When I Dropped Out At 20, My Sister Told Everyone: “She’s The One Who Didn’t Finish.” Twelve Years Later, I’m Yale’s Dean Of Admissions. One Essay Read: “My Family Moved Past My Aunt’s Setback.” The Name? Amanda Chen. My Niece. I Picked Up My Red Pen And…

rather than truth. Say a thing long enough at dinner tables and in car rides and over phone calls, and it hardens into a story. But stories are fragile once a curious teenager acquires search engines and skepticism. Amanda had not just found me. She had found the gaps between what she was told and what was real. That kind of intelligence cannot be continue reading …