As a freshman coming into college, learning about how to get started with degree planning is complex. Every orientation I attended, administrators talked about how I needed to plan, and how a good degree plan was oriented around using the proper foresight and resources, but all of them seemed to forget one crucial aspect.
I’m a freshman student coming from halfway across the country. I don’t know anything about proper planning, I don’t know anything about what courses to take, and I don’t even know where the proper resources are to even start my planning.
And then, a godsend. Tanmay Karandikar and Alec Xu have made great strides in helping UTD students plan their degree out with their easy-to-use website. They have put numerous hours into it solely for the sake of assisting incoming students who may be confused about the prospect of college planning, especially with the current COVID crisis. Any students with declared majors during the 2020-2021 school year can make and export a 4-year plan using the website, while maintaining a large amount of control over what to take and what not to take. Moreover, multiple resources and information on where to find more are linked throughout the process, making it an amazing tool for those who’d be otherwise confused on where to begin.
The user interface is smooth and the transitions are excellent, with a very sleek and visually impressive design. The course list is simple to navigate and the text is large and easy to read. In addition, there’s information about things like the FastTrack Program and the Honors Program, which may prove useful for some students.
Overall, I commend Tanmay and Alec for making such a useful and practical tool and thank them for helping to make my college start much more streamlined than it would have been otherwise. The degree planner can be visited by clicking here or by using the link below.
