When I wrote my own MBA admissions essay, I remember feeling lost, rambling without a clear direction. Crafting a standout essay requires self-awareness, authenticity, and alignment with the program.

Simply sign up to the Business education myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Writing the perfect MBA application essay involves brevity, a degree of literary panache, and total honesty.

Over my 15 years in admissions at Kellogg I have read A LOT of essay questions. I am often asked about the “best essays” and believe me, there have been many wonderful answers. And I will write about ...

Ten years ago, lengthy MBA essays were a staple of business school applications. Flash forward to today, and admissions departments worldwide have reduced the word count and number of essays ...

A decade ago, business school applications commonly included up to six essay questions for applicants to fret and labor over. For at least the past three application seasons, however, many top-ranked ...