These are the websites and apps that I have found most useful throughout my University career! I would suggest taking my advice on some (if not all!) of these. They will be sure to help you out!
Dropbox: You pay for a monthly or yearly subscription, and trust me, it’s totally worth it. I upload every one of my photos from my phone to it, so I have peace of mind if something was to happen to my phone. You can also upload and share files (perfect for group projects!) where they’re totally safe! When working on major papers, nothing stresses out a student more than their computer crashing. With Dropbox, save yourself the mental breakdown and back up your laptop via an external hard drive or Dropbox.
Mint: This is an app that I’ve previously written about, but I think it deserves another shout-out. It links to your bank accounts (in a totally secure and safe way) and tracks your spending. You create a budget for yourself, and it alerts you when you’ve overspent or are nearing your limit! Seriously brilliant for managing spending, and learning how to budget well.
Freedom: This is an app that lets you block certain applications or social media sites for a certain amount of time. You set up all of the controls, and just like that you’re not distracted anymore! This would be very similar to the “do not disturb” mode. I like this app, because you can set time allowances for how long to keep you distraction-free. We all need a break from our phones every now and then (and it helps to kick your butt into gear for paper writing!).
Google Scholar: This is a credible website for researching topics from academic sources. The Ambrose library department can teach you how to work this well. It gives you great resources for those research papers, where you don’t have to be concerned about the credibility of the source!
Biblegateway.com: This website has so many translations of the Bible, and in so many languages. You can search for key words to see where in the Bible they are written, as well as topics to see what the Bible has to say about something. Even if you’re not pursuing a Ministry degree here at Ambrose, every degree takes a few Theology and Bible classes while at Ambrose. This website will really help you (even for your own personal Bible studying).
Google Docs/Google Drive: Ahh group projects… they happen every now and then, and when they do it can be hard to find a time to work on the project all together. In comes Google Docs! You can both work online, just like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, from different laptops in different locations. All you need is an email account to sign up, and it’s free! You actually can see in real time your partner typing, and what other people have edited. Again, this is a great place to store important files online, where they can’t be lost if your computer crashes.
White Noise: If you’re like me, this app will come in very handy. I find it hard to study or work with complete silence around me. This app has a ton of different noises that you can choose from, ranging from rain, a train ride, to a vacuum cleaner. I like having something to drown out the deadening silence while I work…
Well, there you have it! These are my top favourite websites and apps that are helping me survive University. Technology can be really great guys! Let me know if you’ve found other cool sites and apps that help you study and focus!