Nestwork is starting at VCU
We're launching Nestwork MD for pre-med students at Virginia Commonwealth University first. Here's why we're starting with one campus, and what happens next.
Nestwork has a starting line. Our first community, Nestwork MD, is launching for pre-med students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
Nestwork exists because getting into medical school, law school or nursing school still runs on who you happen to know. Research spots, lab positions, clinical hours and good mentors are what make an application, and on most campuses they're still found through word of mouth. Professors with open lab spots struggle to reach students. Students don't know the spots exist.
Why start with one campus?
Nestwork is a two-sided community: students on one side, and the professors and mentors with opportunities on the other. That only works when both sides are in the same place. An opportunities board is only useful if the professor posting a lab opening and the student tapping Apply are at the same school.
So instead of launching everywhere at once and being thin everywhere, we're starting with one track at one school, and proving it there. Dense before big.
Why VCU?
Richmond is home. Nestwork is based here, and it was built by someone who lived the pre-med scramble firsthand and works inside a health system today. Starting at VCU means we can show up in person: at on-campus booths, at pre-health student organizations, and in faculty offices. That's how you build a community, not just an app.
“I've lived this scramble as a pre-med student.”
What's launching
Nestwork MD at VCU is free for students. It brings three things together:
- A community for pre-med students at VCU: a place to ask questions, find study partners, share what's working and get test-prep help.
- An opportunities board where professors post lab openings, research roles and projects directly to the students who want them.
- A mentor for every student who wants one, to help plan prerequisites, exams, experiences and applications.
We're shaping the first version around what VCU students and faculty actually use, so the earliest members will have a real say in what Nestwork becomes.
What happens first
We're starting by listening: talking with pre-med students and faculty at VCU, getting a free Nestwork MD community off the ground, and answering the most important question for any opportunities board, which is whether professors will post their openings. If you're a VCU faculty member with a lab or research spot to fill, we'd love for you to be one of the first.
What comes next
Once Nestwork MD is working at VCU, Nestwork Law and Nestwork Nursing will launch on the same campus, on the same platform. After that, we'll grow campus by campus, and path by path.
How to get involved
If you're a pre-med student at VCU, join Nestwork and you'll be among the first in. If you're a professor, researcher or mentor, sign up here and we'll reach out personally. Pre-law and pre-nursing students can sign up now too, and we'll let you know the moment your track opens.