Inspiration
As students at Miami Dade College, we know how confusing it can be to figure out what classes to take, especially if you're planning to transfer to a university. There are so many different websites, course catalogs, and requirements that sometimes you don't even know where to start. We realized that a lot of students probably struggle with the same thing, so we wanted to create something that would make the process easier. That's where the idea for FinTrail came from. We wanted students to have one place where they could plan their classes, explore universities, and get a better idea of what their academic future could look like.
What it does
FinTrail is an AI-powered academic planning app that helps Miami Dade College students plan their journey from MDC to a four-year university. Students can choose their major at MDC, select a university they want to transfer to, and get a personalized roadmap showing the classes they should consider taking each semester. The app also helps students track their academic progress, see which classes they've completed, and plan what they still need to take. Our goal is to make the whole transfer process less confusing and help students feel more prepared for their future.
How we built it
We built FinTrail using Base44, which helped us create the app with AI-assisted development. We also used Google's Gemini AI to help generate academic recommendations and personalized roadmaps. A big part of building the project was collecting and organizing academic information from Miami Dade College and universities across Florida. We worked with data covering 161 different MDC pathways and connected them with bachelor's degree programs that students could potentially transfer into. We also worked on the design, course planning system, and progress tracker to make everything easy for students to use.
Challenges we ran into
One of the biggest challenges was finding accurate information about college courses and transfer requirements. Every university has different requirements, and the information isn't always easy to find or organize. We also had problems with the AI sometimes suggesting classes that weren't actually required or recommending university programs that didn't really match a student's MDC major. Another challenge was getting the roadmap and progress tracker to work together correctly, especially when students wanted to add extra classes or choose electives. We had to keep testing things, fixing problems, and figuring out better ways to organize the information. It definitely took more work than we expected.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
One of the things we're most proud of is that we were able to turn our idea into an actual working prototype. Since this was our first hackathon and we didn't have much programming experience, building an app like FinTrail felt like a big accomplishment. We were also able to organize a large amount of academic information and create a system that helps students explore different pathways instead of having to figure everything out on their own. Even though there are still things we want to improve, we're proud of how far we got and that we built something that could actually help other students.
What we learned
We learned a lot about how apps are built and how much work goes into making everything function correctly. We learned how to work with databases, use AI tools, organize information, and solve problems when something wasn't working. One of the biggest things we learned was that AI can be really helpful, but you can't just trust everything it generates. You still have to check the information and make sure it makes sense, especially when you're dealing with something important like a student's education. This project also taught us to be patient, keep trying different solutions, and not give up when things got difficult.
What's next for FinTrail
We want to keep improving FinTrail and make it more accurate and useful for students. One of our biggest goals is to add more detailed course information from universities across Florida so students can get better transfer roadmaps. We also want to improve how the app handles prerequisites, electives, and courses students have already completed. Eventually, we would love to expand FinTrail beyond Miami Dade College and Florida so students from other colleges and universities can use it too. Our goal is to make academic planning easier for as many students as possible, because college is already stressful enough without having to figure out your entire academic journey on your own.
Built With
- academic-planning
- ai
- artificial-intelligence
- base44
- csv
- database
- edtech
- gemini
- low-code
- transfer-planning
- web-app
