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…

architect.” She laughed. Then, more quietly, “Was it awful? Dropping out, I mean?” I thought about the Brooklyn apartment, the ramen, the humiliation, the loneliness, the phone calls, the way every milestone had initially arrived wrapped in self-doubt. “Sometimes,” I said. “But awful and wrong are not the same thing. Some of the best choices I ever continue reading …