College: There's an App for That!

This is an updated post from 2013.

College students are so lucky today.  I didn't have apps in college.  Heck, no one had a cell phone.  In fact, no one at school had a PC, much less a laptop.  We had pencil, paper and books and we liked it!

Some of these apps may be on your radar screen, but if not, you really need to check them out.  Most have a website to describe them (click on the names) and many have one or more YouTube videos.

1.  Evernote - This powerful app helps you keep and organize everything through the Cloud while synching to all of your devices.  Take notes, recordings, pictures and files wherever you go and access them on your laptop, tablet or phone.  It's free and available for Android or iOS devices.  There is a huge presence of Evernote videos on YouTube, but here is one specifically for college students:

2.  QuickVoice Recorder or Smart Voice Recorder - These two apps basically do the same thing - record - which is awesome for lectures.  QuickVoice Recorder works on iOS devices and Smart Voice Recorder is for Android.  Each has a few special features, and both are free.

3.  iStudiezLite or iStudiezPro - These are the same basic apps, but the Pro version can be used with an Apple Watch.  iStudiez helps you stay organized, track deadlines, grades and more across Mac devices.  It synchs in the Cloud and integrates with iCal.  The Pro version is only $2.99.

4.  Quizlet or STUDYBLUE - Need some flashcards or other study tools?  Each of these apps offers a variety of study tools that you create to help you prepare for those big tests.  STUDYBLUE also synchs with Evernote, which is a plus.  Both are free.

5.  Mindmup - This is one of several free mind mapping apps that helps you brainstorm for assignments or even your entire semester course.  This one also has a web version.  I'm not going to explain mind mapping here, but you can find MANY videos about it on YouTube.  Here's one specifically about Mindmup:

6.  Desmos - This is a nifty graphing calculator (free in the App Store or on Google Play).  It also has a great website with examples of what it can do (graph functions, plot tables of data, evaluate equations and more).  Here's one of several videos on YouTube that show you how to use the app:

  

Some other notable mentions for college must have apps are EasyBib (scan ISBN tags on books to get full bibliographic information in proper citation for papers); Chegg (order textbooks and e-textbooks at great savings), Wolfram-Alpha (compute ANYTHING instantly, including scientific standards of measurement and complex equations).

Good luck at school!

cindy