Ready for the Ivy League Challenge?

Transcript

 

SPEAKER A

 

Welcome back to season two of the Ivy League Prep Academy Podcast. Equipping you to successfully pursue the college of your dreams. We believe that everyone deserves to reach their full potential, and the admissions process shouldn't hold you back. Hello and welcome back. Back to the Ivy League Prep Academy Podcast. I'm so excited today because we have a really unique perspective. I have a rising senior with me who's going to share his experience that is absolutely unique. We've never had someone do this before. Dimitri is with us, and Dimitri is unique because he was a rising senior when he found out about the Ivy League Challenge. And we were already halfway through a cohort at the time, but we wouldn't have another cohort until the boot camp. So what happened is Dimitri joined us at the halfway mark of the regular cohort and then finished each week. So he participated in the second half of a regular Ivy League challenge class and then joined us in the boot camp, which is only available for rising seniors, as some of you know. And in the boot camp, instead of meeting once a week for several months, we meet every single day and we cover all twelve classes in just twelve days, of course, a couple of days off, so it takes a couple of weeks. And so Dimitri, you joined us halfway through the last cohort, and then now you've just finished the first half of the boot camp. So combining the two, you actually have an entire cohort of the Ivy League Challenge. But because you're a rising senior, you've moved fast and you've done some incredible things. I can't wait to hear your advice to our listeners today. But first, let me welcome you to the show. Dimitri, thank you so much for joining us.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, man, thank you so much for having me, Steve. It's really great to be able to be on the podcast that comes from this great course where I was able to actually bring out my personal statement and really solidify my background before going into admissions.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Wow, thank you. Let's talk about that. So maybe before we get to kind of these major takeaways that you had. And thank you so much for throwing that in because actually, literally today we were talking about your personal theme, your sound bite. How do you create that narrative in application? So that's probably top of mind for you, but if you could try to think back and this might not be that easy, but try to think back before we even met, there was some reason that you and your parents reached out to me. And so what was the struggle? What was the thing that you were struggling with that caused you to want to explore and then join the Ivy League Challenge in the first place? Do you remember?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah. So at the start of my senior year, I kind of felt like I hadn't really dragged out my personality enough from the past years to really flesh out a full application for the admissions process. I'm looking to go into some top colleges, and this is what Diabolic challenge is for. And my mom was just looking across the Internet, trying to find suitable tutors that could really help with this kind of process. People like you, Steve, and she came across your podcast, and it's really what kind of brought her to really seek out this. She I believe she heard a podcast with one of your students, Asphie, and that was really one of the transforming moments for us that really shifted our perspective on what this challenge can actually do for me.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Oh, wow. I'm so glad to hear that. Asphie's story is so inspiring because she found out about me about a year before you did on this journey. Right. She's a year older than you. She found out coming into her junior year, but she was wow, she was stressed out. She was making a lot more of the common mistakes that everyone makes, that so many people make, and you were doing a lot more. Right. I remember even in our first conversation, you were really clear about the one thing that you care most about. And then, of course, it sounds like there was enough about her experience that caused you and your parents to say, well, let's do this as well. Let's kind of have this same experience. So now that you've done kind of an unorthodox version of the Ivy League challenge, you took the second half first and the first half second, but now that you've kind of taken all of the classes, how do you feel about that growth? Or how do you feel about what you've discovered about yourself as far as this college application process is concerned? Do you feel like you've been able to resolve the issues that you were trying to resolve when you joined the course in the first place?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, so originally, a lot of my issues came from a lot of the essay writing that I had to do because I applied to several programs this past winter. I applied to a lot of programs like Mites and things like that that required essays, and for Mites, specifically, the essays that you apply and fill out for Mites are actually the same that you apply and fill out for MIT. And in this, I kind of felt like when I was rejected from those programs, that I hadn't really fleshed out my core values enough and my personality to really create a full essay that would really encompass me as a person rather than just my academic integrity and things like that.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Oh, beautiful. Okay, so that really, I think, clarifies what you were looking for. And now can you kind of take me to the moment in the course where you realized that your problem that you'd been really struggling with was being resolved?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yes. So I had been struggling along with the essay writing and finding my personality. I was really struggling with productivity in this case. And after reading through the digital course that was unlocked with the library and accessing the Ivy League Challenge, that was one of the first things I actually looked up. That course on productivity. I had to watch the video because I felt like I could never really get anything done. And especially with essay writing, when I can't get anything done, how am I supposed to really put my full effort, my full weight, into an essay, five of them specifically for Mites and things like that? That was kind of the main problem I was dealing with, trying to find the time and the effort and combine it like the multiplying problem, where the actual productivity comes from your effort, your focus, your effort times the actual time you put in.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Right. Amazing. Okay, let's just talk about that for a second. Do you find that using those strategies you're able to be more productive?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, actually just now, today, I was recording some podcast episodes of my own for my own YouTube podcast channel where I was using these methods. I was writing a script for 50 minutes. I was planning on what I was going to talk about specifically this time. It was about the missions to the moon over the past, what is it, 70 years now? The past seven decades. And it was pretty difficult to kind of keep my focus on that. And once the 50 minutes mark hit, just as we said during those productivity lessons, I decided to actually go through and take that three to five minute break. I was contemplating just kind of skipping over that because I felt like I was really losing my rhythm if I were to actually do that, but actually just decided to just take a few deep breaths, just extend my hamstrings a bit, get that blood flowing, get everything ready. And I came back and I realized that the past two lines were pretty garbage.

