1. Groupme
Don’t delete it after frog week! While it is your frog week group, they’re also your hall mates. Anytime someone is yelling in the hallway at 3 am, instead of getting out of your comfy bed shoot a message in the groupme. Need a highlighter? Shoot a message in the groupme. Want to advertise for your club’s event? Shoot a message in the groupme. And speaking of clubs, almost every single club you will join on campus will have a groupme they use to communicate quickly.
2. Venmo
Venmo: the app of currency transfer that is practically universal among college students. All you have to do is download it, connect it to your bank account and bam you never have to use cash again. Don’t be that friend who can’t pitch in for a ride because you don’t have venmo. Don’t be that club member who makes your treasurer keep track of cash because you don’t have venmo. Get venmo.
3. Canvas
The canvas app is as easy to use as the website, maybe even easier. Literally everything you can do on the website you can do on your phone while you’re sitting on the bus. Bonus, you get notifications of assignments and messages from your professors.
4. The UNOFFICIAL bus app
I know you don’t want to spend $2.99 on an app. I know the official one is free. Just TRUST me. The official free “app” (I use app in parentheses because it just takes you to the website) doesn’t tell you the times of the bus arrival or schedule updates during breaks. The unofficial app is 100% worth it ESPECIALLY if you live off campus.
5. Uber
Even if you religiously take sober rides because they’re cheaper, download uber, put your card info in, and have it ready. Ubers are fast, reliable, and safe. You don’t want to find yourself stuck in an uncomfortable situation where your sober will take over an hour or where it’s past 2 am and no one’s driving sobers anymore.
6. Facebook
Even if you deleted Facebook after the rise of Twitter and Instagram, now’s the time to bring it back. JMU has class groups, sober ride groups, lost and found groups, hall groups, groups for your majors, even groups for your clubs. Also it helps you keep in touch with your older family members who only use Facebook and that you probably don’t want on your Twitter anyway. And don’t forget about Facebook party events!
7. Quizlet
Google “JMU”, your class title, and the test number or title, and I can almost guarantee all the answers to your study guide will pop up including virtual flashcards you can use. Thank me later.
8. Mobile ID
You know what’s hard to keep track of? A JACard. You know what you always have on you? Your phone. The Mobile ID app lets you punch at ANY dining hall using your phone.
9. Listen Wifi
Ever wonder how people watch those TV’s in front of the ellipticals at UREC? It’s by using this app. You switch your wifi to “Personal Listening Wifi” and pick the TV number you want to watch and suddenly you’ve been running for an entire hour.
10. Outlook
I’m not exaggerating when I say this app is a necessity. Even though JMU sends you an email every 5.7 seconds, some of them are actually important. It’s also much more convenient to send an email from your phone than your laptop when you’re on the go.
11. College Life
JMU has rid itself of the iMadison app and transferred over to College Life. College Life Parking Decks, Canvas, Card Services, Emergency Numbers, Sports, the Breeze, Dining Hall hours, Maps, and even Happy Hours.
12. JMU Safe Rides
I know this is the third app listed relating to rides, but what does a college kid need more than rides? Especially if you’re a freshman who had to abandon their car back home. JMU safe rides gives any JMU student a 100% free and non-judgmental ride to wherever you want to go on or off campus!