Professional College Consultant and Ivy League Graduate.
Hello. My name is Dave Wtorkowski (tor-COW-ski). I'm a Dartmouth College graduate and a full-time college admissions coach. For over 10 years, I've been providing strategic insight and advice on how to navigate the difficult college application process to help ambitious, high-achieving students get into the Ivy League and other top-tier universities. I help students build their candidacy while they're still in high school, and craft the strongest possible college applications with a compelling personal narrative and one-of-a-kind essays.
Before returning to academia, I was a professional writer, editor and "script doctor" in Hollywood, and a creative Vice President at Disney.
For questions and inquiries, email me at: [email protected]
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shoutout to this guy for coaching the swiss soccer team to the euro 2024 quarter finals
It’s been a while since this video
Asian Parents who was he with? Was it latino kids? No was it blk kids no. This is what happens when you think that racist actually accept you. How much did that family pay for their kid to go that school? Super prestigious school? And they left him where? In a river in a river where is the acceptance in that? Remember that the next time you feel the need to join in on the racism spewed at other folks in this country. That will be all.
Hi Dave, great presentations. Thank you. Which SAT prep course do you recommend?
Email me directly about this: [email protected].
Not being white and a man is a biggie
Thanks for the insightful analysis on eight excellent schools.
Glad to see that a school like Duke, whose entire reputation is based on exclusivity, is basically banning Greek organizations for not being “inclusive” enough, whatever that means. Lmao, does anybody take these schools seriously anymore? And I say this as an Ivy grad.
There is some real irony there, to be sure.
I am currently doing my A. A in Chemistry at my local community college, and I just got a letter from Columbia's School of General Studies inviting me to apply for the Spring semester. I have a 4.0 GPA, and I am a Phi Theta Kappa member. I am working on my application, which I should submit by August 1st, and I am freaking out because I did not graduate from high school in the USA, and I have also been working full time while studying, so I don't have any extracurricular activities to show. Any tips?
Don’t stress about the extracurricular for the GS. They don’t really care about it ‘cause you didn’t graduate from an American HS. Your essay should stand out though.
@@valik1969thanksss
applying this year early decision 2!!
Should I go into the UNLV honors college program if I want to study medicine after the 4 years?
Super liberal these days. They set up the Free University of Palestine this spring and demanded everyone mask up.
Wish you would do a Notre Dame video ! :)
Hi! My focus is on math. Like I truly love math and it really is my passion. I’ve tried to start a math club but no one wanted to join. So, what should I do? I’m currently in the process of creating a math tutoring program at my local elementary school (because I have other extracurricular that connect with eduction for kids) and I really want to publish a math research paper. Are these too basic/not unique enough? Is there anything else you would recommend to me?
Ideally you want to pursue math in a way that helps you stand out. Are there math competitions you can enter? Many top universities like Stanford and MIT offer free online math courses that you can take. Additionally there are numerous math summer programs you can apply to. And of course you want to do really well on the Math section of the SAT or ACT. There's nothing wrong with tutoring young kids, but it's not particularly going to help you stand out.
@@IvyAdmissionHelp Great! I’ll look into some math courses and competitions. Thank you so much!!!
Con:Racist people.
Nice review, it is interesting to hear about the safety in Chicago, friends advised us against it when my daughter was admitted, curiously other cities where their kids were attending had worse safety records than Chicago… Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta… it is a very large city and yes, the surrounding areas change quickly… like any other city, be aware of your surroundings. There is a difference between quirky and weird… the essays are designed to showcase your capacity to think outside the box, to be original and be yourself, it provides admission officers a very quick view into the students’ thinking process, the questions are suggested by students at the university… INCREDIBLE place, I have read some if my daughter essays lately and her writing and communication skills are in overdrive… one of her last year’s essays for end of the course was based on her own research selection and was 27 pages long… she is a second year student… go there if you want to change the world!
Caltech strongly promotes undergraduates to get into graduate school.
