The ultimate decision-support platform built specifically for Bangladeshi students pursuing graduate admissions (MSc/PhD) abroad in CS, AI, ML, and Engineering.

License MIT Tech Stack Edition

Standard study-abroad tools focus on generic dashboards and simple university rankings. But applying for a technical graduate degree under a Bangladeshi passport presents unique realities.

GradPlanner solves the real bottlenecks:

• Funding > Rankings: Prioritizes programs with active TA/RA stipends, DAAD, MEXT, and fully funded fellowship packages.
• Bangladesh-Specific Visa Intelligence: Tracks German APS bottlenecks (2.5+ years Dhaka waittimes), Canadian SDS requirements, and USA F-1 interview strategies.
• Outreach Tracker: Organizes email pipelines to prospective advisors, managing local local times, follow-up timers, and reply status tracking.
• Document Timelines: Schedules document gathering (police clearances, transcript requests, GIC bank transfers) matching Dhaka timeline realities.

GradPlanner is built as a highly performant, decoupled monorepo:

• Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript
• State Management: Redux Toolkit
• Styling: Tailwind CSS & shadcn/ui
• Client Authentication: better-auth client instance

• Server: Express.js with TypeScript
• Database ORM: Prisma Client
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Authentication: better-auth server handler

├── backend/ # Express.js REST API server
│ ├── prisma/ # Database schemas and seeding scripts
│ └── src/ # Controllers, routes, and lib instances
├── frontend/ # Next.js 15 public & dashboard app
│ ├── public/ # Static country and salary JSON metadata
│ └── src/ # Page routers, Redux slices, and UI components
├── AGENTS.md # Product guidance for AI agents
├── CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution workflows & guidelines
├── LICENSE # MIT License
└── README.md # Main workspace documentation

Install dependencies for both frontend and backend using pnpm from the root directory:

pnpm install

Ensure you have a PostgreSQL database running. Create a .env file in the backend/ folder and supply the credentials:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/gradplanner?schema=public"
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="your-super-secret-auth-key"

Apply database migrations:

cd backend
pnpm exec prisma migrate dev

Seed the reference country intelligence and university ranking datasets:

pnpm exec prisma db seed

Start both services in development mode:

• Backend Server:

  cd backend
  pnpm dev

  (Starts API on http://localhost:5000)

• Frontend Client:

  cd frontend
  pnpm dev

  (Starts Next.js on http://localhost:3000)

Contributions to GradPlanner are highly welcome! Please read our CONTRIBUTING.md to understand branch conventions, coding guidelines, and PR procedures.

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more details. Copyright (c) 2026 Atik203.