Nova SBE MiM: The Motivation Letter & Video, Decoded

Most European MiM application guides spend their length decoding an essay set — three prompts here, four short answers there. Nova SBE’s is refreshingly different, and that difference is the whole point: there is no essay set. The written core of the International Master’s in Management application is a single one-page motivation letter, paired with a short recorded video. Two pieces, both short, both doing a lot of work.

That changes where the application is won. With only one page of writing and a few minutes of video, there is nowhere to bury a vague paragraph and no second essay to rescue a weak first one. Each component has to land on its own. The good news is that both are testing the same underlying thing — do you have a specific, credible reason to be here, and are you someone the cohort will be glad to have? — so preparing well for one sharpens the other.

It’s worth getting this right, because Nova SBE is no longer a hidden gem: its IMM climbed to #4 in the world in the Financial Times Masters in Management 2025, at the lowest tuition of any top-ten European programme. Strong rankings plus low cost means competition, and the application is where you make your case.

Here is what each part of the Nova SBE IMM application is really evaluating, and how to do it well. (Nova revised its admissions process for 2026/27, so confirm the live requirements on its admissions page first — but the shape below reflects the current cycle.)

The one-page motivation letter

Nova SBE’s own brief is admirably plain. It asks you to “tell us about your motivation, interests, values, and ambitions” and to “show extracurriculars, leadership/teamwork, why Nova SBE, and what you’ll bring to our community,” kept “specific to this application.” That single instruction tells you everything about how it’s read. In one page, a strong letter does three things.

1. A specific reason for Nova SBE and the IMM

The cheapest credibility signal in the whole letter — and the most underused — is concrete knowledge of the programme. Nova builds its identity around an intensely international cohort (around 93% international, students from 35-plus nationalities), an oceanfront Carcavelos campus, a CEMS option, and a value proposition few top-tier schools can match. Name the part of the design that actually maps to your goal — the CEMS route, a specialisation, the international classroom — and say why it moves you forward. If your “why Nova” sentences would still make sense with another school’s name pasted in, you haven’t written that part yet.

2. Evidence of who you are beyond grades

Nova explicitly wants extracurriculars, leadership and teamwork — not because they’re box-ticks, but because the IMM is a young, collaborative cohort and they’re choosing people who will contribute to it. Don’t just claim “leadership”; give a two-line example where you demonstrably led or carried a team. International experience is particularly valued, so surface it if you have it. The point is to let the reader infer your qualities from evidence rather than be told them.

3. Ruthless selection, because it’s one page

A page forces priorities. Lead with your strongest, most relevant qualifications and experiences; organise the middle around the two or three that matter most for this programme; cut anything your CV already says plainly. The letter’s job is the why and the who, in evidence — not a prose re-listing of the transcript.

For the underlying mechanics of finding and structuring that story, our essay-writing tips transfer directly to a one-page motivation letter, and how to build a competitive MiM profile covers positioning a profile that’s strong-but-not-perfect on paper. For the full document checklist across European MiMs, see MiM application requirements in Europe.

The video

This is the component applicants treat as an afterthought and then scramble at. For the International Master’s in Management, you record a short video — around three minutes, on camera and in English — answering a set of reflection questions about your professional experiences. (The CEMS MIM route uses a slightly longer five-minute video about your contribution to a community, a personal success, and a failure you learned from.) It’s usually submitted as an unlisted video link, and it exists to show the personality, authenticity and fit a written page can’t fully carry.

A recorded video is a different skill from writing, and the format dictates the preparation:

• Practise speaking, don’t read a script. A memorised monologue always looks memorised on camera. Know your two or three core points well enough to say them naturally, looking at the lens.
• Answer the questions you were asked. With only a few minutes, there’s no room to drift. Make the first sentence of each answer a direct response, then support it with a brief example.
• Be continuous with the letter. The video should expand and humanise what you wrote — same direction, same motivation — not contradict it. Reflection questions about professional experience are an invitation to tell, in your own voice, the stories the letter only had room to name.
• Treat the setup as part of the test. Quiet room, decent light, camera at eye level, stable connection. It’s a communication assessment as much as a content one.

Because Nova’s video is one of a family of recorded-video steps now common across European MiMs, our recorded video interview explainer is a useful companion on how asynchronous video assessments work and how to prepare without sounding scripted.

