Mason Critique

Mason Critique empowers GMU students to explore professor/course reviews, track courses, calculate GPA, and make smarter academic choices—all through a sleek, student-driven platform.

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🛠️ About the Project: Mason Critique

🎯 Inspiration

As students, one of the biggest challenges we faced was navigating course selection at George Mason University. While course catalogs provide a high-level overview, they don't answer the most important student questions:

  • "Is this course worth taking?"
  • "Which professor should I choose if there are multiple options?"
  • "Is this professor a tough grader or not?"

These everyday challenges inspired us to build Mason Critique — a centralized platform where students can share and explore honest, anonymous feedback on both courses and professors. It’s designed by students, for students.

🚀 What We Built

Mason Critique is a web application with features that make student decision-making more informed and data-driven. The platform includes:

  • ✅ Course and professor review system (anonymous or with username)
  • ⭐ Star ratings, tough grader flags, and detailed feedback
  • 📈 GPA calculator & course tracking via personalized dashboard
  • 📊 Grade distribution charts to help students gauge past performance
  • 🔎 Search and segmented course browsing by level (100–400+)
  • 🧬 Smart auto-fill using the GMU CS catalog

🧠 What We Learned

Throughout the project, we deepened our knowledge in:

  • Firebase Firestore & Storage for real-time data and persistence
  • React state management & component structure
  • Clean UI/UX design with Tailwind CSS
  • Authentication with Google OAuth
  • Data aggregation and visualization using Chart.js
  • API integration and error handling
  • The limitations and strengths of AI chatbot integration

⚙️ How We Built It

  • Frontend: React + Tailwind CSS
  • Backend/Database: Firebase Firestore (Realtime DB), Firebase Auth, Firebase Storage
  • Libraries & Tools: Chart.js, Framer Motion, Google Gemini API (planned), Oracle APEX (exploration)
  • Hosting: Firebase Hosting (planned)

🧗 Challenges We Faced

  • Setting up a real-time, scalable backend that integrates securely with user authentication
  • Designing a smooth UI while maintaining performance
  • Integrating AI chatbot and Oracle APEX with Firebase (still under active development) -Integrating Oracle OCI for genAI platform, ran into multiple connection errors
  • Ensuring data consistency and avoiding duplication for reviews
  • Auto-filling course details from structured JSON sources

Mason Critique empowers GMU students to make smarter academic decisions, contributing to a more transparent and supportive learning environment — one review at a time.

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