 

SPEAKER A

 

I love it.

 

SPEAKER B

 

And from there, I felt really good about myself. I felt really prepared to actually do well on this podcast and I ended up recording it and I'm ready to publish it soon.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Amazing. I love it. That's so great. That is so great. Okay, so I just love this. So you feel like on the one hand, you needed to clarify who you are outside of just your academic interest, which is clear astrophysics, obviously your interest. On the other hand, there were some skills and some, at least in this case, productivity. And it sounds like maybe some writer's block or some challenges that you had just tactically accomplishing the things that you wanted to accomplish to create an outstanding application. And at least so far, you've seen results in the course that have allowed you to solve those problems and really kind of move you forward the way that you were hoping for.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, exactly. I really saw some success in not even just some I really saw a lot of success in this course because this isn't just an exaggeration, just so you know. I really just didn't understand myself outside of my academics. I couldn't really study hard. I really didn't put much effort into a lot of things. And I felt like I was kind of losing my grasp on being able to get into a successful college. I had been aiming for that for the past five years and I was really thinking by the start of my senior year that it wasn't really going to happen, that I would have to settle for something, not less, but just something that I wasn't really looking for, something I was not hoping to go to.

 

SPEAKER A

 

And we talk about that. Right. There's so many places along this journey where either others are going to tell you, why are you being so ambitious? Why don't you do this or that? Or where you tell yourself, man, I'm just not good. Can't I can't do and at multiple intersections or multiple kind of signposts along the Ivy League challenge, multiple sections of the challenge, we talk about how it's okay to be ambitious and there isn't the downside that you're afraid of. Just a couple of days ago, we went through the origin of fear, for example, in the course, and the fact that when we begin to doubt ourselves, it's because we're afraid of pain coming from one of three origins. And if we can isolate, is it lost pain, is it process pain, or is it outcome pain? And if we can label that and shine a light on it, then suddenly we have control over those emotions and we can redirect that energy that comes from the fear towards the accomplishment and the execution of our objectives. So the ambition itself, as long as we stay in healthy ambition and we don'tip over into desperation and toxicity, then the ambition itself is wonderful. And there's no reason to apologize for it. There's no reason to downplay it. Let's be ambitious. Let's shoot for something amazing and then we might end up with something better, something that was unexpected, that ends up being even better for us, but there's no reason to apologize for being ambitious as we go.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah. So while I haven't really done the admissions process yet, I'm a rising senior now, and so I'm going to be filling out the applications. I feel like that out campaign has really been a big factor in why I came here. I guess why I came to the Iweek challenge because everybody was kind of like flaunting those admissions numbers in my face and people were saying, oh, 4% admissions to MIT, how are you going to get in? It's 4%, 26,000 applicants, 1000 entrants. That's pretty crazy numbers. And I was always feeling really dejected after these situations. I was feeling like, how is there any way I could compare to those others. 25,000 people, 1000 get in, and the rest, the 25,000, they have to move on. They have to find somewhere else to settle for. And I feel like that was really driving down my ambition, but I did not want to give that up. I wanted to find a way to actually get into the schools that I really wanted to. Like MIT, even though it's kind of like at my high school, at the place I go to, Bronx Science, it's, I guess, a stereotype for a lot of kids to be like, oh, I want to go to MIT. I really want to go there. 