I broke a big rule of college applications by writing about my mother. My love for her got me into Yale and Stanford.

I broke a big rule of college applications by writing about my mother. My love for her got me into Yale and Stanford.

The author wrote about his mother in his college essays.Courtesy of Brian ZhangMy mother and I have a complicated relationship; she always showed love in practical ways.Although you aren't supposed to center other people in your college essays, I wrote about my mother.Admissions officers at Yale and Stanford both said they were moved by what I wrote."Promise me you'll never put me in a nursing home," my mother often says.Since I was 12, my answe…