UniLinks All-in-One Study Abroad Platform
Project Overview
UniLinks is a student-to-student education platform designed to help students discover suitable international programs, understand real admission requirements, and receive guidance directly from mentors who are already studying the same program at the same university.
The platform is built around a simple belief:
Students can help students better than traditional education agencies.
UniLinks removes unnecessary intermediaries and replaces them with real experiences, transparent information, and mutual support, while also helping existing students earn contribution bonuses to support their living costs abroad.
Why UniLinks Exists (The Motivation)
I co-founded UniLinks while pursuing my Master’s degree at Harbour.Space, originally as a capstone project. The idea emerged from close friends who were informally helping students navigate real challenges — unclear admission information, difficulty choosing the right programs, financial pressure abroad, and reliance on costly, opaque education agencies.
Having experienced student life overseas myself, I understood how information gaps and financial stress can shape a student’s entire academic journey. At the same time, I saw a powerful opportunity: existing students already held the knowledge junior students needed.
UniLinks was created to bridge that gap — enabling students to guide students, transparently and sustainably.
The Core Problem
Students lack real, trustworthy admission insight.
Most rely on marketing-heavy university pages, costly agents, or fragmented social content—making it hard to understand what studying a program is actually like.
International students face financial pressure.
Many struggle with living costs, have limited work options, and want to help others—but lack a structured, ethical way to do so.
Admissions are still agency-driven and inefficient.
Traditional flows depend on third parties, lack transparency, and put business incentives above student experience
Our Approach: A Student-First Admission Model
That’s why we built UniLinks — to redesign the admission journey from a student’s perspective. Instead of relying on marketing content or third-party agencies, UniLinks connects prospective students directly with those already studying the same program and university, enabling honest, experience-based guidance.
At the same time, the platform creates a structured and ethical way for existing students to contribute meaningfully and earn support for their living costs abroad. To ensure this model works at scale, UniLinks operates as a three-sided ecosystem where students discover and decide, mentors guide and support, and the admin team ensures quality, transparency, and process integrity throughout the journey.
1. Student Portal — Discover & Decide with Confidence
Students can:
- Find programs based on interests, background, and goals
- Read full curriculum details with no hidden information
- Compare programs across universities
- Understand requirements, timelines, and expectations upfront
Instead of pushing universities, UniLinks helps students make informed decisions first.
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2. Mentor Portal — Students Helping Students
Mentors are:
- Existing students studying the same program at the same university
- Sharing real, authentic experiences
- Guiding juniors through the admission journey
Mentors help with:
- Program expectations
- Application preparation
- Personal insights about student life
In return, mentors receive a contribution bonus from UniLinks after successful admissions — helping them support their living costs abroad. This creates a sustainable, ethical incentive model.
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3. Admin Portal — Quality, Trust & Process Management
The UniLinks admin team:
- Monitors student–mentor interactions
- Reviews consultation processes
- Supports both sides when issues arise
- Ensures information accuracy and process integrity
The admin portal keeps the ecosystem transparent, fair, and scalable.
End-to-End Flow (How It Works)
- Student discovers programs on UniLinks
- Student reviews full curriculum & compares options
- Student books consultation with a mentor from the same program
- Mentor guides the student through admission steps
- UniLinks admin supports and verifies the process
- Student successfully passes admission
- Mentor receives contribution bonus
No education agency involved! No hidden fees! A true student-to-student journey.
My Role & Contribution
As Co-Founder and Product Owner, I was responsible for shaping both the vision and execution of UniLinks. I led the product direction from early concept to system design, defining how students, mentors, and administrators interact within a single platform. My work covered end-to-end user journeys, including program discovery, comparison, consultation flows, mentoring interactions, and the incentive model that rewards mentors for their contributions.
I also established the design system and scalable UI structure to support future growth, ensuring consistency across the student, mentor, and admin portals. Throughout the process, I translated real student pain points into product decisions, balancing trust, transparency, and scalability while designing flows that worked not only for users, but also for operational and administrative needs.
Impact & Value
For students, UniLinks provided clear and honest program information, reduced reliance on costly education agencies, and offered both emotional and practical support from peers who had already walked the same path. This helped students make better-informed decisions before committing financially to studying abroad.
For mentors, the platform created an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the student community while receiving ethical financial support to help cover living costs abroad. Mentors were recognized for their real experience and able to support others in a structured and sustainable way.
For the education ecosystem, UniLinks reduced dependency on traditional intermediaries, increased transparency in the admission process, and introduced a scalable, community-driven model that places students at the center of academic decision-making.
Live Project: Unilinks
Outcome
UniLinks evolved beyond an academic capstone into a real, multi-portal platform supporting program discovery, student mentoring, admission guidance, and financial contribution through mentor bonuses. The project demonstrated how product design, community, and ethical incentives can work together to create meaningful impact in the education sector.
Reflection
UniLinks is deeply personal to me. It represents my belief in student empowerment, my growth from designer to product owner and co-founder, and my commitment to building systems that solve real-life problems, not just UI challenges. The project shaped how I think about platform design, incentive systems, and social impact through technology.
UniLinks was never just a capstone project. It was built to support real academic journeys — helping students make informed decisions and enabling mentors to contribute meaningfully while supporting themselves abroad. I’m proud of what we built and grateful to my co-founders and teammates for shaping this platform together.
Even as my career path moves forward, I hope UniLinks continues to grow and create impact. It reflects what I believe product building should be: useful, human, and driven by purpose.