4% admissions, I'm going to get in, I'm going to go to Beaver Works, all these programs MIT has, and they're just going to see how amazing I am academic. And I was thinking I could do those same exact things. I could follow in their footsteps in every senior that has ever gone to the high school I could follow. But at the same time, they never really explored anything other than their academics. And I feel like with this challenge and with other courses that I could take, but specifically with this challenge, I really just found that personality is a lot bigger of a subject to dress in your college applications than just your academics. And that's kind of what dragged me here.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Amazing. I think that's just absolutely beautiful. And I think so many people can relate to everything that you've just shared, from a competitive high school to really ambitious dreams, to a lot of people trying to talk you out of your ambition. And so thank you for just kind of being open and sharing your real experience here. If it's okay, let's transition to your Impact Project and some of the ideas that are still evolving, to be honest. I mean, we met for the first time, like less than two months. So you started in the Ivy League Challenge as soon as we met. You got started right away and joined that cohort immediately. But it has not been a long time since you began this process, and so you're still kind of figuring things out. But that's what I love about this interview is a lot of the people that I interview for this podcast have been developing their projects and their ideas for several months longer than you have. But here you are willing to share. Okay, well, here's where I'm at. And then maybe in a few months we get an update, which would be really exciting as well. But could you tell us just a little bit about your academic interests, why you love astrophysics so much, and then we'll go from there to kind of learn more about your Impact Project. But start help us understand why Dimitri, why you love astrophysics so much. What is it about astrophysics that you love?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah. So I really think that my love for astrophysics derives from those books that I used to have as a child and one Smithsonian telescope, specifically those books, one about Buz Aldrin, they kind of inspired me at first to be an astronaut, like what a lot of kids dream of. And that was kind of just a normal thing. Everybody wants to be an astronaut one way or another. But once I got that telescope, I think it was sometime at nine years old, something like that, and I would look up at the stars and I wouldn't see much. I live in New York City, light pollution, there's nothing really to see, no sky watching to do. But I think I saw at one point just one star, and I think it was part of the Big Dip or something. And that night I was just looking up at the ceiling and I was just imagining that whole situation all over again, looking at that one star through the telescope, just staring at the ceiling, pitch black around me, no nightlight on. I was brave enough, luckily then, at nine years old. And I really feel like from there, it just kind of spiraled into this amazing inspiration that has to do with astrophysics and aerospace engineering from there. I've been using computer simulations for the past, like, five years now to be able to simulate aerospace missions from the Earth all the way to the moon to Mars, all the way to other solar systems using experimental technology. I've been thinking about designs for rocket engines myself while studying rocket propulsion through self learning on YouTube or just through the Internet in general. And it's such a strong love for astrophysics. And I know that there's so many other fields out there, so much engineering to do, so much stem to do, and it's attractive to be able to think of other fields to go into, especially when it comes down to money and things like that, like being a doctor and things like that. I've always wanted to be successful in that aspect, but I feel like just the dream I have of being able to change humanity in a much bigger way and then just being a doctor or something like that, it's always dragged me to astrophysics.

