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…

voice had gone thin now. “What did she write about?” “Me.” Another long silence. “She wrote about the family story,” I said. “About how you used me as a warning. About how she Googled me and found out I wasn’t the disaster she’d been told I was.” Jennifer inhaled sharply, and because it came through the line so nakedly I knew before she spoke that continue reading …