🎓 UniScope - College Discovery & Comparison Platform

A premium, full-stack college search, discovery, and comparison platform helping students find and compare world-class universities.

Live Frontend Website » · Live Backend API » · Local Site

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📋 Table of Contents

• 🔐 Demo Credentials
• 📝 Overview
• 🚀 Features
  • 🔍 College Discovery
  • 📊 Comparison Engine
  • 💬 Student Review System
• 🔄 User Workflow
• 🛠️ Technical Stack
• 📂 Project Structure
• 🚦 Getting Started
• ⚙️ Advanced Features
• 🗺️ Roadmap
• 👤 Contact

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🔐 Demo Credentials

For testing purposes, the database contains 5 seeded test user accounts with pre-hashed credentials:

Role	Email	Password
Test User	alex@uniscope.com	password123
Test User	samantha@uniscope.com	password123
Test User	elena@uniscope.com	password123
Test User	marcus@uniscope.com	password123
Test User	david@uniscope.com	password123

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📝 Overview

UniScope is designed to simplify the college selection process by providing detailed profile information for 67+ top-tier global universities. It allows students to filter institutions by region, type, and tuition fees, compare statistics side-by-side, read student reviews, and bookmark choices.

Key Objectives:

• 🎓 Information Rich: Detailed college metrics including established year, average package, rank, and features.
• ⚡ Side-by-Side Comparison: Compare up to 3 colleges across multiple criteria instantly.
• 💬 Authentic Feedback: Structured review and rating system distributed among realistic alumni profiles.

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🚀 Features

🔍 College Discovery

• Comprehensive Profiles: 67+ detailed world-class university profiles containing statistics, descriptions, courses, and ratings.
• Advanced Filtering: Filter by location, public/private status, ratings, and custom tuition fee ranges.
• Dynamic Sorting: Sort search results instantly by Rank, Rating, or Tuition Fees (ascending/descending).

📊 Comparison Engine

• Multi-Selection: Select and compare up to 3 colleges side-by-side.
• Detailed Comparison Matrix: Compare tuition fees, average placement packages, established years, placement rates, ratings, and website links in a single interactive view.

💬 Student Review System

• Distributed Feedback: Pre-populated review sets providing qualitative student insights.
• Interactive Reviews: Hashed user validation allows logged-in students to submit verified feedback.

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🔄 User Workflow

1. Search & Discovery: Browse the full grid of colleges or search by name, region, or description.
2. Filter & Sort: Refine search results using the interactive sidebar metrics.
3. Inspect Profile: Click on any university card to view detailed overview, list of courses, and reviews.
4. Compare: Toggle checkboxes on multiple cards to view comparative statistics side-by-side.
5. Bookmark: Save interesting universities to personal lists (stored and validated locally).

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🛠️ Technical Stack

Frontend & UI

Backend & Database

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📂 Project Structure

College-Discovery-Platform/
├── database/           # Standalone Database Module
│   ├── prisma/         # Relational database schemas & seed script
│   └── lib/            # Prisma Client singleton instantiation
├── backend/            # Next.js API Server
│   ├── proxy.ts        # Next.js 16 Edge proxy for CORS headers
│   ├── prisma/         # Backend schema configuration
│   ├── services/       # Core business logic layer
│   └── app/api/        # REST API router
├── frontend/           # Next.js React Client
│   ├── app/            # Main application pages (Colleges, Compare, Privacy, Terms, Contact)
│   ├── components/     # Reusable UI cards, tables, search panels
│   └── lib/            # Local data mocks and client logic
└── README.md           # Project documentation

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🚦 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18.x or newer)
• PostgreSQL (v18.x active and listening on port 5432 with username postgres)

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/VIJAYAPANDIANT/college-discovery-platform.git
   cd college-discovery-platform

2. Initialize Database Module: Provide your local PostgreSQL password in database/.env:

   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:YOUR_PASSWORD@localhost:5432/uniscope?schema=public"

   Deploy the schemas and seed data:

   cd database
   npm install
   npx prisma db push --force-reset
   npm run db:seed

3. Start Backend API Server: Configure backend/.env with the same connection string:

   cd ../backend
   npm install
   npx prisma generate
   npm run dev

4. Start Frontend Web Application: Run the dev server using Webpack compiler mode:

   cd ../frontend
   npm install
   npm run dev -- --webpack

   Access the application at http://localhost:3000.

🌐 Deploying to Vercel

You can deploy both frontend and backend subprojects independently to Vercel:

1. Frontend Deployment (frontend/ as root):

   • In your Vercel project settings, set the Root Directory to frontend.
   • Add the Environment Variable:
     • NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL = https://your-backend-vercel-url.app/api

2. Backend Deployment (backend/ as root):

   • In your Vercel project settings, set the Root Directory to backend.
   • Add the Environment Variable:
     • DATABASE_URL = postgresql://username:password@hostname:port/db_name?schema=public (Your hosted cloud PostgreSQL database connection string)

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⚙️ Advanced Features

• Unified Schema Design: Schema models are fully compatible with both the database module specification and the Next.js API requirements.
• Client Cache-Busting: The frontend includes automatic cache-busting triggers to ensure local storage databases stay updated with fixed Unsplash image links.
• Automatic Postgres recovery: Decrypted saved configuration profiles to safely connect to local PostgreSQL servers.

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🗺️ Roadmap

• AI Counselor: Chat assistant providing personalized university recommendations.
• Interactive Maps: Geographic campus visualization and neighborhood discovery.
• Direct Applications: Send applications directly to university enrollment registries.
• Digital Portfolio: Create profiles to auto-fill registration forms.

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👤 Contact

Created by Vijayapandian T

• LinkedIn: Vijayapandian T
• GitHub: Vijayapandian T
• Email: vijayapandian112007@gmail.com

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