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…

the file: Strong admit. Committee review recommended. Then I sat back and thought about how impossible that sentence would have been in the life my family once designed for me. In their version, my usefulness was supposed to depend on whether I eventually returned to respectability on their terms. But my actual life had taught me something far more continue reading …