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…

Then application season began, and there was no time left for old ghosts. Yale received more than fifty-two thousand applications that year for fifteen hundred and fifty places. Every file represented a life organized into paper hope. Every file asked, in one way or another: Can you see me? I read until my eyes blurred. Borderline cases, special circumstances,continue reading …