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…

once treated like evidence of my unseriousness. I scrolled to the personal statement. The prompt asked applicants to reflect on a challenge or obstacle and what they had learned from it. I began reading as an admissions dean and within three lines became only an aunt, or perhaps not even that—simply a woman confronted with the afterlife of her own continue reading …