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…

changed her understanding not only of me but of her mother, of family, of success, of fear. “My family overcame nothing,” she wrote in the line that nearly undid me. “They simply failed to see that Rachel was succeeding in ways they could not understand.” The essay ended with a sentence so clean and brave I could still quote it now: “I want to be like continue reading …