The possible interview

Not everyone is interviewed. Nova screens applications first, and an interview happens only if the admissions committee needs it to verify your eligibility and suitability — IMM and CEMS candidates may be invited after the video is evaluated. When it does happen, it’s typically a 30–45 minute conversation, online or in person, assessing motivation, leadership potential and fit. So plan for the letter and video as the main events, and be ready for an interview rather than assuming one. If you’re invited, the same preparation that makes a strong video — knowing your own application cold and being specific about your motivation — carries straight over.

How the pieces fit the rest of the file

The letter and video sit on top of the objective layer: academic transcripts, a CV, proof of English at C1 level (higher than the B2 floor Nova sets for some other master’s), and — recommended but not mandatory — a GMAT or GRE score. Because the test is optional, a strong score is a way to strengthen a borderline academic profile rather than a hurdle everyone must clear; our GMAT vs GRE for a European MiM explainer helps you decide whether it’s worth sitting one, and the MiM without GMAT in Europe hub covers the test-optional landscape more broadly.

One route worth knowing: the Nova Fellowship for Excellence is a merit scholarship with its own short-answer questions (on your academic and community contribution, extracurriculars and achievements). It’s optional, but if you’re a strong candidate it’s worth the extra writing — and it’s a reminder that, at Nova’s tuition, a fellowship can make an already-affordable degree close to a bargain. For the bigger funding picture, see how MiM scholarships work in Europe.

The mistakes that quietly sink strong applications

• A school-agnostic motivation letter. If you could paste it into another school’s form by swapping the name, it’s generic. Specific programme features, specific reasons, specific evidence are the fix.
• Wasting the one page on the CV. Don’t re-list your transcript in prose. Spend the page on motivation, evidence and fit.
• Treating the video as a formality. It’s a scored stage that evaluates personality and communication. Practise out loud; don’t wing it.
• A letter and a video that tell different stories. They should read as one coherent person with one direction — re-read your letter before you record.
• Telling instead of showing. Trade adjectives for two or three concrete examples, in both the letter and the video.

Timing: apply early in the rounds

Nova SBE moved to a rounds-based system: for the 2026/27 cycle, five consecutive rounds ran from mid-November 2025 to the end of April 2026, with decisions returned in about four weeks for Round 1 and up to eight for later rounds. As with most rolling systems, the earliest rounds carry the most places and the best scholarship visibility, so applying early (without rushing a weak file) widens your options — and Round 1’s faster turnaround means you hear back sooner. For the strategy behind when to apply, see Round 1 vs Round 2, and map the live dates on our deadline tracker.

Common questions

Does Nova require essays? Not a set — one page of motivation plus a short recorded video. (The optional Nova Fellowship for Excellence has its own short-answer questions.) Confirm the live requirements on Nova’s admissions page.

What should the motivation letter cover? Your motivation, interests, values and ambitions; extracurriculars and leadership/teamwork; why Nova; and what you’ll bring — specific to this application, in one page.

How does the video work? About three minutes for the IMM, on camera and in English, answering reflection questions on your professional experience (five minutes for CEMS MIM). Practise speaking, don’t read.

Is there an interview? Only if the committee needs one — IMM/CEMS candidates may be invited after the video. It’s a 30–45 minute conversation, online or in person.

Does it need a GMAT? Recommended, not mandatory; English is required at C1. A test score helps a borderline profile.

Sources & how to confirm

The one-page motivation letter and Nova’s own brief for it, the IMM’s roughly three-minute reflection video (and the CEMS MIM’s five-minute video), the screen-first, interview-only-if-needed process, the C1 English requirement, the GMAT/GRE-recommended-not-mandatory policy, the €51 application fee and the five-round 2026/27 calendar with its four-to-eight-week decision turnaround are drawn from Nova SBE’s official master’s admissions and eligibility pages; ranking, tuition and class-profile figures are from our Nova SBE profile, which sources them to Nova and the Financial Times. Nova revised its admissions process for 2026/27 and may adjust it again, so confirm the current motivation-letter brief, video questions, English certificates and round dates on Nova SBE’s admissions page before you apply. Last checked June 2026.

• Nova SBE — Updates to the master’s programs admissions process (2026/27)
• Nova SBE — Master’s eligibility criteria
• Nova SBE — International Master’s in Management
• Our full Nova SBE International Master’s in Management profile