Good comments! JHU is a real elite school in US, like MIT, Princeton, Stanford.
Your videos are so spot-on! They are really outstanding. You do a fantastic job of providing an objective presentation of the pros and cons. One interesting note about Northwestern: apparently, the winters have been much milder for the past few years. My son is a freshman and said the winter wasn't a big deal at all (and we're from California)! We'll see if the trends continues.
Duke, Generating useless, entitled young adults.
That's wonderful! I am a father, looking for schools for my daughter. excellent message.
Does the major you intend to pursue affect the chances? Ex: me applying as a transfer applicant as an upcoming sophomore to Columbia intending to pursue pre med
As a transfer student, your choice of major absolutely affects your admissions odds, because they're evaluating you specifically for that major. As a first-year applicant, it depends on the university. Most liberal arts universities don't give too much weight to your intended major, since you're likely to change it anyway. But if you apply to a specific college within a university (engineering, business, etc.), or to a more competitive major at a public university, your choice of major can make admissions harder.
@@IvyAdmissionHelp ohh ugh I see, cause the example I did was actually what I was planning on doing, but I’ve heard it’s REALLY competitive in regards to Columbia medical school.
Great content! All of these colleges seem to blend together when looking at them in paper and even in person. A few other videos like this could be comparing what's left of the Seven Sisters, the Hidden Ives, top state schools, to Catholic schools, Jesuit Schools... etc.
please do JHU
Love to see more like this!! Schools like public ivies. UVA, Umichigan - AA, UWisconsin - Madison, Georgia TEch, etc!!
Do you recommend applicants not submitting a test? UPenn is test optional and claims it doesn’t put the applicants at a disadvantage in the admission process.
A strong showing on a standardized test assures top schools that you can handle the courseload. If you only have a very weak SAT/ACT, it might be best to keep that to yourself and simply hope that the rest of your transcript carries you through, but you have just made getting in that much harder.
But if you come from a low-performing school, or a low-performing district, then your less-than-stellar score might actually make you look pretty good relative to your peers, in which case you should submit it.
Everything you said is 10000% correct. The University of Chicago is known around Chicago as a place "where fun goes to die." The academic culture there is VERY rigorous. My brother went to the law school there. He would tell me that Yale was a cakewalk compared to Chicago. The work at the law school was the hardest thing he had ever done academically.
It’s not only about rigor, but about bullying. As long as your oral skills are good and you praise UChi on social media, you’ll be protected by them… and don’t use your brain, this is not what is expected from you. kinda communist university there.
Do you think I (a Syrian expatriate whose parents were impoverished and escaping wars from every corner) have a chance of getting into Harvard? I studied high school in Saudi Arabia and my GPA is 99.98. I took the SAT yesterday and I expect my score to be around 1520. I'm also planning on taking English proficiency tests like IELTS, TOEFL, and DET; I believe I have the potential to get a splendid score on each one of them. Additionally, I have extracurricular activities (40 hours of volunteer work, which includes painting a parking lot, cleaning a beach, etc.; and participation in morning announcements). I have a 99 on a local test from Qiyas called the General Aptitude Test (Math score: 100, Reading score: 97.8) I could provide extra context
Harvard is exceptionally difficult for anyone to get into. That said, having a unique backstory can really help you get in.
I didn't find anything on MIT's website saying that Sloan is delayed admission. Are you sure that's correct?
Yes. Make sure you look up Sloan for undergraduates as opposed to the Sloan MBA program.
@@IvyAdmissionHelp Sorry - couldn't find it. I found this: "All undergraduate students enter MIT undeclared and students are not admitted directly to MIT Sloan. Therefore, please visit the Admissions Office home page to apply to MIT. All MIT undergraduates can take classes at MIT Sloan beginning their first semester; students select a major at the end of their first year." But that doesn't mean there's delayed admission - it just means there's no separate admission to Sloan. And based on what I've found elsewhere (e.g., on Quora), anyone can declare Course 15 (Sloan) as their major when the time comes. If you have clear support for saying there's delayed admission (i.e., a second, later admission process, like UVA has), can you please provide a link? My son plans to apply to MIT next year, so we'd like to know (with certainty) whether there's delayed admission to Sloan. Thanks!
