About Nat Crawford

Many top STEM students live on minimal sleep, juggling AP classes, leadership roles, and demanding activities.  I know that world firsthand. As a high school student, I pushed through late-night study sessions and early morning bus rides while leading both my orchestra and chess team. I took on those challenges because I wanted to build the kind of profile elite schools look for: strong academics paired with meaningful leadership.

Years later, while tutoring Silicon Valley students in reading and writing, I began helping them with college essays. That’s when I noticed a pattern. Even the brightest students with high GPAs and strong test scores often made critical mistakes long before senior year. These were gaps in leadership, weak activities, or missed opportunities that quietly weakened their chances at schools like Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT.

Drawing on my own experience as a successful applicant to the University of Chicago and Stanford, I began coaching students more intentionally. My focus shifted to helping them strengthen their activities, develop standout stories, and avoid the pitfalls that hold even top performers back.

Today, that work has grown into Elite STEM Coach, a program dedicated to guiding motivated juniors toward the elite STEM schools they’ve worked so hard to reach.