Backed by Harvard Innovation Labs and Beta University, the Boston-based startup is redefining what educational support looks like in the AI era.
For Lilly Liu, the founder of iOffer.AI, the college admissions journey has often been marked by prohibitive costs, scattered information, and significant challenges related to equity. Having navigated the study-abroad process herself and later advised hundreds of students, she identified a key gap: traditional agencies charge substantial fees, while independent applicants are left to navigate a fragmented landscape of information without clear benchmarks.
Her solution is iOffer.AI, an AI-powered platform designed to bring students clarity, confidence, and support at a significantly lower cost.
The Only Tool for Scalable Personalization
For Lilly, the decision to build an AI-powered platform was not about following a trend but addressing a problem that has often been overlooked by many. “College applications involve repetitive yet personalized tasks,” from researching suitable schools and programs to drafting essays and preparing for interviews. She recognized that AI could offer what she describes as “scalable personalization” to tackle this challenge, providing customized guidance to thousands of students at once.
A noteworthy example of this impact is an applicant who used iOffer.AI’s beta program when she was overwhelmed by contradictory advice from various sources and a spreadsheet of more than 200 schools. With the platform’s AI-driven support, she was able to quickly narrow down the list to a set of options that were both realistic and aligned with her academics, budget, and preferences. The applicant was then able to draft essays with AI assistance and, for the first time, she felt “more in control” of the process. Moreover, the platform’s application management system helped her keep track of deadlines, while intuitive features like one-click submission and an offer decision agent, which weighs the pros and cons of admissions offers, provided both practical guidance and emotional support throughout the journey.
Overcoming the Hurdles of Trust and Technology
As a non-technical founder, Lilly faced early challenges in developing both the technical infrastructure and trust. Convincing engineers and AI specialists to join a company based solely on a vision required considerable persistence and persuasion. At the same time, she encountered skepticism from students and parents who were hesitant about relying on AI for such an important, high-stakes process.
To address this, iOffer.AI launched small pilot programs, showcased measurable results, and emphasized transparency by pairing AI agents with human mentors when additional reassurance was needed.
Lilly’s own journey has also played a crucial role in shaping the design of iOffer.AI. Having navigated the application process herself as a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), she experienced firsthand the confusion and inequities that many students continue to face. Later, as a researcher at Harvard University, she studied the intersection of AI and human interaction, gaining the technical insights needed to reimagine the admissions process. But it was a personal setback—nearly missing out on an offer due to an agency’s oversight—that ultimately became the catalyst for creating the platform. These experiences inspired key features of the platform, such as a real-time school database and a companion-style design that provides both practical guidance and emotional support.
A Vision for the Future of Education and Career
Lilly’s ultimate vision is to see college applications transform from a stressful, transactional process into a guided journey of self-discovery and growth. In the next five years, she envisions iOffer.AI expanding beyond admissions, with AI companions that not only help students “get in” but also assist with identifying skill gaps, connect them with alumni, surface scholarships, and even guide them toward their first job offer.
For now, Lilly measures success by the impact of the platform. “If our product genuinely helps even a handful of people in a meaningful way, that’s success to me,” she says. Her guiding principle reflects this outlook: “True wealth is creating possibilities, and true freedom is having choices.” For iOffer.AI, the mission is clear—to provide students with the opportunity and the freedom to shape their own futures.
