Built an Anonymized Review Pipeline, Scholarship Application System
A custom scholarship platform that converts inconsistent ZIP submissions into structured, anonymized candidate profiles for fast, fair review.
“The Scholarship Selector tool has been a game-changer for our committee. What used to be a time-consuming and inconsistent evaluation process is now streamlined, structured, and incredibly efficient. The platform makes it easy to review applications and ensure a fair, unbiased selection process...”— Traffic Club of Chicago
Project Details
- My Role
- From system design through development, testing, and rollout, I led the project end-to-end. I structured and ingested all candidate submissions, including parsing ZIP files, normalizing documents, and organizing data within the system.I also onboarded the full panel of judges, guiding them through setup and usage via live sessions and documentation.
- Duration
- 4 weeks
- Client
- Traffic Club of Chicago · 2026
The Brief
Traffic Club of Chicago was managing scholarship applications through SurveyMonkey exports, Word documents, and inconsistent file formats. Nothing was structured, and reviewers had to manually piece together each candidate. On top of that, submissions varied widely — PDFs, Word docs, Excel files, and transcripts in different orientations and sizes. The process was slow, error-prone, and not built for fair review.
Approach
I began by handling existing constraints—structuring SurveyMonkey exports. Next, I replaced the questionnaire inside GrowthZone, enabling both Excel and PDF submissions. I built a ZIP-based ingestion system that accepts mixed file formats, normalizes them, and generates candidate profiles. The system identifies each candidate, redacts transcripts, and allows judges to review submissions with controlled access.
Outcomes
The system turns raw submissions into structured, anonymized candidate profiles ready for evaluation. Judges can move quickly, score consistently, and see exactly what’s complete and what’s not. Initial feedback has been strong — a simpler process and less time spent assembling materials. Reviews now lead directly to a quantified outcome, making final selection straightforward. Future iterations will bring submission fully into the platform, closing the loop end-to-end.
Services
Tech Stack
Craft Notes
Most of the complexity lived in the edges — not the interface. Files came in as PDFs, Word docs, Excel sheets, often with different layouts and orientations. Instead of forcing strict input rules, I built the system to adapt to whatever it was given. That flexibility became the product. It allowed the team to keep their existing habits while still getting a clean, structured output on the other side.
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