Features
One plan for your classes, grades, and aid
ModStudent reads your syllabi, plans study time around your classes, estimates your GPA from your recorded grades, and warns you when a scholarship's GPA minimum is getting close. Here's what each screen does, how the planner decides, and how it compares with what you might use today.
Product tour
From syllabus to a week you can follow
These are recreations of real ModStudent screens for a fictional student, Maya, in the fall term. The labels and statuses match what the app shows.
Syllabus import
Every date and weight, with the line it came from
Upload a PDF, a photo, or pasted text. The AI reader drafts your deadlines, exams, and grading weights, and shows the exact syllabus line behind each one. Nothing is saved until you approve it.
- Each item shows its source line so you can check it in seconds.
- Category weights, like “Lab reports 20%”, are split across that category’s items.
- Edit, add, or leave out anything. One-time Canvas copy, calendar-feed sync, and CSV import work too.
Syllabus import · BIO 110 · Principles of Biology
Your syllabus
PDF, photo, or pasted text
Grading
Lab reports (6) .............. 20%
Weekly quizzes (10) .......... 15%
Midterm exam ................. 25%
Final exam ................... 30%
Participation ................ 10%
Schedule
Wk 6 Lab report 3 due Fri, Oct 9 by 11:59 pm
Wk 7 Midterm exam: Wed, Oct 14, in class
Wk 8 Quiz 6 (online) due Mon, Oct 19
Finals Final exam: Tue, Dec 15, 8:00 am
What ModStudent found
Check each item against its source before saving.
2 of 4 confirmed
Lab report 3
AssignmentConfirmed- Due
- Fri, Oct 9 · 11:59 PM
- Weight
- 3.3% (Lab reports 20% ÷ 6)
Source:
Lab report 3 due Fri, Oct 9 by 11:59 pm
Midterm exam
ExamConfirmed- Due
- Wed, Oct 14 · In class
- Weight
- 25%
Source:
Midterm exam: Wed, Oct 14, in class
Quiz 6
QuizWaiting for your review- Due
- Mon, Oct 19 · No time listed
- Weight
- 1.5% (Weekly quizzes 15% ÷ 10)
Source:
Quiz 6 (online) due Mon, Oct 19
Final exam
ExamWaiting for your review- Due
- Tue, Dec 15 · 8:00 AM
- Weight
- 30%
Source:
Final exam: Tue, Dec 15, 8:00 am
Nothing is saved until you approve it.
Today
Open the app and know what to do first
Your dashboard picks one mission from your open work, weighing how soon it’s due, its priority, its share of your grade, and how long it takes. Next to it: your next three upcoming major deadlines (never overdue), today’s classes, and a snapshot of your GPA and scholarships.
- Today’s mission, with the reason it was picked.
- Next three upcoming major deadlines, ranked by due date and importance (exams count higher).
- Estimated GPA, scholarship status, and a link into Student Life for everything coming up this month.
Planner
A week that makes room for the work
See classes, deadlines, and study blocks for the whole week. The planner suggests study sessions in your preferred study windows, skips work shifts and other busy times even when those windows overlap them, and only adds a session when you choose it.
- Busy commitments always win over preferred study time when placing sessions.
- Break big work into steps, each with its own session before the due date.
- A 14-day forecast flags days with more work than open time.
- Missed a session? “Rebuild my week” and Fix this week propose changes you preview and apply — nothing moves silently.
Grades and GPA
Your grade in every class, and what it does to your GPA
Record scores as they come back. Each course grade uses the syllabus weights when it has them, or total points when it doesn’t, and your GPA estimate weights each course by its credit hours using the grading scale you set.
- Course outlooks with current grade, letter, and grade points.
- A projection that assumes an 85% average on the work that’s left.
- A what-if simulator to test future scores. Nothing is saved.
- “Why?” on every estimate: how much is still open, and the average you need on the rest to keep or raise each letter.
Scholarships and aid
See a scholarship slipping while there’s still time
Enter each award’s GPA minimum and renewal date. ModStudent compares it with your estimated GPA, marks it safe, close, or at risk, and lists the upcoming assignments that could move your grade most before renewal.
- Close means less than 0.25 above the minimum; at risk means below it.
- Each risk explains itself, including which course moving up one letter would cover the gap.
- An application tracker with deadlines and requirement checklists.
- Federal aid and national programs sorted by fit from optional answers, plus free places to search.
- A financial-aid timeline for FAFSA, verification, tuition, refunds, and renewals.
Under the hood
How the planning engine works
The syllabus reader uses AI to draft your dates. The planner doesn't: it follows a short set of simple, predictable rules, so you can always tell why a session landed where it did. Here they are in plain English.
Step 1: Work in your time zone
Deadlines are stored as exact moments. The planner uses the time zone saved in your profile (Eastern Time if you haven’t set one) to work out today, the days of your week, and when each deadline falls on your clock.
Step 2: Keep only the work that matters now
Finished and graded work drops out. Each course gets a term from its own start and end dates, then from its class meeting dates, then from the term you set up. Work for a course that hasn’t started stays out of today’s plan unless it’s due within 14 days or the course starts within a week.