 

SPEAKER A

 

So cool. I think that some podcasts are exciting because someone shares that they love mental health or they love helping people with this or that. And then we've got astrophysics, and that is just objectively cool, right? Like, let's talk about shuttles that rockets that take people to Mars and take people to the moon. Let's talk about satellites and telescopes that are being sent out into the atmosphere and can take pictures of literally the beginning of the big bang sort of thing. These ideas are so mind blowing and so exciting that I just love this conversation. I don't know, maybe there's like a hidden astrophysics geek inside of me also, but I can absolutely appreciate how exciting it must be. One of the things that you forgot, maybe you didn't forget, among all the other things, it just didn't make it to the top of the list. But I loved in class three or four days ago during the boot camp, and you mentioned something about how exciting it was to read the European Space Agency, like, Goals for 2025 or something like that. And how all of this information in the entire world community that's working on solving problems around Astrophysics is just every single aspect of it is so exciting and so inspiring to you.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, talking about the ESA agenda, it was kind of this nerdy, quirky little thing, I guess geeky is actually a better word, where they made like this little narrative of a future in 2030 or something like that, where it was a discussion, a normal discussion between an astronaut and ground control. And it really struck this chord in me where I was just wishing to be that guy in space, that astronaut right there. I was so infatuated with the fact that that could be me in a few years. It's not that far away. We have so much of a future ahead of us. It's really bright. Honestly, a lot of people I usually hear this around that our future could be dark, climate change, things like that, nuclear war. But I always see the bright side of it, and I feel like aerospace engineering and astrophysics are really leading up to that bright side. They're really the future for us here. And that's really what I want to get into. And as far as my Impact Project.

 

SPEAKER A

 

And things like that, what you said transition to that. So, yeah, go for it.

 

SPEAKER B

 

What you said before Steve kind of brought me to this because I heard you say that there must be some kind of astrophysics guy inside of you. And that's really what my Impact projects is about. It's about dragging that astrophysics guy inside of everybody and really just displaying it to yourself and to everybody else to create a community where you don't just know these little tidbits and little facts like space shuttles and rockets and things like that, and you don't fully understand how it works. But we're a community where everybody can explain how these things kind of work and how we can use them for future. And that's really where my podcast is going right now. I'm starting off with subjects like the Moon missions and dark matter and Jupiter and things like that, because I really want to create an introduction. But later on I want to make things like websites textbook. I really want to spread this knowledge across the world.

 

SPEAKER A

 

So let's talk about that vision right now. You already have a podcast and a YouTube channel. Would you mind sharing with the listeners the name of your podcast or the name of your YouTube channel? How do people find that, first of all? And then let's go kind of to your vision for where this is going to go from here.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah. So I began first with the name the Astrocast Podcast, but then I realized that it's not exactly unique when you look it up. First there's a Swiss company that puts satellites into orbit, so that might be some kind of trademark that is not very legal to use. And then there were another, like ten podcasts made by anybody. I think there was an Indian podcast named Ashukas Podcast, and another American one. I think it was Brazilian or something like that. And it was just so not unique that I really needed to think of a new name. And the one I thought of was beyond the blue. And for some of you, it might be obvious what the Blue stands for. But just to explain, we call the Earth the Blue Marble, right? Because it's our little marble made primarily of water and from space, it really just looks like a little blue orb, really beautiful orb. If you ever have time, look up Earthrise on the NASA database or something. It's an amazing image of the Blue marble and the beyond the Blue name really encompasses this idea that I'm trying to go beyond the blue. I'm trying to go beyond our Earth and go into space, go to the Moon, go to Mars, go to things like that. And whoever subscribes to that YouTube channel, whoever follows my podcast, they're going beyond the Blue with it.

 

SPEAKER A

 

