proffinder - data-driven professor picker for college students

sooner or later, every college student is faced with the important decision of choosing the right professor for their classes.
the options are either to use biased sources (such as ratemyprofessor), or rely on word of mouth.
proffinder provides a different approach to finding professors: making data-driven decisions.

i started by writing a python program to scrape grade distribution data from online available pdfs.
this allowed me to effectively extract the necessary information to be used for further analysis. the scraping system allowed for a streamlined data gathering process.

next, i designed and developed a fully responsive website frontend and backend from scratch.
i used php laravel for the backend, vue.js and tailwind for the frontend. using my skills in web development, i was able to create an attractive and user-friendly platform to replace having to deal with raw disorganized pdf data.
i built the website with a specific target audience in mind, ensuring that it provided a seamless and enjoyable experience for students.

once completed, i deployed the website to aws using elastic beanstalk (ec2, s3, rds).
using ssh, i logged into the linux machine and configured all the necessary components to allow my laravel application to function properly.
this allowed the website to perform optimally, providing users with quick access to valuable historical data for each professor/class.

the website quickly gained popularity among santa monica college students, reaching more than 20k visits.
this significant user base demonstrated the project's success in addressing the needs of students and providing them with essential information to enhance their academic experiences.