Changing College Counseling
We're Braden and Cooper Weissman — siblings from Arizona, raised in public schools, bound by a love for big ideas and late-night brainstorming. Over the years, we've built, failed, laughed, pivoted, and ultimately launched Nerd Apply to make college counseling intuitive, smart, and just plain better.
Why We Built Nerd Apply
Let's face it: the college admissions process can be overwhelming for students and counselors alike. We believe truly powerful tools should be easy to use, and right at your fingertips.
Our platform is rooted in empathy, fueled by insight, and constantly evolving based on your input. We're building smart, user-friendly tools that make a real difference in how you guide students through their journey.
Our Journey
We've been creating side by side for as long as we can remember. From high school ventures to late-night brainstorming sessions, we've always chased real-world problems with creativity and heart.
Most of our early projects never made headlines — and that's okay. They taught us how to solve problems, how to code solutions, and how to stay up way too late on a shared mission. Eventually, we asked ourselves: What if we could build something that puts the power of AI in the hands of college counselors?
Cooper Weissman
Cooper has always been the outside-the-box thinker. He taught himself to code before most kids had figured out long division, and by high school, he was already building and launching his own products. (Fun fact: most of Cooper's early businesses had to be registered in Braden's name — he wasn't old enough to open a business bank account.) He created Mission Millionaire, and together we co-founded Dynamic Purchasing Solutions and WEIDEV Blockchain Development.
At Dartmouth, Cooper became a standout in the entrepreneurship world — serving as a student leader at the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship and representing the school in regional and national Venture Capital Investment Competitions. His ability to turn abstract ideas into elegant, functional tools laid the technical foundation for what would become Nerd Apply.
Braden Weissman
Braden's path has always straddled two worlds: the precision and purpose of medicine, and the bold creativity of business. Named Arizona's Student of the Year and Athlete of the Year in 2021, he was recognized not only for academic excellence and leadership, but for a relentless drive to push boundaries.
While studying at the University of Michigan, he co-founded ventures like Dorm Doctor AI, Dynamic Purchasing Solutions, and WEIDEV alongside Cooper — taking calls between labs and shipping products while studying for midterms. This dual passion led to his acceptance into the University of Miami's prestigious four-year MD/MBA program.
But as Nerd Apply began to gain traction, Braden felt a deep pull to improve the very process that had shaped so much of his own journey. With the full support of the medical school, he chose to defer his admission to work full-time on Nerd Apply from his new home in New York City.
A Note from the Two of Us
"To everyone who uses Nerd Apply — thank you. Whether you've offered feedback, told a colleague, or simply took the time to try it out, we're so grateful. Together, we've built more than a product. We've built a platform rooted in empathy, insight, and a deep respect for the work college counselors do every single day. We're building this with you, for you — and we're just getting started."
