Ivy Scholars is happy to welcome David Wtorkowski, a former Disney Executive to the Ivy Scholars team. Dave will be assisting our students with college application coaching and candidacy building. We sat down with David to learn a bit about his past, and hear what experience he’ll bring to Ivy Scholars.
Your job is helping high school students get on track for college admission. Did you have any form of that when you were in school?
Back when I applied to college, there wasn’t much planning or preparation at all. It was simply counselors asking: “Where do you want to go?” Fortunately, I had enough going for me to get into my top choice school – Dartmouth. In retrospect, the whole process would have gone a lot smoother had I been given more guidance.
What all were you involved in?
Academics was always my strong suit, but I kept busy outside the classroom as well. I competed in debate tournaments and chess tournaments, I played soccer, I played drums in a rock band, I illustrated for the school paper, I lived with host families abroad in two different countries, and volunteered in the Emergency Room of Yale New Haven Hospital, thinking I was going to study pre-med.
So you didn’t make much of an organized Candidacy Building effort?
None! I never thought about applying to college until the day I had to. I was fortunate that I was a very driven child so there was plenty to put into my application. However, there was very little sense of “focus” to my application; it looked more like a student who was dabbling in anything and everything. That type of well-rounded approach doesn’t work so well anymore.
So how did you handle college applications when it came time?
My top two criteria were prestige and campus feel. I knew that I wanted to go to a top-notch liberal arts college with an excellent reputation for undergraduate teaching (as opposed to graduate programs), but I really wanted a beautiful campus tucked away in the middle of nowhere, preferably in New England. I applied to 10 schools and Dartmouth was my top choice. Notably, I did not get into Williams, which would have been my second choice.
How’d it turn out?
I got into nine of the ten schools that I applied to, including my first choice, Dartmouth, so I was very happy. However, if I applied to those same schools today with my same application, I don’t think I would get into some of them. These days, top colleges are looking for specialists, students who have focused their energies on one or two extracurricular pursuits and excelled at them. I was good at a lot of things, but outside of coursework, I didn’t excel at any of them.
What did you study there?
I majored in psychology, but my passion became writing.
So why not major in it?
In college I fell in love with storytelling and writing, but it didn’t strike me as a practical profession. So I majored in psychology instead, since I’ve always been fascinated by people and what makes them tick. I planned to merge that interest with medicine to perhaps become a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or some kind of counselor. Instead I moved to Los Angeles and became a writer. Go figure.
I hear you had an exciting career after college.
After college I decided to “give it a go” as a writer and see where it led. I figured that I’d give it a few years, and if nothing happened, I’d go to business school to study organizational psychology. I even took the GMAT’s (business school entrance exam) so I’d be ready. Instead, I started getting hired to write for shows, and then I started pitching my own show ideas to networks, and sold a few concepts to MTV Animation and Disney Television (neither show made it to series – that’s Hollywood!)
Ultimately, I switched from screenwriting to writing treatments for TV studios: anytime a studio wanted to pitch a new series to a network, I’d get brought in to write a compelling one-page pitch document for the show. Think of it as a college essay for multi-million dollar shows.
So what got you into college counseling?
After twenty years in the business, including six years as a Vice President at Disney, I was ready to leave the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and return to my academic roots in New England. I immediately became a college essay coach, and found that the exact same skills I had honed over the last twenty years – helping people tell their stories – was a natural fit for college essays. It also combined my background in psychology, since again, I love learning about people and discovering what makes them tick. Everyone has a great story to tell if you take the time to listen and get to know them.
Speaking of, are there any mistakes you see a lot that you think parents should know about?
The two biggest mistakes I see students make are: one, not planning ahead, and two, trying to do too much. While I can definitely help seniors put together the best application possible, it’s much more effective – and far less stressful – if we can start the college-planning process several years in advance. And students need to realize that they don’t need to spread themselves thin doing everything. Pick one or two extracurriculars that really speak to you, and find a way to accomplish something extraordinary with both of them. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you focus your energy and attention on just one or two pursuits. And you’ll probably get much more joy out of them as well.
That’s All Folks!
We hope you enjoyed this chance to meet our newest mentor. We’re happy to welcome David to the Ivy Scholars team and are excited to see him help our students achieve their goals. If you want to learn more about our other members, check out our Team Page. If you want to learn how we can help you with your college application journey, schedule a free consultation today.
