One of our college counseling students was interviewed for and got top billing in this New Yorker article about the college race. Remember, every student is different.  One size counseling does not fit all.

Since 2010, we have given personalized attention in all aspects of the application process. Essay writing with us is transformative, forcing students to examine their pasts, presents, and futures, thereby gaining self-knowledge and focus that lead to successful academic and professional careers.  If you just want some light editing and a little bit of advice, please look elsewhere.

Our counseling guides towards developing interests, helping each individual become unique, successful, and happy.  Every child is different, and so every child must take a different path through life.  We have the directions.

Our track record speaks for itself.  We take all comers and consistently help them get into schools above their GPA and test score expectations.  We only post college acceptances for students who receive essay writing assistance.  Many former Simon Academics students have attended top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Cambridge, Berkeley, U Penn (Wharton), UCLA, Cal Tech, MIT, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon.

2024 College Acceptances

Matthew: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell Junior Transfer, Emory, UCSD, UCSB, Northeastern, UIUC, Case Western
Grace: USC, UCSB, UCSC.

2023 College Acceptances

Selena: Yale ED
Etta: Ohio State University – Economics – Full out-of-state tuition with Morrill Scholarship at the Prominence level (~$150,000)
Pranav: Texas A&M – General Engineering
Mayher: UCSC (with an extremely low GPA)
Lasya: UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCI
Sophia: UCR (with a low GPA)

2022 College Acceptances

Ilana: Berkeley, UCLA
Alicia: UCLA, UCSD, UCD with Regents Scholarship, UCSB with Regents Scholarship
Jag: Northeastern with Chancellor and National Merit Scholarship, UCSC, UCR
Jeslyn: UCSC, UCR

2021 College Acceptances

Shwe: Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, and Swarthmore
Sarah: UCI, Butler
Annie: UCSD

2020 College Acceptances

Alison: Williams, Vanderbilt, Barnard, William & Mary, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, UCI – International Relations
Debby: UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside – Cognitive Science/Neuroscience
Akshat: UC Davis, Texas A&M (early), Ohio State, Purdue, UC Santa Cruz – Bioinformatics
Aaditya: NYU Economics, UCSB Biology, Penn State, University of Washington, UC Riverside, Drexel, Rutgers, Fordham, Indiana – Biology/Bioinformatics/Science (<25th percentile GPA)
Ashwath: UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Riverside – Chemical Engineering

2019 College Acceptances

Albert: USC Computer Science: Game Design (we also helped him into Berkeley in 2014)
Eswar: UTexas Austin
Anisha: UTexas Austin and Dallas, Baylor, Sana Clara, UCSD, UCI, UC Davis in Neuroscience
Shreya: UC Riverside (at 33% of accepted GPA range)
Rachel: UC Riverside

2018 College Acceptances

Maggie: Rutgers, Loyola Marymount, USF
Aditya: UTexas Austin
Brenda: UCSF Graduate Nursing

2017 College Acceptances

Emily: Cornell, U Mich, Wellesley, NYU Stern, Santa Clara, Carleton, George Washington (President’s Scholar), Tulane, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, UCI, Colby (Presidential Scholar and Ralph J. Bunche Scholar)
Lyon: Northwestern (early admittance)
Esther: USC, UCSB Regents Scholarship
Sally: UCSD, NYU
Jeremy: UCSC, UCR Chancellor’s Scholarship
William: UCSC, UCR
Bing: UCR
Flossie: UCR

2016 College Acceptances

Allison: Yale, Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins University, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB
Misha: Columbia/Juilliard Combined Program, NEC Peabody, Tufts, Eastman/Rochester Combined Program (full scholarship)
Miranda: Berkeley, UCLA, NYU Shanghai, UCSD, UCD, UCI
William: Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and more (8/8 for public schools)
Andrew: Berkeley, UCSD, UIUC, UCSB, UCI
Brian: Berkeley, UoW Seattle, Penn State, UIUC, Purdue, Boston, UCSB, UCSC, UCR
Kaili: UBC, Drexel, USF, UOP
Kenny: RPI, UCSD, UCD
Yuhan: UCSB, UW
Ria: Rutgers, UOP, UCR
Deven: CU Boulder, UOP, University of Oregon, University of Arizona, Catholic University, Stonehill
Samuel: UCI, UCSC, UCR
Anthony: UCR, LMU

2015 College Acceptances

Nidhila: Duke, Cornell, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, Davis, Rochester (20k/year scholarship + $3k grant)
Haroon: UCLA, Washington University (St. Louis), UCSD, Case Western, UCSB, UCI, UCSC
Pragathi: Case Western, RPI
Melissa: Carnegie Mellon, UCSD, PITT, UMD, OSU, UCI, UCSC
Sabrina: Davis, Santa Clara, UCSB, UCSC, UCR with Scholarship, UOP with Scholarship, USF with Scholarship
Peggy: Purdue, UCSC
Linqi (From China): Whitman – Early Decision
Steven: UCI, UCSC

2014 College Acceptances

Albert – Berkeley, NYU, Georgia Tech, Urbana-Champaign, and more.
Ayesha – Washington University (St. Louis), UCSD, Urbana-Champaign, Boston, and more.
Aamir – UCLA, UCSD Regents, Boston University, and more!  Several scholarships offered.
Hao Nan – Carnegie Mellon, USC, UCSD, and more!  Several LARGE scholarships offered.
Susanna – Berkeley, UCSD
Shruthi – UCLA, USC, UCSD, Davis, University of Washington, and more.
Richard – University of British Columbia
Michael – UCSD, RPI, Northeastern, and Drexel.
Fan Wu – Architecture programs at Rhode Island Institute of Design, RPI, Syracuse, and Oregon
Nathan – UCSB
Sravani – UC Riverside

School Essay and Application Assistance

  • College and major selection
  • Completing applications
  • Career planning
  • Essay writing
  • Interview assistance
  • Includes counseling

When should you start?  The best time to begin college applications is the beginning of summer before senior year.  This gives ample time to write essays and make up for any shortcomings.  It also gives time for early applications.

College Counseling

  • Planning extracurricular activities
  • Career planning
  • Goal setting
  • Test planning and scheduling
  • Assessment of weaknesses and strengths
  • Recommendations on educational needs
  • Answers to all questions

When should you start receiving counseling?  Eighth grade is a good time to start, getting ready for high school.  The start of tenth grade is a good time, especially when considering summer programs with deadlines in January of sophomore year.  Overall, you should start when you have questions about the educational process.  Our focus is on what is best for the individual child.  For many students, that is acceptance into the most competitive school.  For others, a small liberal arts college or other path may work better.  We pay attention to the individual.  Our primary goal is to help children grow up to be happy, healthy, successful adults.

We also offer private high school application review and essay assistance at our hourly rate.  Typically the process takes 4-6 hours per school.