But first, I need to complete my ed

But first, I need to complete my education. A Master of City Planning from the University of Texas at Austin is the next step in my pursuit of a planning career. I’m drawn to your program, specifically, for a few reasons. I am very interested in both land use planning and environmental planning. The work of Professor [...] and the research done by the Center for Sustainable Development are especially appealing to me. Protecting the environment is an extremely important facet of urban planning. Planners have the capabilities to integrate the built environment with the natural environment safely and sustainably, and I would greatly enjoy the opportunity to study and research this area further.

Here I explained precisely why UT was the right school for me. I explained the research I wanted to do. I listed a professor I wished to work with directly by name, and I also made it clear I had done my research by including one of the university's research facilities and my intent to utilize it.