Top Ten Apps for Students Striving to Survive School

As high school students, you are balancing a lot! School, family, extra-curricular activities, maybe even a part-time job and college applications. It can be difficult to stay organized on top of all the different responsibilities you juggle! In order to keep on track toward graduation and Your Next Step – or even just to make it through the week – check out what I consider to be the Top Ten Apps for students (high school or college) needing to take more effective notes, balance a schedule, and enhance your overall quality of life as a student. While I cannot hyperlink the items on the list this week since they are for your phone or tablet, please check them out by going to your App Store on your iPhone or Android device. As always, I encourage you to explore them all, find apps that are similar, and form your own opinion about which work best for you!

1. Office Lens 5 out 5 stars!

Ever had a teacher write something on the board and say it will not be available online? Fear not! This app can take pictures of whiteboards without any glare, that way you will never miss homework assignments or important test tips again. And that’s not all… This app can be used almost like a scanner in that it will allow you to save any picture you take with the app as a PDF file, Word Document, or PowerPoint file. 5 out of 5 stars!

2. Sleep Cycle 5 out of 5 stars!

If you are like me – or just about any other student on this planet – there is nothing worse than being woken up from wonderful, precious sleep by the blaring sounds of an angry alarm clock or cellphone alarm. To combat this feeling of being torn from your beauty rest, the Sleep Cycle app analyzes users sleeping patterns and wakes users when it determines within a pre-set 30 minute alarm window when the app senses you are sleeping your lightest. For nights that you are cramming for that final or staying up late to write your paper, this app may be a lifesaver. 5 out of 5 stars!

3. Dragon Dictation 3 out of 5 stars!

This app will take your notes for you! Well, not really, but it may make the typing/writing process faster by dictating your (or, let’s face it, your teacher’s) words for you. Always remember to ask your teacher’s permission before recording them first, as different schools and instructors will have varying policies regarding this. Another advantage to this app other than note taking for class is that you can quickly send text messages, emails, post on social media, all on the go using just your voice – so no driving and texting, please. 3 out of 5 stars!

4. Amazon 5 out of 5 stars!

Say goodbye to the high school days of free books distributed by the school library… In college, your textbooks are expensive and purchasing them is up to you. With an Amazon student account, users can gain access to Prime rates for delivery time and price of textbooks. Take my advice, try to avoid buying your textbooks at the college bookstore. Check Amazon first for some deals! Other than books, you can use Amazon for self-care purchases such as vitamins, a new pillow, or anything that will enhance the quality of your life. Remember to spend your hard-earned money responsibly! 5 out of 5 stars!

5. Google Drive 4 out of 5 stars!

Google Drive is a miracle. If you are not familiar with the Google Drive, welcome to the party! This cloud-like storage system keeps any documents, slides, files, pictures, videos, etc. you upload or create within the Google Drive. If you are at school and suddenly need to access that paper you started working on the other day, or quickly review notes before the exam – WHAM! Pull it up on your Google Drive and you are good to go. Another amazing feature is the ability to “share” your slides and documents with other Google Drive users, so even if you have contributed nothing to that giant study guide, you will still be able to see all of the notes the other students took. Not that I am advocating mooching, but hey, sometimes having this as an option helps. Being in the Google Drive clouds means you can access your notes before the test or print your paper before class from any computer in the school library, even if you have left your FlashDrive or laptop at home. To make edits, however, you will need to download the app discussed below. 4 out of 5 stars!

6. Google Docs 5 out of 5 stars!

Google Docs goes hand-in-hand with Google Drive. While the aforementioned app is great for reviewing documents and projects you have already started, but if you want to edit something or create a new document, you will need the Google Docs app. This app allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on documents with others whom you have “shared” it with. This means you can collaborate on a document together in real-time, making dreadful group projects somewhat more manageable, and you are able to hold group members (more) accountable by reviewing the “edit history” of documents to monitor contributions. If you are allowed to use technology in class, taking notes, making group slides, and creating study guides on Google Docs will make being a student a little less painful! Again, this can be accessed through the Google Drive from any computer, smart phone, or tablet. 5 out of 5 stars!

7. Microsoft Word 5 out of 5 stars!

Similar to the Google Drive and Google Docs, the Microsoft Word app is a cloud storage system that gives users access to their word documents. Unlike the Google Drive app, however, users can review and edit within the same app without needing a secondary app downloaded. In addition to this benefit, using Microsoft word will preserve the integrity of your formatting better than Google Drive. When transferring documents to other students, uploading them on another computer, or sending files to your teacher, sometimes if you are not using Word your formatting can get very messy. This app will hopefully prevent that! 5 out of 5 stars!

8. Microsoft PowerPoint 5 out 5 stars!

Need to save PowerPoint slides to review before class? Perhaps you are preparing for a big presentation and want to edit your slides on the go using your phone? Like the other apps mentioned above, this cloud storage system allows you to access slides across devices and ensures that the formatting will remain the same, so you can rest easy in knowing that what you are seeing on your phone or tablet is exactly what your teacher will see later during your presentation. 5 out of 5 stars!

9. Wunderlist 4 out of 5 stars!

Keeping track of your responsibilities for school, work, and life can be tough! Sometimes you need a little extra help. This to-do list provides a way to organize everything you need to get done, ranging from school assignments and work projects, to grocery lists and reminders to hang out with your friends at the movies! Having a life as busy as yours can get chaotic and overwhelming, so make sure you enable notifications to keep on track with the to-do list items you can easily organize on any of your devices. 4 out of 5 stars!

10. Your favorite fun app!

This last app is reserved for your choice! What fun app do you most enjoy playing in between classes to pass the time or to avoid making eye contact with the weird guy that has been staring at you for the past hour? What is your go-to app when you are feeling bored or stressed? Sometimes, having one of these fun, time-passing apps is just as important as an app that helps you access your documents or keep your to-do list of responsibilities organized. We all need to take a few minutes sometimes to crush some candy or send a Snapchat! So, do not forget to keep one of these apps on your phone at all times too for some self-care.