A strong motivation for me to buy the iPad was its potential use for school related activities. Being a college student can be demanding without the proper resources, as such when I ventured out to buy an iPad I did so convinced it would actually help me. After having been able to use the iPad for some time now, I have found many applications extremely useful and quite beneficial.
Here is my “Top 6 Must Have Apps for College Students”:
iWorks Suite
Technically this is actually three individual applications, however for all intents and purposes lets consider them as a whole. At the present moment the iWorks suite collection is the best application to use when it comes to word processing, powerpoint and spreadsheet making. While there are several alternatives to iWorks none come nearly as close to the compatibility, ease and comfort of these apps.
iBooks/Kindle
As a student who has to complete several courses in English, the books required for the class can add up very quickly and end up costing a lot more than you expected. The solution to this problem with Apple’s iBooks and Amazon’s Kindle application. The reason I have selected both together comes down to cost. Naturally some companies give better deals to one company or the other. For this reason, sometimes a book may be cheaper in the other application, thus making it hard to simply select one application. A great point to note is that often times you will find the ebooks at half the price of a print copy.
Corkulous
Ever hear the phrase “The best student is the organized one”? Well thats exactly what this application does. This application provides a cork-like board and you can “post” notes and reminders on the board. You can even make todo lists an check them off as you complete them. Unlike other todo applications this one is cheap and quite easy to use with many other features not found in other applications in this category.
Coursesmart
The coursesmart application offers students just what Apple’s iBooks or Amazon’s Kindle doesn’t at the moment: Textbooks. This application provides students access to thousands of textbooks at much cheaper cost than printed copies. Whats best about this application is its potential to hold every textbook you need for your classes. Gone are the days of having to carrying a bag full of textbooks from class to class. The iPad now gives you access to all your textbooks on the go.
PI83 Graphing Calculator
Forget the TI83 graphing calculator and its high price tag, the PI83 accomplishes what the TI83 does and much more. The greatest feature of this application is it’s amazing price tag: $0.99! With the iPad’s amazing screen and large display, the PI83 gives you enough room for all those tough calculations you’ll have.
Dropbox
If you have your notes and essays scattered all over your computer then this is the application for you. Dropbox does exactly as the name suggests. It provides a “dropbox” folder whereby you simply place any file in it and you can access it on the go via the internet on your iPad.
