Built by an NSF GRFP fellow and Columbia astrophysics PhD. Programs, professors, letters, and statements — one place, not a Google Sheet.
Get the launch email — and the free tracker template today.
Right now this lives in a Google Sheet — deadlines in one tab, letters in another, professor notes in a doc nobody reopens. Statuses drift. Deadlines slip through. Lodestar replaces the sheet with a system built for exactly this application cycle.
LODESTAR://OBS · 3 TRACKED · LIVE
Your course · timeline to launch
T–36dAsk for lettersWhere you've come from
3 of 6 mappedThe system
Every school, every professor, one status pipeline — Researching through Decision.
Track who you've asked and draft the request email — it opens in your own inbox, ready to send.
One master CV, one master statement. Each school gets its own fit paragraph — edit the master, it flows everywhere.
External funding runs on its own calendar — GRFP, FINESST, and the rest, tracked beside your programs.
Semantic search over physics & astro faculty by research area — matches feed straight into your "why them" notes.
Pricing
Free covers a full cycle at a small scale. Upgrade when you're ready to apply broadly.