1. Introduction
Edulix is an Internet site and forum that provides free 'crowd-sourced'
services and products to aspiring undergraduate and graduate students
around the globe. The site is primarily designed as a one-stop resource
for scholars with a crowd-generated database of information about university
education and career in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. While
the majority of its members come from the Indian sub-continent, Edulix's
membership has a very significant international element with increasing
membership from China, Turkey, Latin America, and Europe.
Currently, we believe Edulix is leading social media for international scholars with a database consisting of almost 1e6 posts and 125,000 members, a good number of who are still active several years after initial registration. Over the years, we have fundamentally transformed the way international scholars seek and achieve world-class graduate programs. Guided by the collective wisdom and experience of 125,000 members along with unique database engines, our members often get admission to the best programs that they can possibly can.
Process Flow of Edulix
In general, Edulix provides a unique internet portal for international
scholars like you with services,
a) that walk you through the university selection process. This is done
through our proprietary database program, UniSearch which has live admission
data as well as archived data from 2006 onwards.
b) that help you identify and secure financial aid like teaching and
research assistantship in the departments of your university of choice.
c) that help you interact and form community with other international
scholars all over the world through forums in different categories.
d) that help you deal with immigration issues and many more.
Edulix wants to form a long-term relationship with its community members
starting from the university selection process, to application, admission,
matriculation, graduation and job-search.
2. Registration
Registration is free. Only a valid email address is required to register.
3. History
Edulix was founded in 2000 by Sam
Kassegne (aka Edulix_Editor or Bikila) and his college-mate
from Middle East Technical University, Yalcin Sert. Edulix_Editor
was educated in India (BE, Madras/Chennai - Guindy Engg College) and
the US (Virginia Tech - PhD). He also has a master's degree from Turkey
(Middle East Tech University). He has worked in academia and the industry
for about 10 years in the US. Currently, he is an Associate Professor
of Mechanical Engineering at a University in California. The main motivation
of the founders was their belief that only former international students
can really understand the needs and challenges of other aspiring international
students. Apart from the founders, alumni of various universities, people
who themselves benefited from Edulix, strive to answer queries and help
the users.
The origin of the word 'Edulix' is inspired by the ancient port of Adulis on the Red sea Coast that used to be a major port for trade and business between the far, near and middle east in the tenth and eleventh century. Along the same lines, Edulix.com strives to be a portal where students from many corners of the world find cutting-edge technology to help them pursue their dreams of a world-class education and career.
Major database engines and forums of Edulix include :
- UniSearch
- EduTravel
- Edulix TNT Express
- EduChat
- Profile Evaluation & Results Forums
- University Specific Forums
- Visa & Immigration Forums
- Private Messages
- Edulix Cafe
- Twitter Feed of Travel Plans and Admission Results.
4.UniSearch
UniSearch is Edulix’s database of student profiles and results.
It has details such as the GRE/TOEFL scores, GPA, course and university
results. Members can search through the database, based on filters,
which gives them a fair idea of the admission trends. UniSearch has
data of members since the year 2006 which is probably the only repository
of such detailed data. Graduate studies aspirants can check the previous
year UniSearch database and depending upon their profile, they can select
the universities which they want to apply.
5. EduTravel
The travel planner is a utility which is not directly a part of the
forums. It allows students flying to different universities to plan
their travel and also coordinate their flights etc. with others going
to the same place on the same dates. A member can either create his
own travel plan, or search for already created plans to join them.
6. Edulix TNT Express
Edulix had made a business deal with TNT - one of the premier global
postal shipping companies - to offer the cheapest courier service for
your application packages to be sent to the US, Europe and Australia.
This is a service that has been used by tens of thousands of Edulix
members over the past several years. Today, TNT India, has a pick-up
and delivery setup spanning across more than 600 offices, 2000 vehicles,
30+ hubs, almost 600 depots and sorting centers. You must be a registered
member at Edulix to benefit from this deal. All you need is to show
a print-out of your Edulix profile page.
7. EduChat
EduChat is an AJAX based group chat for Edulix members. The main purpose
of the educhat is to answer quick queries from newbies who seek immediate
help. However it is used for general discussions also, which are not
directly related to the admissions process.
8. Profile Evaluation & Results Forums
Profile evaluation forums are probably the most viewed forums in Edulix
and the one which newbies visit most often. Applicants can use this
forum to ask for seniors opinion about the universities they plan to
apply to and other universities which are known for the specified course.
Seniors can also provide a fair idea of the applicant’s chances
at these universities, based on their past knowledge of admission trends.
The Results Forums are very widely read and keep members informed of
the admission outcomes.
9. University Specific Threads
The university specific threads are a repository of information specific
to a university, whether it is about the research or about the application
process. Usually, an alumni/ student of the university takes up the
onus for providing information and solving any doubts which applicants/
juniors may have. Since the thread is managed by students who have been
in close association with the university, they are able to provide an
accurate and helpful information in most cases, or at least can find
someone who can.
10. Visa and Immigration Forums
After the applicant finalizes the university to go to, his next best
friend is the visa and immigration forum on Edulix. Right from the filling
up of the DS160 forms, to the visual design of the consulates and the
type of questions which a VO can ask, this forum has all the information
needed to prepare for a student visa interview. Also as members appear
for their interviews, they post their experiences on this forum, providing
a valuable resource for future applicants to learn from.
11. Private Messages
Edulix provides a way to send private messages to other members. It
is meant for quick and expedited replies. Though most discussions happen
on the forum, PM’s can be used to exchange private information,
say your email id/ phone number or to ask a senior to review your SOP
and other discussions which you don't want the whole world to know about.
12. Edulix Meets
Though primarily an Internet forum, over the years Edulix members have
organized user meets in different cities in India. These provide an
opportunity for users going to the same university to get to know their
future college mates before they leave the country. Even before deciding
on universities, Edulix meets help students to get in touch with other
applicants for the same course/university and make the application process
easier for them.
13.Webinar/Conference
Time to time, seniors at Edulix host webinars or conference to help
the current applicants and newbie. Seniors studying at different universities
answers to queries. They provide inputs on specific researches being
carried out in their respective universities and in other known universities
as well. The queries pertaining to availability of career opportunities
in different domain are catered. Even though various threads are available
to answer these queries, webinars provide a way for students to get
real time replies and talk directly to the seniors.
14. Twitter Feeds of Travel Plans and Admission Results
Edulix also provides real-time Twitter feeds on travel plans entered
by its members as well as live admission results from UniSearch as members
update their profiles. http://twitter.com/Edulixing.
15. Real Time Admission Trend - Unisearch
Edulix’s forum homepage also houses an 'Admit Scroller'.
This scroller gives real time updates of admission trends at universities
from data taken from UniSearch. It allows user to straight away see
which universities are announcing results without having to go into
the forum.
16. Membership
The registered user-base of Edulix has been constantly increasing over
the years. In summer 2011, Edulix had almost 125,000 members. The membership
is projected to grow to around 150,000 by the end of 2011.
Growth of Edulix between 2008-2011 - Approaching the hockey-stick curve!
17. EduMentoring
A new but natural venture for the Edulix community is the imparting
of research experience to undergraduate juniors and seniors. Mentored
by PhD students at some of the top graduate programs in the globe, undergrads
learn the challenges and fun of fundamental research even before going
to grad school.
