With the new college year beginning for all and the gradual accumulation of assignments, social events, bills and general student problems coming at us, it's time to turn your phone into the ultimate student weapon and more than just a procrastination tool. These apps will help you manage the workload and allow you to have the best college experience with minimal effort. Here's how to make your mobile work for you:
Productivity:
Evernote
Evernote is the ultimate note taking app. Available for mobile, tablet and laptop, you can collect all your work in the one place with numerous input options from typed notes, web articles or pictures. Have all your notes for all your modules accessible on all your devices and be more prepared than ever for exams
myHomework
There's a lot going on in college between different classes, assignments, work and a social life, so it can be a struggle to stay on top of everything, but this app will let you do just that. Keep track of where you're meant to be and what you’re supposed to have done and never miss an assignment again.
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Refme/ EasyBib
One of the most strenuous parts of any college assignment is citing and referencing your sources to avoid that dreaded plagiarism. These two apps allow you to scan barcodes on books and quickly generate references in whatever academic style you require. All your references are saved and synced across your accounts, allowing you to save valuable time at the end of your essays.
Dropbox/ Google Drive/ Onedrive
Whatever cloud software you use, it's essential that you have one or all of these on your phone. Don’t worry about losing assignments or documents, access them anywhere and share them easily. No more breakdowns when your documents go missing. Sorted.
RescueTime
Rescuetime runs in the background of your mobile or laptop devices and tracks how you spend your time online. Often left wondering how you spend hours and hours in front of your laptop with seemingly nothing to show for it? Then Rescuetime will reveal all. Set productivity goals, warning alarms and block distracting sites and watch yourself become the ultimate productive student. You're welcome.
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CamScanner
Scanning different lecture slides, notes, administrative documents or whatever else you have to deal with in college can be a hassle. This app however lets you use your phone to scan, store and share documents across devices, enabling you to save time and improve your work.
Self Control for study
Struggling to avoid procrastination and finish off that last-minute assignment? Then this is the app for you. These apps simply ban the use of certain distracting apps (*cough Facebook) for a set period of time allowing you to focus on making that deadline.
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Sleep if u can/SpinMe Alarm Clock
College involves invariably a lot of late nights and those early mornings can be a struggle. With these apps you will be sure you wake up in the morning and despite your hangover, get yourself to work or your lecture.
Finances:
Money Lover
Student life often involves living on a budget to avoid ending the semester with no money and only crackers and vodka in the cupboard. This easy to use app will help you budget across weeks and allow you to organise your finances so you don’t end up cold and hungry in December.
Splittable
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Whether you’re splitting household bills or just the weekly takeaway, this app removes the need for the awkward money chat and allow for bills to be divided fairly without the drama.
GroupOn
College students are inherently poor and so must make every effort to save the pennies while still enjoying the best years of your life. Apps like Groupon can help you here by offering discounts on a range of products and activities.
Languages:
Babylon/ Duolingo
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If your college degree involves some language learning or simply if you plan on travelling the world, these apps will help you along the way. Babylon is at the top end of translation apps, while Duolingo will actively help you learn a new language or keep you switched on between lectures.
Oxford Dictionary
Lecturers often like to try show they’re smart by using big words. This app will help you counter this, don’t let your pride get the better of you, get a definition of a word and impress in essays and exams when you turn it back on the lecturers.
Development:
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College is a time for personal and professional development and for the latter, LinkedIn is the app you need. Build your professional identity, create a network of professional associates and keep up to date with latest news and opportunities in areas that interest you.
College professors love nothing more than students who have knowledge of what's going on in the world and as young adults, you should be starting to take an interest in these things too. This app will provide much more riveting reading than your Facebook feed and provide some new, exciting conversation topics than can be used when least expected.
Social:
Whatsapp/ Viber.
While these messaging platforms are often a great source of procrastination and distraction, they're still necessary and let’s face it, college isn’t all about studying. Creating group chats allows for easier organisation of group projects and social events and allows you to stay in touch with friends, new and old.
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Again, if used in the wrong way, you will waste your college life trawling through your Facebook newsfeed, but at the same time, having this app and consulting it sparingly allows you to attend events, share information with different groups and stay connected with life outside your course.
Everyday:
Public Transport Apps
Whatever app that is relevant to you is a must have, whether you use the train or bus, having knowledge of their timetables and real time arrival information at your fingertips saves yourself a lot of fruitless, generally cold, time waiting at stops.
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My Fitness Pal
College is a time of significant upheaval and, as part of all this, your health can take a backseat. This app allows you to track your food intake, and with its barcode scanner ability, it is easier than ever to use. Stop yourself from falling into bad eating habits with this simple app and kickstart a new healthy lifestyle.
8tracks
Some people need music to study while others must avoid it, but no matter which one you are, this app is essential! Whether it’s a study playlist, gym pump-up or party tunes you’re looking for, you can find something for every occasion on 8tracks.
FindMyPhone /Find My iPhone
Now that your phone is the ultimate productivity tool for any college student, it would be a disaster if you were to lose it. These apps allow you to track your phone and avoid the heartbreaking separation that accompanies losing your constant companion.
With these apps in tow, you should look forward to college with renewed confidence that you can manage the workload, ace your courses while having the best possible time. If these apps save you enough time to have that extra night out, isn’t that all we really want.
