Oh college.
At first, it can feel impossible.
A lot of people struggle in the beginning trying to adjust to this new way of life.
You have a ton of work, a different class schedule, a new type of free time, tons of new people, and somewhere you have to eat, sleep, and shower.
In college, you have rooms and libraries with WIFI and, hopefully, a little place to get coffee nearby.
Still, it can be hard to find a time to sit down and just bust out your homework.
In between classes, social life, and sleep, you’re supposed to get more done than ever before, and also worry about those other tasks!
But, as technology makes assigning homework easier, there are also ways for it to make your life as a student easier.
You just have to know where to look.
Here are 5 apps that can help freshman get adjusted to this faster pace of life.
(and when you’re done, make sure you thank your COMPSCI friends)
IFTTT
When I first found out about this app, my mind was completely blown.
It’s an extremely simple concept that is finally coordinated by computers.
Awesome.
Almost anything you could ever want to automate, now is able to be programmed either online or on your phone.
Here’s my fave: always forget to set your alarm? Have IFTTT call you Monday-Friday at 6 AM (or whenever you want to get up). Never set your alarm again!
Google Drive
I could write a book on how helpful Google Drive.
It, and all the Google apps, keep me afloat during school. It can hold all your assignments, papers, documents, photos, and anything else you might need, on all your devices.
Plus, you can share anything with anyone, and work on them all at the same time, making group projects way easier.
Expense
(found on the app store)
An important thing to learn as you get older: budgeting!
So many young adults really struggle to budget their money or even just keep track of spending.
An easy way to keep track of your spending is by logging it in Expense.
It’s an app that lets you track your income, expenses, and even recurring charges.
You also get to pick a category for each expense, and it graphs it so that you can tell where you are spending the most money.
It’s a great way to visualize how much you really are spending and where you could cut back.
MyFitnessPal
This is the best app by far for anyone interested in improving their health or losing weight.
It’s especially great if you’re a beginner to food logging because its super simple, and it will even remind you to log it if needed.
It’s unbelievable how fast you can recognize your bad habits when you start to write them down.
And, it’s really helpful to be able to see what you’re eating in a graph.
You can customize your calories, exercise, and weight goals to keep yourself on track and create a plan to improve your health.
Check it out here!
Spotify
I used to be a huge skeptic of Spotify. It took me so long to finally download it.
I don’t know why, but I was just really against it. I wish I could go back and download it earlier.
They have great mood stations for literally any situation. Plus, if you have a college email, you can get premium for half off.
And now, you can get Hulu for free with a student account!
There are so many useful apps out there to make school easier. Start with these, and you’ll be on the fast track to success.
Good luck your first semester!