Nicholas W.
Studied at Stanford University
Works at CollegeAdvisor.com
Available Monday at 6:00 PM UTC
Usually responds within 7 hours
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
About Nicholas
Hi there — I’m Nicholas. I’m currently a Duke Law student, working toward a JD and LLM in international law. I also work at a China tech news outlet called ChinaTalk. Before that, I was at Stanford, where I studied Chinese politics. My undergrad experience was totally wild. I lived for about a year and a half in Taiwan and Hong Kong, studying at National Taiwan University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Along the way, I picked up way too many jobs, including: open-source China analyst for the State Department; staffer for Senator Romney; RA to a military and foreign affairs professor; intern for various NGOs serving populations in Taiwan, Thailand, and North Korea; and The Stanford Daily’s head copy editor. And just for fun, I took a year-long sequence in discrete mathematics. Right after high school and before college, I served a two-year mission in Toronto, Canada, where I met with and served something like 10,000 people from over 100 countries. My time there was unforgettable, and I miss volunteering for seventy-two hours per week. I try to make up for it now by volunteering at a crisis hotline. In my “free” time, I really enjoy: practicing Chopin and Rachmaninoff; swimming laps; reading voraciously; and planning my next vacation to the beach. I look forward to hearing your story!
Why do I coach?
I’ve always been an outspoken grammar cop, so early on (even before I was in college!) many of my family members and peers consulted with me on polishing their college essays. That was how I got my foot in the door — but as I worked with more and more students, and expanded the services I offered, I just found that I had a blast doing this work. It’s so gratifying and humbling to see students go from a totally blank canvas and unarticulated ambitions to an offer of admission and clearer direction for the future.
Work Experience
Senior Consultant
CollegeAdvisor.com
March 2021 - Present
Head Copy Editor
The Stanford Daily
June 2021 - June 2022
Copy Editor
The Stanford Daily
September 2019 - June 2021
Education
Duke University School of Law
JD/LLM-ICL
2023 - 2026
Stanford University
BA
2018 - 2022
Nicholas was also personally admitted to
Duke University
Brigham Young University
University of Michigan Law School
Cornell Law School
NYU School of Law
Georgetown University Law Center