I love I actually, in my mind, I got the image of because I know the atmosphere. The reason why the sky appears to be blue is because of the chemical composition, like all the air and all the things that are in the atmosphere. And the way that the sun interacts with that atmosphere during the day makes it appear blue to our eyes. And so I was kind of thinking maybe this refers to outside of the atmosphere, the Earth's atmosphere, which I guess either way. So you have a podcast and a YouTube channel, beyond the Blue. We'll link to that in the show notes as well, so everyone can find that easily, but you can just look it up on YouTube. And then you mentioned that you've got bigger plans. You want to create a textbook, you want to create guides. Tell me about that. What are your thoughts for the evolution of your impact project?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, so I've always really wanted to create articles or some kind of book for astrophysics and astronomy. Really coming back from those books that I had as a little kid, they were really inspirational to me, even though they were sometimes just like 30 pages long or something like that. I really think that those were what sparked me to go into astrophysics and think about it. Now, it wouldn't be that bad of an idea to create a children's book on this. And really, since my goal is creating a new future, I really think that aiming for children, teens, people like, that would really be the best idea. And so I'm thinking of creating something like a more interactive website, maybe with blogs or something like that, and links to a textbook. Creating a textbook would really be the ultimate goal. I would love if, at some point in the future, some high school somewhere, some elementary school would be able to use my textbook to teach their kids. There's an astronomy course in my high school where I think we have kind of outdated textbooks on astronomy, and it would be amazing if sometime in the future, I would be able to replace those outdated textbooks.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Yeah, I think that's completely reasonable. I do think that all the things you've mentioned are going to require that you make the absolute most of our section on productivity. Right. That's a lot to do while you're writing essays and filling out the application and applying for scholarships. And also, remember, you'll still have classes and tests and grades and stuff like that senior year. But what you've described, I think that man, it's so valuable to hear this conversation and to listen to your ideas as you think through this. And remember, everyone listening in. Dimitri is, like, weeks into this. This is not someone who finished the challenge six months ago and has been growing and scaling his project ever since, has already learned from mistakes and has already pivoted away from those and has lots of experience. Dimitri is in the middle of figuring this out, which is why I love that, Dimitri, you were willing to come on board and share your experience. It's just such a unique thing to kind of get peer into your mind at this stage of the process, because a lot of people listening to my podcast probably won't join the Ivy League challenge, either because of financial or for other reasons. The time zone doesn't work, or whatever, and to just kind of feel like, oh, I love my thing just as much as Dimitri loves astrophysics. Maybe I can start to inspire the little astrophysicist like Dimitri is doing and just kind of understand that. On the one hand, one of the great things to do with an impact project is make an impact by solving a problem that violates your core values. On the other hand, another way to make a massive impact is by empowering the world or your community in a way that aligns with your core values. So inspire people to do the things that would make the world a better place. Not because you're solving a problem that violates your core values, but because you are bringing out a community or some kind of useful tool or something that allows people to more fully live life. Because something that you care a lot about then can become a part of their lives. And that's what you're doing here. So I think that just talking through your ideas is already so inspirational for people here. And I will emphasize, I interviewed Iris years ago on this podcast, who was also a rising senior when we first met and also had to do a lot of what you've described, figuring out her core values so that she could write her essays in a way that made sense. And of course, I'll just very briefly summarize kind of her experience. She was the perfect candidate for Ivy League and top tier schools. Her dream school was Stanford at the time, but she wanted to graduate a year early because of all of her friends were a year older than her. So she made all the arrangements to do that but then was rejected from every school even though she had twelve APS and all fives and was a varsity athlete and musician and student council and everything else. Did everything you're supposed to do but didn't do all the things that we talk about in the Ivy League challenge, didn't clarify her core values, didn't make it clear to the admissions officers how she would fit into the class, did not make it clear how she would graduate four years later and make the world a better place. And so she decided to give it another go. And just like you've been doing, Dimitri, those first couple of months were all about figuring out who she is and what those core values are so that she could emphasize that. And she arrived at writing a gender neutral economics textbook for middle school students, an Introduction to Economics, which she was able to write because that violated her core values of gender equity, the fact that all of these textbooks that she had read were gender biased. And then also she could write it because she loved economics and that was something that she was really good at. And so she wrote this Intro to Economics and distributed it to a couple of to several more than a dozen different middle schools in her area before regular decision applications were due. And that required her to be exceptionally productive. But Dimitri and those who are listening in, I think you're on the right track that absolutely. If there's a problem with the astronomy textbook, it needs an addendum at first, and then it needs a complete replacement. Absolutely. You can step up and say, look, someone else has done this before. I can do it too. Let me write the textbook or let me write the addendum. That just adds the excitement that astrophysics deserves to this topic so that the world can appreciate this incredible subject, can appreciate astrophysics the way that I do. And so you've got a lot on your plate, a lot of ideas. How does that feel for you? How do you see yourself moving forward then, from here?