My father did not speak to me for four days after I got into Harvard University last month. On March 27, I joined thousands of other high school applicants around the world, holding my breath, closing my eyes, and clicking the ominous “View Application Status” button in my Harvard portal. My body reacted before my brain did, dispersing a breath of disbelief from my lungs as I fell back in my chair. My mother screamed, and my father simply stared at the screen. All I felt was elation in that