7 free apps that are a must-try for students to get organized, maximize free time and prepare for life after college
by Dayna Diamond, UCSC ’21
A lot goes into a successful college career. It’s always tricky to organize your classes, balance a budget, and find time for the other things you’d like to do. Luckily, there are alot of apps that can help. Plus, speaking of budgets, all the apps on this list are free.
1. Google Docs
If you’re writing any papers with a team, Google Docs is the way to go. On Google Docs, you can see what your project partners are doing as you’re all writing, and you can make suggestions that stay highlighted until everyone agrees. It also has a built-in messaging and notes system. And with the mobile app, you can add your thoughts from anywhere before you forget them.
2. LifeSpace
LifeSpace is a great app for student organization. It has checklists to keep track of your to-do lists, a notes feature for saving or taking notes digitally, and even a place to save bookmarks for all your study and class resources. All of these features are organized by class (or whatever categories you’d like) and the best part is, you can share your workspaces! LifeSpace will not only help you get organized, it will also help you collaborate with study groups and project partners!
Stay Organized and Prepare For Classes with LifeSpace
3. Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a great way of keeping up with, well, everything! You can remind yourself to go to class, block out times you’ll be out of town, and even invite your friends to events you’ve created that will thenpopulate to their Google Calendars. Forme, it’s important to always have some sort of calendar, and Google Calendars will let you easily add dates from a lot of sources, including your phone and email.
4. Hopper
Many students want to use their newfound adulthood to travel over break. How can you do that without breaking the bank? Use Hopper! It’ll track price patterns for airplane tickets and hotels to give you the best prices for your dream destination,making that trip you dreamed about possible. (It’s how I’m making it to my friend’s house for her first self-hosted Thanksgiving!)
5. Spotify
Want some study music on in the background? Spotify has both mobile and desktop apps. Even though the free version has ads, you can create and share playlists and it has one of the best libraries out there.
6. Venmo
I don’t know about you, but I carry almost no cash anymore. So what do you do when it’s time to split the utilities with your roommates or the dinner bill with your friends? Venmo makes it easy. You can send your friends any amount of money you want, with a little note explaining what it’s for, so it’s a super easy way of splitting bills or paying back money you’ve borrowed.
7. Mint
Mint is a great complement to Venmo. While Venmo helps you settle your bills with friends, Mint helps you keep track of your money in general! It can hook up to your bank account and other financial places, and can even help you reduce your spending and monitor recurring expenses.
Tip: Join the Facebook Student Success Group for More Student Hacks
There are so many apps on the market, it is easier than ever to organize your life. Downloading some of these will help you streamline your life and make space for your passions.
Dayna Diamond
Digital Arts and New Media Master’s Candidate
UCSC ‘21