The HSC might be finished but the next step for students, choosing the right university, is looming large. It’s a high-stakes decision: degrees take years to complete and cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Just in time, discovering the right course has become easier with the launch of a new AI-powered platform, masterminded locally. Northern Beaches wife-and-husband entrepreneurs, Marine Hautemont and Rob Malicki have launched the Choosing Your Uni (CYU) platform, leveraging their years of experience running a popular YouTube channel (@choosingyouruni) that has been viewed millions of times and helped tens of thousands of students to choose their uni.
The platform simplifies the often-overwhelming process of choosing the right field of study and finding the ideal university by offering personalised recommendations tailored to each student’s strengths, interests, and preferences. And it is all in one single platform.
“The platform features two core AI tools,” Marine said. “The What to Study Quiz offers personalised career and field-of-study recommendations, while the UniMatch by CYU tool shortlists universities based on criteria like location, size, facilities, and courses.”
There are more than 7000 different degrees and courses across all Australian universities so it can be overwhelming. “This isn’t about directing students into any particular option” said Marine, “It’s about opening doors and allowing students (and their parents) to uncover the choices that suit them best, regardless of where those courses might be”.
Rob said Choosing Your Uni distils these courses into fields of study and then into options based on a student’s profile and preferences. “With university fees and HECS debt top of everyone’s minds, families and students can’t afford to make an ill-informed choice,” he said.
Nationally, about 15% of new undergraduate students drop out of uni within the first year. “That’s tens of thousands of people who, for various reasons, don’t end up in the right degree,” said Rob. “The cost to students, institutions and Government is millions of dollars, not to mention years of individuals’ time.”
It can also be incredibly difficult for students from regional areas, or equity groups like first-in-family, to navigate the journey to uni. CYU helps these students with independent, personalised advice.
Choosing Your Uni includes a wealth of resources, such as university review videos, employment trend insights, career-related lifestyle information, and tools for parents and students to share and discuss relevant options.
The platform uses an interactive AI guide, called Lumen, to assist students with personalised advice, helping them navigate the journey to university with confidence. Lumen can answer detailed questions, such as specific comparisons between different courses, while considering an individual’s unique circumstances and interests.
Choosing Your Uni launched in November and has already seen hundreds of high school students, careers advisors and parents joining up. The CYU team is already fielding requests from local schools to do presentations, or for students to join the team’s “Content Creation and Social Media” work experience program.
This new venture marks the next chapter for Marine and Rob, who previously founded AIM Overseas, a multi-million dollar company that enabled over 6,000 Australian university students to participate in overseas study programs. Their expertise in education has already transformed thousands of lives, and they now aim to bring that same innovative spirit to university selection, this time to help millions of students.
More about Choosing Your Uni
Your journey to uni starts with Choosing Your Uni. Head here for a 1-minute demonstration explainer of the platform.
For all info visit choosingyouruni.com