Letters of motivation as an integrative element of university admissions procedures: An evaluation approach

Although it is generally accepted that assessment methods at universities must fulfill quality standards, a thorough evaluation of assessment techniques (e.g., motivation letters) is yet to emerge. In an attempt to fill this gap, the present paper presents a multi-method approach that combines text-mining techniques with qualitative content analysis in order to evaluate the potential use of motivation letters in university admissions processes. The paper shows how different signals correlate with study success and emphasizes the importance of sociodemographic effects.