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…

exactly what my father would have predicted if he had been writing a cautionary tale. Hartley and Sons Publishing occupied three narrow floors in an old building with unreliable heat, flickering lights in the stairwell, and a lobby that smelled like wet paper and old coffee. I was an editorial assistant, which meant I was the person who opened the continue reading …