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…

worse. Because I had enough self-awareness to know what I was doing and I still did it.” I sat down slowly at the kitchen table. I had not called expecting confession. I had called to deliver information, perhaps to force a reckoning, perhaps to break the long family silence in the one way that no one could spin as weakness. Instead my sister was cracking continue reading …