Developing Data Science With A. Torre
Nestled in a sky blue chair, on the sunlit second floor corridor of the Science and Learning Center (SLC), fourth-year Alessandro De La Torre melts into the cushioned pillows, hands locked on top of his knees, as he recounts his time spent at Whittier College.
Torre enrolled in the College in the frightful year of 2020, and like most others at the time, he struggled with the isolation that the pandemic imposed on remote learners. Torre wistfully describes this time with a vaguely forlorn expression, “[remote learning] was very isolating and it did not encompass the college experience that I was promised. [Sometimes], I reconsidered if college was even the right path for me.” Yet, despite his struggles, the COVID-19 year of online learning gave Torre the time to engage with complicated college curriculums while simultaneously building his extensive Data Science portfolio.
In Fall of 2021, Torre joined the rest of the 2024 graduating class in their mass-migration from DIY bedroom offices to the dazzling College campus. Rather than wandering into INTD 100 as a doe-eyed first year, Torre stormed into his first ever in-person classes at Whittier with the resolution and grit of a second-year ready to take on the world. When asked why he chose Whittier College, Torre laughs as he says, “It was convenient.” He explains that the Whittier Scholars Program (WSP) — a program unique to Whittier College that gives students the opportunity to create their own major and minor — was crucial to his ultimate career goals. According to Torre, “I needed a Data Science degree and I knew [Whittier] had the resources to do so.”
In addition to creating his own Data Science major, Torre also designed his minor in Applied Data Science in Civics through WSP. In his final year at the College, the Quaker Campus sought Torre out for the role of Website Designer, which he accepted. Although Torre has made his mark on Whittier as an academically gifted student, he has made an even bigger impact by working off campus for a number of companies; “I’ve worked for Coinbase, Snapchat, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Committee, and Deloitte Digital,”
Torre credits having reached his current position as Product Engineer at Deloitte Digital in part to the College, stating, “Being a Product Engineer at such a young age required a unique skill set that is not currently available to the general populace.” He shifts forward in his seat, leaning forward with an air of excitement, “Data Science is still a new idea and the fact that Whittier College has a program that allows you to create majors at such an early stage — before they are widely accepted or available — gives us a great opportunity to get ahead of the gun.”
Torre’s introduction to the field of Data Science was unique, to say the least. He recounts, almost sheepishly, the goal that guided his academic journey, “In 2019, I made it a goal to impact as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time, and I realized I could do that through scholarships.” So, Torre leapt to work and created a machine-learning scholarship engine designed for students to find college scholarships according to the preferences and skill sets they input.
With this scholarship engine, Torre founded Scholarcash, which he proudly proclaims grew into the largest scholarship search engine of the time within just two years. “[Scholarcash] had access to over 40 million students’ data points,” Torre states with a grin, recalling the enormity of his company’s influence. “And it was just me! A team of one. Just me behind my computer everyday.” He pauses, then chuckles, “So when I created [Scholarcash] I realized, ‘Wow! I have the ability to control an election,’ and that’s when I realized, ‘Hm. I could go to jail if I do this incorrectly!’”
For a while, Scholarcash was Torre’s main source of revenue. “I mean, you send out one advertisement to 40 million people, that’s more than the Super Bowl. I had more people than some states and countries. Which is crazy for me to say, because it is such a piece of my life that I don’t just don’t talk about.” And that is certainly true, almost no one at Whittier knows about Torre’s illustrious past. What started as a whimsical desire to have an impact on the world turned into a startup company helping tens of millions of students be able to pursue their dreams of higher education.
In 2022, Torre chose to leave Scholarcash behind. This was in part due to the notoriety and internet fame that he gained after two years as the face of the company’s advertising videos. Torre describes the experience as creepy and unnerving. “I started getting noticed at the mall. Let’s just say, when you are on a Hinge profile, or you are at the mall, and people say, ‘Hey, aren’t you that scholarship guy?’ That does take a toll on you. Or, when you go up to someone and they say, ‘Oh, you’re that scholarship guy!’ I realized I did not want to be called the scholarship guy. That is just not me.” He adds, “It is so hilarious that no one on campus has noticed [or, if they had they didn’t let on]; and I never said anything about it because I just didn’t want people to know.” Realizing the potential Torre’s company had, a “multimillion venture backed startup” (of which the name is not disclosed due to contractual obligation) bought the rights. Torre cracks a joke, “And I did get paid for that, don’t worry!” He concludes his retelling of the Scholarcash adventure succinctly. “So, yeah, that’s how I started my deal in Data Science. Just so happened to fall backwards into the largest student data set in human history.”
Torre mulls over the question of, “Where do you want to be in 10 years?” thoughtfully for a moment before answering. With a tone of complete sincerity, he says, “I hope that I have started my Finasteride or Minoxidil medication so that I still have a head of hair.” Torre also hopes that he is still wearing sunscreen a decade from now. Throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation, Torre exclaims, “My white skin will wrinkle up, I don’t want to age like a prune!” Oh, and he wants to be happy.
Photo Courtesy of Alessandro De La Torre / Quaker Campus
