THE ATLAS PROJECT

UMICH Atlas Web Scraper and Academic Advisor is a Python project that combines web scraping capabilities with statistical analysis to provide valuable insights for University of Michigan students. This tool is designed to help students make informed decisions about their academic paths, including choosing the optimal courses for a double major, managing their semester loads, and more.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Download
• Features
• Getting Started
• Usage
• Contributing
• License

Introduction

The UMICH Atlas Web Scraper and Academic Advisor project offers an innovative approach to academic planning and decision-making. It leverages web scraping techniques, powered by the Selenium library, to gather essential information from the University of Michigan's ATLAS platform. This data includes class offerings, course details, student reviews, and other academic resources.

The collected data is then processed and analyzed to address various academic-related questions and concerns. Whether you're a student looking to optimize your academic journey, explore double major opportunities, or simply make informed decisions about your coursework, this project provides valuable insights.

Download

• A downloadable executable is available (currently only for Windows) within the executable folder. This was built using the Tkinter library built into python. Please make sure to utilize your antiVirus software on this file before installing. I can attest to its safety (I have run it on my machine with no problems), but you should never be in the habit of blindly opening .exe's.
• The link is here

Features

• Web Scraping: Automates the collection of data from the University of Michigan's ATLAS platform, including class details, student reviews, and more.

• Data Processing: Cleans and organizes the collected data for efficient analysis.

• Statistical Analysis: Provides a range of academic insights, such as:

  • Identifying the optimal courses for a double major
  • Balancing your semester loads
  • Exploring trends in course popularity and difficulty
  • Recommending electives based on your academic goals

• User-Friendly Interface: Both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command-line interface (CLI) makes the tool accessible to all students, allowing for easy interaction with the system.

  • GUI designed using Python's Tkinter library, downloadable in Windows, Mac, and Linux.
  • A command line interface can be used with the API implementation of The Atlas Project.

Getting Started

Before using the UMICH Atlas Web Scraper and Academic Advisor, you'll need to set up your development environment and install the required dependencies. Here's how to get started:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/umich-atlas-scraper.git
   cd umich-atlas-scraper
   

2. (Recommended) Set up a Virtual Machine

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install -r [foldername]/requirements.txt # input the folder you want to use
   

Usage

• To use specific features, README's within the folders describe how.
• A rule of thumb is to always run files from the ATLAS directory, rather than from a subfolder

Contributing

Contributions to this project are welcome! If you have ideas for improving the web scraper, adding new analysis features, or enhancing the user interface, please follow these guidelines:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
3. Commit your changes and push to your fork.
4. Create a pull request.

• Please be sure to follow the project's coding standards and adhere to best practices.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License