Last year, I conducted alumni interviews for Yale applicants. It's an easy gig. You take a smart, ambitious 17-year-old out for hot chocolate, ask him about his life and then report back to the university, “Yup, this is another great kid.” I recently got an email asking me to reenlist. Was I ready for another admissions season? I checked “No,” mostly because “Never again” wasn't an option. I hold no grudge. I have no ax to grind. It's just that the whole process is so spectacularly insane that participating in it — even in such a peripheral role — feels like watching spiders crawl out of my tear ducts.

October 11, 2016 ・ From Los Angeles Times