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Thoughts from our counselors

Name: Del Mar Admissions Consulting
Address: Del Mar, CA, US

Helpful tips on college essays, activities, and what actually moves an admissions decision — the kind of guidance our students get, shared here for anyone, as well as the occassional op-ed, providing a unique angle you won't find anywhere else.

July 21, 2026 · Jack B.
Is a Computer Science Degree Still Worth It When AI Writes the Code?
Yes, and more than it was — but not for the reason it was worth it in 2015. Coding stopped being scarce. Judgment and the people you meet did not, and those are the two things a great institution is still the fastest way to buy.
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July 20, 2026 · Benjamin P.
The Supplemental Essay Did Not Disappear. It Moved
Six schools cut supplemental essays this summer. UVA went first, and its early applications rose thirty-seven percent while its seats rose six. Fewer essays is not less work — it is the same evaluation, run on evidence you no longer write.
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July 17, 2026 · Jason Y.
The Ivy-Plus Premium Is Narrower Than You Think
Twelve colleges teach under half a percent of Americans and produce three quarters of recent Supreme Court justices. That gap is real and worth understanding. What it does for a normal student is not what most families assume.
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July 16, 2026 · Jason Y.
A Thesis on Implied Correlation and the College List
A mathematical take on admissions. The number of schools on your list does not appear in the formula that governs your odds. The correlation between them does, and it is highest at exactly the moment you need it lowest.
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July 15, 2026 · Jason Y.
Senior Fall Is a Scheduling Problem, Not a Calendar
Every guide to senior fall is a calendar. The calendar is the easy part — you can rebuild it yourself in twenty minutes. Here are the three things it structurally cannot show you, and they are the three that decide your fall.
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July 14, 2026 · Jack B.
There Is No Best Extracurricular. There Is a 150-Character Box.
Families spend four years optimizing which activities to do and about twenty minutes on the only thing an admissions officer ever sees: ten slots, 150 characters each. The constraint is not a formatting detail. It is the whole exercise.
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July 12, 2026 · Jason Y.
The Only Part of Your Application Nobody Else Signed
Your transcript has a registrar. Your scores have a testing agency. Your letters have teachers. The essay is the one document that arrives with no witness, and that is not its weakness. It is the whole reason it works.
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July 11, 2026 · Benjamin P.
The Common App Has One Prompt, Not Seven
The seven prompts look like a multiple-choice question, so students treat choosing as a problem to solve. It is not. The seventh prompt is "topic of your choice," it is the most popular one, and it tells you what the other six really are.
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July 8, 2026 · Jack B.
Freshman or Sophomore? Start Here
The most useful admissions advice for 9th and 10th graders has almost nothing to do with admissions. Build the habits, the curiosity, and the foundation now, and senior year takes care of itself.
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July 7, 2026 · Benjamin P.
Is the ACT or SAT Right for Me?
The ACT and SAT are both accepted everywhere — but they test different things and reward different students. Here's how to choose the one that's right for you.
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Thoughts from our counselors

Is a Computer Science Degree Still Worth It When AI Writes the Code?

The Supplemental Essay Did Not Disappear. It Moved

The Ivy-Plus Premium Is Narrower Than You Think

A Thesis on Implied Correlation and the College List

Senior Fall Is a Scheduling Problem, Not a Calendar

There Is No Best Extracurricular. There Is a 150-Character Box.

The Only Part of Your Application Nobody Else Signed

The Common App Has One Prompt, Not Seven

Freshman or Sophomore? Start Here

Is the ACT or SAT Right for Me?