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, so I feel like I'm really lucky to actually have such a passion, really. I guess early on in my career, a lot of people that I know, a lot of. My friends, they're undecided currently. A lot of them just say CS major. A lot of them say some form of economics, some form of it's. Always biology in the end, always bioengineering or something like that. And I feel like I'm both lucky and also just I've worked hard to really have this kind of passion. And I feel like for a lot of people who don't fully know their passion yet, I feel like this course and courses like this, courses like the Ivy League Challenge, even just listening to podcasts and things like that, it could really bring out this passion that could make you write a textbook in however many days. Iris was able to be able to do that. Pretty short amount of time, I would believe, because she had already been rejected from her first admissions, and she really needed to get that out there before her second round. And I really feel like for I even just on a car ride to go to Case Western Reserve University out in Cleveland. It was a seven hour drive, and about five of those hours was just spent with me and my dad talking about astrophysics. And while he couldn't really fully understand a lot of the things I was saying, and I know because he told me a lot of this stuff was just crazy talk that I was saying, but I knew that it doesn't matter to him because the utter insanity of astrophysics really just brings out the curiosity in everybody. And I feel like this is just a really big reason why I would need to write a textbook and something like that, because just the words on that paper will bring out more curiosity in anyone, I believe, than anything about biology, anything about economics, anything about that kind of stuff. It's always interesting for a person to think about the stars, think about what's out there.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Yeah, I love it. All right, last thing really quickly, you've been so generous with your time and such wise, excellent advice so far. Just hearing your story is so inspirational already. But if I have a 13, 1415 year old high school student kind of following behind you a couple of years, or a few years behind, what advice do you have for those listeners who I just described who are kind of at that age?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, I definitely think that joining a community, in this case, joining a community for me, like, what is it, the Amateur Sharma Association? Or for this video game that I play, this game called Kerbal Space Program, there's a huge community of aerospace engineers and astrophysicists. Even. Sometimes I found biologists that just love this game, and they're on forums and things like that. Just joining a community like that is really going to help you expand both your knowledge and your personality as you meet more people who have the same interests as you. It's not just a vacuum in your world, right? You might have some out of this world interest, some out of this world qualities, but there's always going to be someone who's similar to you. And so joining a community like that is really important. And in terms of the Ivy League Challenge, the Ivy League Challenge really gave me a community where I could talk about an Impact project and I could talk about my ideas without being told that I'm preparing way too much for college. Because we all understand in the Ivy League Challenge that it's a process that we have to address with personality, not just academics. And the Ivy League Challenge isn't just another test prep thing where you take some classes to prepare for a test, like the SHSAT in my case, where I had to prepare for an entrance exam to specialized high schools. It's not like that. It provides a gateway to a community of people that could really help you expand on your personality and your project and in the end, really push you to get into those schools that you really want.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Beautiful. Thank you so much, Dimitri, for sharing your wisdom and sharing your thoughts. I think this has been so valuable for everyone who's been able to listen in. Can't wait to listen to your podcast. And if anyone wants to get a hold of you, how would they do that after they listen to the podcast? Let's say there's someone who would love to collaborate with you on your astrophysics textbook or your astronomy textbook. How might someone reach out to you if they wanted to do so?

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yeah, so I actually have in my YouTube channel, in my about section, I have a link to a business email address called, I believe, beyond the Blue [email protected]. It would be in the description of my YouTube channel, though, so it's pretty easily accessible, and from there, I regulate it. So I see what comes in, what goes out, and I'll see any of your propositions, any questions you have, any kind of comments, any support, I would see it beautiful.

 

SPEAKER A

 

And we'll go ahead and add that email to our show notes as well. Dimitri, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today and inspiring us today. I think this has been a wonderful use of about a half hour of time and just so grateful for your generosity.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much, Steve. It was really great to be able to share my thoughts on Iweek Challenge. I really think it's a really good way to really expand on my admissions on the admissions process before actually getting to the nitty gritty.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Amazing. All right, thank you.

 

SPEAKER B

 

Yep.

 

SPEAKER A

 

Music for this episode came from we are here by declare P. I'm Steve Gardner. If you like what you heard, please subscribe and share with a friend. Thanks for listening.