u/LivinDaHIILife

Hey everyone! Former SNHU Student here, and I present to you a Better Brightspace, which I call: Trojan Space! I do currently go to University of Southern California (USC), but I wanted to give back to my old home at SNHU :)

For those that used Canvas before, this is inspired by "Better Canvas" which made our homepages incredibly detailed. Now that I'm here at USC, it bothered me how hard it was to find information on Brightspace, so I built a quality-of-life upgrade to our workflow!

What it does:

🎨 Real dark mode + 30 themes (or your own image/GIF/video background)

🎯 What-if grade simulator (weighted & points), plus a reverse calculator (Basically: "what do I need on the final to get an A-?")

⚖️ Canvas-style weights-by-group table, drop rules, and each assignment's % of your final grade

📅 Smarter dashboard with due-soon feeds, GPA tools, calendar/spreadsheet exports, and one-click module or full-course downloads

Everything stays in your browser as it is an extension. This means no accounts, no tracking, no servers. This is an unofficial student project, so trust but verify anything grade-related.

Here are the links! These extensions are free and are made for our community:

Chrome (Available)

Firefox (Unavailable for now; Awaiting Review)

Let me know if there's anything you want added or fixed!

Hey everyone! Incoming transfer here, and I present to you a Better Brightspace, which I call: Trojan Space!

At my previous universities (Northwestern/ASU/SNHU), we used Canvas, and "Better Canvas" made our homepages incredibly detailed. Now that I'm here at USC, I'm surprised how hard it is to find information on Brightspace, so I built a quality-of-life upgrade to our workflow!

What it does:

🎨 Real dark mode + 30 themes (or your own image/GIF/video background)

🎯 What-if grade simulator (weighted & points), plus a reverse calculator (Basically: "what do I need on the final to get an A-?")

⚖️ Canvas-style weights-by-group table, drop rules, and each assignment's % of your final grade

📅 Smarter dashboard with due-soon feeds, GPA tools, calendar/spreadsheet exports, and one-click module or full-course downloads

Everything stays in your browser as it is an extension. This means no accounts, no tracking, no servers. This is an unofficial student project, so trust but verify anything grade-related.

Here are the links! These extensions are free and are made for our community:

Chrome (Available)

Firefox (Unavailable for now; Awaiting Review)

Let me know if there's anything you want added or fixed!

I would like to thank everyone for their help! Fight On!

And if you're a Pre-Med and/or Human Biology Major - hit me up! Would love to be friends!

Take care, everyone!

I’m a transfer student. Thank you for helping me!

Hi USC Family, thank you for being here today with me :)!

(Here's a link to my original post)

It happened! Yesterday, I got into USC for my top major (Human Biology at Dornsife, Pre-Med)! I come here today, one last time, to ask for your advice before I make a final decision.

From my original post, yes I acknowledge there's an obvious brand-name difference, but that may or may not be important. I value the opportunities more than anything because it directly ties with my field and here's why:

Context:

I currently attend Northwestern School of Professional Studies (online only) as an Information Systems Major. I have exactly one year left from today in my undergrad before I graduate. It also comes with a combined Master's program that adds a year, and I plan to take that offer as well.

Technology has been one of my dream fields since high school (I graduated in 2017). Unfortunately, I believe that dream has expired because for the past year, as I scroll through r/ITCareerQuestions, I see posts like this, and this always. Even my best friend from high school, who has 4 degrees in IT and Computer Science, over 10 Certifications, and 6 years of IT experience from the Military, has not been able to get a job (in Hawaii, where I'm from and want to live after college).

The reality is that, with AI automating most processes in my field and the Job Market as bad as it is today, I very much risk stability, given lingering layoffs and retention issues, as well as the ability to progress in my field. I can't help but realize I am chasing a (mostly*) dead degree.

(*I do acknowledge that it's not impossible to find a job, but the risk is all I am saying).

I was in the US Air Force from 2017 to 2025, working as a Flight Attendant on Air Force One. I realized from that job that I really enjoy helping people and working interactively. I chose healthcare because it offers the stability, intellectual breadth, and compassion I'm looking for in a job, and I want to keep that dream alive!

My undergraduate experience:

To become a Doctor, I need these things:

1. Any Bachelor's Degree
2. A good Cumulative GPA
3. A good Science GPA (Pre-Med)
4. Research Hours
5. Shadowing Hours
6. Volunteering Hours
7. Clinical Hours
8. A good MCAT score
9. Letters of Recommendations (2 from Science Professor)
10. Leadership experience

I am genuinely torn here because I don't know the right answer. I want to study pre-med, but I can't because I'm an online-only student at Northwestern. I applied to Northwestern as a Transfer for the regular, in-person modality, but funny enough I got rejected by my own college haha. USC however let me in!

It's unfortunate because becoming a Doctor forces me to tap into my school's resources. This is what USC can offer me that my college, Northwestern, can't because I'm online:

1. Networking Opportunities to be in Pre-Med Professional Clubs and gain a leadership role.
2. Networking Opportunities to take classes and be successful together.
3. Volunteer Opportunities in clubs to gain community hours.
4. Research Opportunities to gain a Clinical Research Assistant job and gain hours.
5. The opportunity to get Letters of Recommendations from my Science Professors.

This last thing I will say, but is not a dealbreaker for me but does cross my mind, is the USC experience. All the clubs and opportunities around USC and LA make me wonder if I am missing out on anything. I've always wanted to live some college life.

TLDR; This is where I need your advice:

If you were in my shoes, what would you choose?

Option A:

1. Graduate from Northwestern with a combined BS and MS in Information Systems Degree. I will be finished with this in Fall 2027 (BS), and Fall 2028 (MS). This is my backup plan but I am fully committed to wanting to become a Doctor one day so Pre-Med is on my mind.
2. Attend UCLA Extension and do Pre-Med mostly online and some in-person. I will be finished with this hopefully in Winter 2027. The ability to obtain Recommendations from Professors will be rough due to the sheer volume of everyone also in class with me.
3. Go back home to Hawaii and join my local University clubs (UH Manoa) to gain volunteer hours and leadership experience.
4. Start working at a hospital for hours, among other things (Volunteer, MCAT study, etc.)

Option B:

1. Graduate from USC with a BS in Human Biology. I will be finished with this in Spring or Summer 2028.
2. While at USC, I get to join Pre-Med Clubs, get a Research position and gain hours, volunteer at hospitals in LA, have a USC experience.

Lastly, this is worth mentioning but financially wise, I am doing fine because I have the GI Bill that helps me out fund my education.

Please help me out for the last time. I really appreciate you all and Fight On!