Best Apps for a College Student

Hey everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions on good apps for college students.
I've found a few different sites listing some good apps, but I'd love to get more opinions.
I'd prefer the apps to be free, but I'm okay with spending a little bit on some. Just no super expensive ones please, unless they're really good.

This is sort of like asking what are some good apps for:
junior high schoolers
high schoolers
young adults that aren't going to school
teacher
professor
moms
dads
senile old men like me


Depends on what you want to do on your computer.

Would be much better to state what sort of app(s) you are looking for and get specific recommendations for what you need rather just another list of everyone's top 5 or 10 Mac apps which can be found in abundance all over the place. At least 60% of every top 10 list of apps surely are not on any of the Macs I have.

However, reading those top 10/20 lists can give you some ideas about things you may not even have known you could do on your Mac.

bobtomay said:

This is sort of like asking what are some good apps for:
junior high schoolers
high schoolers
young adults that aren't going to school
teacher
professor
moms
dads
senile old men like me


Depends on what you want to do on your computer.

Would be much better to state what sort of app(s) you are looking for and get specific recommendations for what you need rather just another list of everyone's top 5 or 10 Mac apps which can be found in abundance all over the place. At least 60% of every top 10 list of apps surely are not on any of the Macs I have.

Click to expand...

Well, I need it for school first and foremost, so, mostly just productivity apps, or apps that will help with school.
I'm sure I'll end up with some fun apps, but I can find those on my own.

Again, you'll need to be more specific. What's helpful for you as a person will differ from what's helpful for me just as what's helpful for an engineer won't be all that helpful for a sociology major.

With regards to productivity, what are you looking for? Calendaring/time tracking? Task management? Note taking?

Like bobtomay mentioned...specifically being a college student really is not necessarily all that important.

You're a computer user...and we all have various interests...regardless of what "label" we want to put on ourselves at different points in our lives. If you want some help...you need to tell us what specific topic areas you are interested in...so folks can help you find free or low-cost apps for that interest area.

What you're really asking us to do is read your mind (we have no idea what you're interested in).

And I for one (if I could read minds)...would be working in Las Vegas (or have my own TV show)...making millions of dollars/year...rather than answering mind-reading questions for free here!

- Nick

vansmith said:

Again, you'll need to be more specific. What's helpful for you as a person will differ from what's helpful for me just as what's helpful for an engineer won't be all that helpful for a sociology major.

With regards to productivity, what are you looking for? Calendaring/time tracking? Task management? Note taking?

Click to expand...

Well... not quite sure yet...
I definitely need a good Calendar one.
I'll need a good note taking app too, probably.
I guess just suggestions for other general apps too I guess, since I'm not sure exactly what I'll want/need yet, since I'm not in college yet, nor have I ever owned a Mac.
Just general productivity apps for a college student.

The very first app you should get is Find My Mac... How to track a lost computer with Find My Mac | Macworld

Hopefully your college isn't as bad as UNLV here in Las Vegas for stolen Apple products.

The built in calendar works well and for notes, check out Evernote.

One very obvious one would be Office 2011 for Mac. You should be able to get it fairly cheap with student/teacher discount. Also, some universities require an AV app of some kind. I would NOT install one unless it is absolutely necessary and required.

How long before you actually go to college? What is your chosen field of study? Give us something to work with and we can give you some ideas, asking too generic questions doesn't really yield anything of real value..

My usual advice to new Mac buyers is that 90+ percent of what you think you need ... is already provided on your Mac. Once you've spent a little time investigating what's already there, you'll probably be in a much better position to know what it is you still need.

iTunes U App from Apple

Raz0rEdge said:

How long before you actually go to college? What is your chosen field of study? Give us something to work with and we can give you some ideas, asking too generic questions doesn't really yield anything of real value..

Click to expand...

I begin college in early August.
As for field of study, not positively sure. Either Biology, or Child Life Specialist (which is kinda a mix between nursing and psychology).

I'll echo member Chas_m's post that unlikely you'll need any special software there..for documents you can try Pages ($14.99) or the free LibreOffice instead of the MS Word..

Other than that, I think you'll figure out what you need once you get to college and see what kind of work you'll be required to do..