Uppsala University, Supporting documents for master's applications: about 400 words; file names per programme; only requested documents.
• Aalto University, Apply to master's programmes (autumn 2027 round): separate letter per study option.
• Politecnico di Milano, List of documents required by the admissions office: two different letters, two pages each; no changes after paying the fee.
• Sciences Po, International admissions, graduate (2027 intake): separate letters in separate sections.
• École Polytechnique, MScT admissions FAQ: minimum of about 700 words; one application per programme per year.