Correct, there's no secondary application process. Once you finish your sophomore year at MIT, as long as you are in good standing, you can simply declare one of the Sloan business fields as your major. By delayed admission, I mean that you are not directly admitted into the business program straight out of high school, as is the case at many schools.
it’s not just 20% who don’t have the other qualities since they definitely overlap
Does being a National merit semifinalist (PSAT) help at all given that there is a reemphasis on test scores?
Maybe slightly. But mostly they will be looking at either your SAT or ACT scores.
Thanks for posting this! Extremely helpful
Yup. My boy will be SAT- and ACT-prepping all summer long, an hour a day, every day, seven days a week. He has a year to prepare. Thank you.
Do you really pressure your children like that?
@@qvgaming3795 I do. He gets an allowance. School or no school. It's his full time job, to be a conscientious student, to be constantly studying. Anyway, it's not like I'm a tyrant, I'm the opposite of strict. I'm trying to make it so it's routine like eating, sleeping, breathing, and watching youtube. Thank you.
@fcsolis Imagine in like 2 months he shouts at you "WHY YOU KEEP BOSSING ME AROUND?" lmao
I don’t know about your son but I’m a junior in highschool who scored pretty well on the sat and has a 4.8 gpa without “constantly studying”. From my point of view, I think kids do better when they enjoy what they are doing, not being forced by their parents. Maybe push him to do it but in a more educational sense where he can understand why he’s doing it. I’m sure you were over exaggerating when you said it was his job to be “constantly studying” but if you weren’t then I’d dissagree, he’s young so it’s a time to explore what he loves and wants to explore in the future. Anyways, I’m sort of an exception to most kids so I might not be a good opinion for this but I thought I’d share my thoughts
@@KobeofLeeland Thanks for sharing your thoughts. An hour a day everyday of SAT, ACT, any standardized test prep really isn't bad. It's a great habit to develop. It will get you ready for the LSAT, the MCAT, the GRE, etc. It allows you to answer lots of questions when watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Anyway, during the school year my son studies upwards of three hours every night because he chooses to. I often tell him to relax a bit. I'm the most chill parent, I really am.
Is it not true that most of the DEI students who are recruited have some kind of academic or other merit that make them exceptional within their own communities (such as community service, top scoring from their school, etc etc)? Or does it make sense for an "average" DEI student to apply to Harvard when they're not exceptional in any way?
The easiest way to think about this is to think in terms of buckets. Let's say Harvard is committed to filling 20% of its freshmen class (360 spots) with DEI candidates. They evaluate all of their DEI applicants together and admit their favorite 360. Some of these candidates may be spectacular, while others may be just average or even below average. Either way, the best 360 are getting in. Because of this strong advantage, students from under-represented backgrounds should absolutely apply to all of the best schools, even if they're not spectacular on paper, because they have a much higher chance of being admitted.
You need to brush up on your math. You are talking average, and then showing a distribution 1520 being the median. They are not the same. All your chart is really showing is that 25% of people who reported scores were below a particular score and 25% were above a particular score. As someone else reported, it is likely ALL people who scored above the top 25 percentile reported their scores, while some that scored below the bottom 25 percentile did not - that would be normal behavior. That means a majority of students admitted scores between these two scores. So a 1520 would would most likely not be in the middle as you show, but more to the right in terms of an actual distribution…
No, the median would be the middle value if all the scores were listed in ascending order; it's not the same as the mean. Harvard doesn't publish that data. Instead, they publish the average score, or the mean, which is 1520. I'm not sure what you mean by your second point: please clarify. If your point is that the "true average" would be slightly lower if the data included freshmen scores that weren't reported, then yes. I guess that might be true. But how does that change the point of the video?
