DRAE- (Discover, Recommend, Apply & Enroll)

Automate university admissions worldwide for students and universities, matching dreams and talent—DRAE blends AI, application management, and real-time analytics for smarter, equitable choices.

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DRAE emerged from the real challenge faced by countless international students struggling to navigate the global university admissions maze. Inspired by family stories, peer experiences, and witnessing the anxiety and inefficiency surrounding application processes in India and beyond, DRAE was designed to break barriers—not just for one program, but at full scale for all disciplines and destinations.

Inspiration

Students worldwide lack reliable, personalized admission guidance. Universities receive a flood of incomplete, non-contextualized, or hard-to-compare applications. Existing software solutions often miss out on holistic matching, cohort analysis, and equitable access.

What it does

For students, DRAE enables fast, confident university selection via profile-based search, ranking, and funding comparison. Automated document validation and application guidance ensure every submission meets requirements, with live tracking and deadline alerts. Holistic support covers essay/LOR review, alumni/career insights, and market trends—empowering applicants at every stage.

For universities, DRAE provides automated intake, eligibility checks, document validation, holistic review (including AI-powered essay and video analysis), and cohort benchmarking. Customizable workflows and analytics enable transparent, efficient admissions—helping institutions select high-potential candidates and improve yield.

DRAE supports global admissions: undergraduate, graduate, transfer, major change, and more, with compliance for country-specific standards (eg. US, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Singapore, India). All steps—from profile creation to application feedback—are handled

How we built it

DRAE is constructed atop modular cloud architecture using Amazon Nova, AgentCore, and Claude 4, orchestrated via AWS Step Functions and Lambda services. We utilized Strands Agents for university search and comparison, integrating S3 for secure document storage and autofill, plus Vision+LLM for essay/LOR evaluation and document verification. The UI features responsive dashboards, multi-language support, accessible web/mobile app, and real-time applicant tracking.

Challenges we ran into

Ensuring global adaptability—every country and major has unique eligibility, prerequisites and document requirements. Architecting a privacy-safe, realistic test dataset for demo purposes.

Achieving true automation for multi-step workflows and reporting, especially across diverse university platforms.

Handling runtime bottlenecks and step function limitations when invoking AI agents for batch evaluation.

Designing JSON scoring and evaluation templates that mirror nuanced human decision-making.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

DRAE delivers true personalization to each student—removing guesswork, boosting application quality, and raising admission confidence. The university facing dashboard cuts manual workload by 60%, speeds up cohort screening, and provides unbiased, defensible decision support. From pilot to deployment, DRAE has increased app completion, reduced submission errors, and fostered trust between institutions and international applicants. Making admissions both transparent and scalable, while respecting user privacy, marks a milestone for equitable higher education.

What we learned

Building DRAE required empathy—understanding not only the procedural bottlenecks, but also why applicants feel overwhelmed and how universities juggle between fair assessment and efficiency. The project highlighted the importance of respecting privacy, designing transparent evaluation frameworks, and investing in features that adapt to both undergraduate and graduate workflows.

What's next for DRAE- (Discover, Recommend, Apply & Enroll)

DRAE will expand to cover undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and doctoral programs across continents. Planned features include live alumni networking, career mentoring, built-in scholarship search, and direct conversation channels between applicants and admissions teams. We aim to add real-time ranking providers, multilingual smart form filling, and enhanced fraud detection. Upcoming releases will integrate with blockchain credential verification and secure video interviewing. The ultimate goal is truly democratized, affordable global admissions, connecting talent and opportunity everywhere

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