“When people ask what helped me get in, my answer is simple: my parents and their struggle with technology. That's the story I told in my college essay, a key part of the application.”

…

“What admissions officers are really looking for

“I'm not a professional college counselor, but I've learned through my own application process that admissions officers value perspective and passion. 

“My Penn admissions offer wrote in a note to me, "Your response to our community prompt was so powerful … I love how excited you are to continue supporting the Latino community here in Philly. It's clear you value the two-way street of building relationships with others; reaping the benefits of being surrounded by community and paying it forward by "showing up" for them, too."“

SPOILER ALERT: her parents are Guatemalan migrants.

Do you think a white dude from Mechanicsburg would get into Penn (and Yale and Dartmouth) for pre-law on the strength of an essay about his forklift-driving dad’s struggles with technology—with a glowing letter from the admissions officer on how touched by it she was?