Swim practice was a better exercise in mental math than school ever was. By the time I was nine, I knew how to calculate times up to the millisecond in my head—because milliseconds mattered. During a swim set, my head would be full of numbers: if my average time per lap is 15.52 seconds, then a 100-yard free would be 1:00.08, and after factoring out fatigue that’d be a race time of 59.68, which would be 0.18 too slow for my goal...

An untranslatable word: I chose "blockbuster" for its unique historical origins and vague definition.

Definitely send in a letter or two to waitlisted schools; reiterate why you want to go there (no matter if...