MSVU valedictorian’s app to help keep students organized almost ready to launch

Megan Cook aims to officially launch Studentgizor on September 1

CITYnews halifax \ Meghan Groff

An app aimed at helping students get more organized is almost ready to launch.

Recent Mount Saint Vincent University graduate Megan Cook — who was a valedictorian at the school’s convocation last November — is behind Studentgizor, and idea she came up with after missing a test.

“I was working full time and I’m an old school girl, so I was physically using my scheduler and I forgot all about this test,” she told CityNews Halifax. “It came to me, I can’t be the only one, there has to be something better to keep people on track.”

Cook was a mature student at MSVU. After graduating from J.L. Ilsley High School she attended Mount Allison University, but dropped out after her father died, then headed out West to work on an oil rig.

But after five years, she decided it was time to resume her education, so she drove home to Halifax and enrolled in the Mount’s Bachelor of Business Administration program.

The 26-year-old thought if she was struggling to keep her schedule straight, it must be worse for younger first year students, especially those with learning disabilities.

“You’re given your course syllabus, you’re told these are all your deadlines, this is what is expected of you, but you have no organizational set up basically, you’re just on your own to figure this out,” Cook explained. “Unless you’re taught that at work, school or at home, it’s unfortunate, but you just don’t have the skill.

That’s where Studentgizor comes in. The app will take each class syllabus, compile all the information and create a downloadable monthly template. If there’s a change in the schedule, the system will automatically adjust.

“You’ll be able to input it manually or use a simple text recognition feature, and it’s actually going to translate that to a calendar system that you can manipulate, as well as a reminder system,” she said. “So say your deadline is in two days, you’re going to get a notification.”

“There is no support like this in the market right now that is real time,” she added. “I want to fill that gap and I think this tool is just going to be so beneficial.”

With the app taking care of organization, she hopes students will have more time to focus on studying.

Cook started working on Studentgizor before she graduated. The app recently went through a trial testing phase to collect feedback from a select group of users.

“I had finished the app, but through beta testing I have gotten a lot of feedback for three new features, one being a grade calculator, and I’m implementing those,” she said.

Cook aims to officially launch Studentgizor on September 1, just in time for the start of the fall term.

It will be available for Apple and Android.