How to write the Yale community essay

AA former senior assistant director of admissions at Yale, who read applications for years, said readers there were most interested in whether a student would make a good roommate and a good companion at dinner. Among the most selective colleges, he thought Yale weighed community involvement and extracurricular life more heavily than its peers, and its readers looked for collaboration more than competition.

That surprises families who have spent years building a record of wins, and it should worry them a little. The habits that produce a brilliant transcript and a shelf of trophies can produce an essay that answers the wrong question, and the students most at risk are often the ones whose files look strongest. The trouble usually surfaces in one particular prompt.