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…

good sentence can save three clumsy ones around it. I learned to edit without flattening a writer’s voice. I learned that talent almost never arrives in the packaging people expect. The flashiest submissions were often the emptiest. The awkward ones sometimes hid a pulse that only needed belief and work. After two years I became an assistant editor.continue reading …