You couldve worded this in a nicer way
The great thing about math is that you're either right or wrong. It has nothing to do with your feelings. I thought my response was polite but clear.
Thank you for this video
What do you mean at 5:42 by `and worse than that because of gender parity?” Sure a male/female merit student is only competing for half of the 20% merit bucket, but they are only competing against the half of the applicants matching their gender. So that cancels out (nothing worse” about it).
Very true! What I meant to emphasize is that the "number" of available spots is half what you might expect, not that it's any "harder" because of it. I should have articulated this better.
Thank you for this video
Saw a stat that 70% of applicants to this cohort of Universities have an A average. Insane grade inflation by "top" high schools that have rendered GPA worthless.
Yes, several top schools like Harvard and Yale do inflate grades considerably, while other schools like Cornell, Columbia, Princeton and UChicago do not. They do it so that students won't spend all of their time in the library working, but rather will be out in the world trying to accomplish other things.
Hey, I was wondering if there’s something special about the US News Ranking of the top undergraduate schools that offer no doctorate like Rose Hulman, Franklin W. Olin, and Harvey Mudd. What up with them?
Those are all really good undergraduate engineering schools. What's your question specifically?
The data for the graph you used is misleading. Since it is test optional, only those who scored highly on the sat will submit their scores, making the average score significantly higher. Those who scored below 1450 most likely did not submit a score, and therefore the "average" score is much higher than reality, skewing the graph.
I'm not sure how this data is misleading. 83% of Harvard freshmen submitted their test scores. And their average SAT score was 1520. If we were to obtain the SAT's of the remaining 17% of admits who didn't submit their scores, it would very likely lower the "average," yes.
So you do understand how it is misleading then?
Sorry, I don't see how this is misleading. The point of the video is not to name the exact SAT average of all Harvard freshmen, whether they submitted their scores or not. It's to point out that those students who get admitted with low scores or no scores are "special candidates." And if you want to get in on merit alone, you'd better be on the high end.
Thank you for making good content. Can you make videos on how to get into Harvard and Princeton and pros and cons !
Hi. I did make a video on the Ivies and the pros and cons of each one.
Thank you for making videos with great content. 👍
Glad you like them!
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Would you consider profiling LACs like Reed, Macalester, Haverford, etc.?
I have a video on the Little Ivies which includes Haverford and other small liberal arts colleges.
Would you consider pomona college a little ivy?
Usually, the Little Ivies refer to small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. But Pomona is an excellent example of a small liberal arts college.
All my family likes your video… hope to see more videos talking about schools ranking from top10 - 30
Con, antisemitic policies Con, pro anarchy Con, teaching activism not intellectualism Con, questioning “the message” deemed “hate speech” Con, hate fueled students dictating policy Con, encampments preventing commencement of classes that are paid for, (paying for services not rendered) Con, tuition Con, location Con, president is an an apologetic anti Semite Con, riots deemed protests Con, price tag of Ivy League without the benefits. Anyone know a pro?
i want to get a second bachelors from univ of chicago just out of pride.
Could you do a video on WashU St. Louis please?
If I am interested in physics like string theory and computer science like game programming, how can I decide between brown and UChicago
Brown has an open curriculum, suburban enviroment, and decent athletics whereas chicago has a very structured curriculum, urban enviroment and few athletic programs. Chicago is also known for being more rigorous academically and harsh winters. I would recomend chicago for a better education and brown if you want a better social enviroment
Really good overviews of the UCs. I think you nailed them. I might quibble with UCSB a bit. My son and several friend’s kids are there. The school does have a party culture, but it’s overblown. Most (90%) really don’t participate. The campus is rather laid back and a lot of students would rather hike, or spend time on the beach in their off hours, than party. It is the only school I’ve ever seen where the dorms have surfboard racks next to their entrances.
University of Washington next?