Step 3: Rank by deadline, priority, and grade weight
Open work is sorted into deadline bands first: overdue, due within 72 hours, this week, then later — so a distant high-weight paper cannot push aside work due sooner. Inside a band, closer deadlines, higher priority, and grade weight (capped so weight alone cannot dominate) decide the order. Session length is your estimate if you set one; otherwise 50 minutes for high-priority work or anything due within 2 days, 35 for medium, and 25 for the rest. Time you’ve already planned is subtracted.
Step 4: Fit sessions into your study window
By default you choose a study window: morning (8 AM–12 PM), afternoon (12–5 PM), or evening (5–10 PM, the default). You can instead set weekly availability: preferred study times, busy times like work shifts and commutes, and a daily study limit. Preferred windows may overlap busy times; busy always wins. Going day by day in 5-minute steps, the planner takes the first opening that starts after now, ends before the deadline, avoids classes, busy times, study blocks, and other suggestions, and keeps the day under your limit. It shows up to four suggestions (50 minutes at most each), and adds one only when you choose it, after checking the time is still free.
Step 5: Break big work into steps
For papers, projects, exams, or anything estimated over 2 hours, a template suggests steps (for example research, outline, draft, revise, submit, or exam reviews 5, 3, and 1 days before), scaled to your estimate. Step totals stay within 10% of the estimate unless you confirm revising it. Submit steps may be zero-minute checklists. Completed steps reduce remaining effort, and scheduled vs completed study time are shown separately. Nothing is saved until you approve, and it tells you what didn’t fit.
Step 6: Forecast the next 14 days
Each day shows study already planned, estimated work still needed (your estimate minus time planned or done, spread over the days before the deadline at about 45 minutes a day, up to 10 days), and open time from your availability. Days over capacity are flagged with a suggestion to start earlier.
Step 7: Rebuild the week when a session is missed
When you choose “Rebuild my week” or Fix this week, unfinished past sessions (and sessions that slipped past a moved deadline) get a before-and-after preview. You apply all, apply selected, or reject all — nothing moves until you confirm, and never in the background. Completed and locked sessions stay put. The planner tries the least-loaded days first, uses your study windows, busy times, and daily limit, and never goes past the due time. If work can’t fit, you get a capacity warning instead of a fake schedule. Changing a due date or estimate opens Fit remaining work: leftover minutes vs open sessions, with proposed add/move/remove — still never silent. Every applied automatic change is written to plan history.
Step 8: Send reminders if you turn them on
Email and push reminders are off until you turn them on. A scheduled check (currently once a day) sends open deadlines inside your reminder window, from 6 hours to 1 week before (1 day by default, and never less than a day while checks run daily), or after a reminder time you set on the assignment. Each deadline is sent once per channel, and times are shown in your time zone. Push needs the app installed on iPhone (iOS 16.4 or later).
Every step above is what the planner does today, and we keep this page in step with it. Grades, GPA, and scholarship status are estimates; confirm official numbers with your school.
Comparison
How ModStudent compares
You probably already use something to keep track of school. Here's how ModStudent fits next to the usual options. It works alongside your LMS, not instead of it.
Scroll the table sideways to see every option.
| Feature | ModStudent | Your LMS calendar (e.g. Canvas) | General calendar or to-do app | Spreadsheet or paper planner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reads a syllabus and extracts dates and weights | Yes AI reader for PDFs, photos, and pasted text | No Shows dates your instructors post | No You type each one in | No You copy each one in |
| You confirm every date with its source line | Yes Nothing saves until you approve it | No Dates come from each course site | No No link back to the syllabus | Partly Possible if you copy the lines yourself |
| Study blocks planned around classes and busy life | Yes Preferred study windows; work shifts and busy times always win | No Deadlines only | Partly You block the time yourself | Partly You plan it by hand |
| Schedule changes only after you approve them | Yes Rebuild / Fix this week: preview, then apply — never silent | No Not a study planner | Partly Depends on the app; many auto-shuffle | Yes You change it yourself |
| Grade and GPA estimate with credit hours | Yes Per course and overall, on your grading scale | Partly Course grades; GPA across courses varies | No Not built for grades | Partly If you build the formulas |
| Scholarship GPA-minimum warnings | Yes Safe, close (within 0.25 GPA), or at risk for each award | No Not tracked | No Not tracked | Partly If you set it up and check it |
| Financial-aid deadlines (FAFSA, verification) | Yes Aid timeline with status and due dates | No Course deadlines only | Partly As general tasks you add | Partly If you write them down |
| One place for school and student life this month | Yes Overview: overdue vs coming up across courses, money, and life | Partly Course items only | Partly If you add every category yourself | Partly If you track every category yourself |
| Works across every course and school | Yes Any syllabus; one-time Canvas copy, calendar-feed sync, CSV | Partly Only courses that use it | Yes Anything you add | Yes Anything you write |
| Free to start | Yes Free plan; every feature free during beta | Yes Provided by your school | Yes Many have free versions | Yes Low or no cost |
Comparisons describe each category in general. Specific products vary, and many can be set up to do more by hand or with add-ons. ModStudent's Canvas import is a one-time import, not a continuous sync.
Your grades are personal
No ads, we never sell your data, and your syllabus is never used to train AI models.
Put this term's syllabi to work
Add your first syllabus and see your week take shape. Free to start, and every feature is free during the beta.