School is starting up again soon, and I’m already excited for it! I know it’s strange, but I absolutely love school. I love going to class, writing exams, researching, everything. A lot of that, though, is because I’ve found ways to make studying and student life easier and less stressful than they normally are.
A bit part of making life go smoothly is utilizing the tools available. I personally don’t like bringing my laptop to school unless it’s exam season, and I was lucky enough to get an iPad for Christmas my first year. Since then, I’ve completely customized it to be my own super-school-tablet filled with amazing college apps, and I use it every day to take notes, write assignments, and make sure that I’m staying healthy! All things that are important in student life!
So here are the college apps that I personally love, and what have worked to keep me organized and good to go!
9 Must-Have College Apps for Every Student
1. Quizlet
Quizlet is my favourite. It’s a flashcard app that allows you to make multiple sets so you can make a new set for every class! Not only that, but it is so easy to sync between all your devices. It also has a function where it will create tests for you out of your flashcards! This is how I do all of my exam prep, and I have seen a 7% increase in my marks since starting!
2. Self-Control App
Self-Control App is actually a desktop app, and it saved me during exam season this year. What happens is you create a blacklist of sites you are not allowed to go on (for me that’s Pinterest, Life as a Dare, Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix) and then you set the amount of time you want to be offline for! Then it doesn’t let you go on them at all, and it’s impossible to shut off. It’s fantastic. Y’all need to download it ASAP. (This one’s only for Mac, but if you have a version for windows let me know and I’ll add it here!)
3. Google Docs
Google Docs is how I got through group assignments. The greatest thing about Google Docs that makes it good for group assignments is that multiple people can edit at once! Plus there’s an auto-save function so you’re a lot less likely to lose your work halfway through.
4. Study Cal – Student Planner and Organizer
Study Cal is, in my opinion, the best study calendar ever. It even integrates what grade you need to get on each assignment to meet your GPA that you want! It’s fantastic, and so worth the few dollars it costs! I love how customizable it is and how smoothly it runs! It allows you to add semesters, manage your classes, and plan study to-do lists for all of your assignments and exams with reminders. I love it–my organizing obsession is so happy when I use this app.
5. Mint: Money Manager, Budget Planner
As you all know by now, I love me a good budget. I’ve been using Mint since the beginning of first year to keep track of my spending. One of the things I love about Mint is that it shows you what percentage of your spending goes to what–are you spending 25% of your money on food, or on restaurants, for instance. This is also super easy to sync all your data with since you can log in online, as well, and manually enter spending details to further perfect those percentages! I love it, and it even has a budgeting tool to help show you how much you SHOULD be spending on everything.
6. Drop Box
Even though I love google docs for group assignments, Dropbox is my go-to for saving my own notes. After one of my friends had her computer stolen this year and lost all of her notes, I’ve been extra careful to make sure everything is backed up on the internet. Dropbox is great for that, especially since you can log in on your phone, tablet, and computer. Since i don’t bring my laptop to school, I love that I can upload my files to dropbox on my iPad and then use the computers in the library if I want to go more in-depth and do more intense writing (I still prefer computer to iPad for actually writing assignments). Dropbox automatically uploads your latest version when you hit “save” and allows you to make folders in folders in folders! I highly recommend this and it’s free! So there’s no reason for you to not get this one ;)
7. DocsToGo
Documents To Go® Premium is the actual word processor that I use to take notes in class. It syncs with Dropbox and you can even make it sync with your desk top! I personally just use the Dropbox feature because then I can access my notes on library computers too and not just my own devices. This is app is by far the best that I have found, and I’ve paid for quite a few. You are even able to take notes in PowerPoint just like on a computer! I love it and it is definitely worth the investment.
8. Songza
Songza may seem like a strange one to add here, but I just love it! You always need good study music or good workout playlists and I find that I often get bored of my own limited music collection after listening to the same songs 400 times but songza always has another new, great playlist to turn on and it’s free! That being said, I highly recommend the paid version since then you have more “skips” per playlist allowed. My favourite study playlist is this if epic film scores playlist! It’s so great. Like middle-earth meets Bourne great.
9. My Fitness Pal
My fitness pal is a Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker that I have found extremely helpful in keeping on top of my health. School isn’t only about studying, and it’s important to make sure that you stay healthy throughout the year. I don’t count calories religiously but I more use this as a food diary so that if I eat Doritos more than twice a week I’m forced to acknowledge it and remedy the situation immediately.
These apps are my go-to ones, and they have made my college experience that much smoother! I hope they help you, too!
Which apps would you add? Let me know in the comments and I may add them!
Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may make a commission off of you clicking through or purchasing the item linked. That being said, all opinions are my own, since these are amazing resources!