EduCompass for High Schools

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I have a simple rule: when I’m stuck, I build my way out. Choosing a high school in Serbia felt like walking through fog – no clear list of options, unclear tests, conflicting enrollment info. When I realized my friends were even more lost, frustration turned into a plan. My best friend Marko and I sat down, mapped the maze, and started building.

What is EduCompass?

EduCompass is a one‑stop web platform that helps students find and enroll in the right high school. It brings all the scattered info into one place and makes it actually usable.

• Interactive matching algorithm (find your best‑fit schools and majors)
• All high schools and all majors in one directory
• Deep‑dive curriculum for every major
• Step‑by‑step enrollment process
• Points calculator (know your odds before you apply)
• Important dates and documents in one timeline
• Exam prep resources and guides
• Continuous updates during the March-July season

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Year 1 (2023): shipping is easy; earning trust is hard

We built and launched quickly. The challenge was getting students to actually use it. We met with the municipality, earned their support and presented at the biannual principals’ meeting. We handed every principal a flyer pack and politely asked to pass them forward to students. Many did (boo to the few who didn’t) and it worked.

The portal also won 1st place at a local competition Project week. More importantly, as part of my Rise application led me to being named a 2024 Rise Global Fellow

Big shoutout to Inspira Group for funding the flyers, they’ve backed us from day one. Media helped amplify the mission too: national broadcaster RTS, provincial RTV, and local outlets like Subotica.com, TV Subotica, Subotica Živi, and YuEco shared both our story and, more importantly, the tool students needed. Word‑of‑mouth did the rest. EduCompass is seasonal, most active March through July, with a June peak. In our first year we reached ~20k visits. More importantly, though, it gave us the confidence to form a nonprofit so we can promote quality education beyond this one portal.

Note: English captions available

Years 2-3 (2024-2025): better content, better UX, bigger reach

We focused on the things that matter at scale: accuracy, depth and ease. We rewrote school and major pages with far more curricular detail, improved the UX and invested heavily in SEO so students could find the right page in one search. The result: ~250k combined visits across 2024-2025, with ~100k in June 2025 alone. The core lesson was simple: if the information is trustworthy and the interface removes friction, students share it for you.

What’s next: clarity at national scale

We’re expanding EduCompass across all of Serbia so every student can compare schools and majors in one place. Alongside that, we’re redesigning the portal to remove hidden navigation (yes, the hamburger menu confused people?) and make the depth of available information obvious at a glance. Expect continuous UX improvements, clearer signposting and faster ways to go from “curious” to “confident”.

My role (and why it flexes)

I split my time between social media, frontend development and UI/UX design and partner communications. In reality, the role shifts to whatever the mission needs most that week, including shipping features in exam season, answering interesting emails by (lost) students or polishing content so it’s crystal clear for a 14‑year‑old seeing it for the first time.

Why we’re doing this

No student should feel lost picking their future. EduCompass exists so a confused moment becomes a clear plan in a few hours at most. That’s the compass we needed, so we built it.

How you can help

• Students and parents: use EduCompass to explore majors, check points and map your enrollment steps
• Teachers and principals: share it with your classes and add it to your school’s website
• Municipalities: collaborate with us to bring clear, updated guidance to your region
• Companies: support our mission with donations and sponsorships
• Media: share the story of the website
• Neither of the above: follow us on Instagram and share the word!

This story is constantly developing... check back later.