It’s a good time to be a college student. Whereas students from less than two decades ago had to schlep to the library to research encyclopedias every time they had an assignment, students today don’t even have to attend a brick-and-mortar college, if they don’t want to. The internet provides a vast amount of resources for students to navigate their higher education. These websites help students learn more about degree programs, learn about their future professions, study for tests, choose which professor to take classes from, and so much more. Here’s our list of 15 of the most helpful websites out there for college students:
1. Quizlet
Gone are the days of spending hours writing out notecards and getting a cramped hand in the meantime. Quizlet helps you study for literally any class you may be taking by offering simple, free learning tools like flashcards, games, and more.
2. Grammarly
Your professors will LOVE you for using this one. Grammarly is a widget available for download that will correct spelling and grammar anywhere you are typing on the web browser, and it is far more advanced than your typical Word spell check. It will even suggest better words to use and has a thesaurus available on hand.
3. Wolfram Alpha
Like a search engine on steroids, Wolfram Alpha is a site that allows you to do calculations of all kinds, including math, science, nutrition, engineering, and more. Wolfram Alpha has a seemingly endless source of facts, data, and information to help get you through your class assignments.
4. Koofers
If you’ve ever wanted to get access to old exams to help you study, Koofers is here to help. This site has an incredible free test band full of past exams from your own schools and professors. You can also find course reviews, grade distributions, and other study resources to help you ace your next test.
5. wikiHow
College is a time when you have to learn to do a lot of things all on your own, and not just relating to homework and studying. wikiHow is an amazing resource for college students in and out of the classroom, allowing you to learn everything from how to do laundry to managing a budget. The tutorials are easy to digest and come with helpful images.
6. theSkimm
College students easily get wrapped up in all things school-related, but as voting- aged adults, it’s important to keep up on current events. theSkimm is a daily email newsletter you can sign up for to make reading the news easy, engaging, and even funny.
7. eFollett
If you’re spending an arm and a leg buying textbooks every year, stop it! Sites like eFollet make it ever so simple to buy or rent required books for your classes with no hassle (or sticker-shock over the price).
8. Habitica
Life in and out of college is made a whole lot easier by forming good habits. Thankfully, in today’s world, there’s an app to help you get there. Habitica “gamifies your life” by helping you achieve goals in a fun way. The app tracks your progress and grants rewards for productivity.
9. StudyBlue
As far as we’re concerned, you can never have too many useful study resources. Like Quizlet, StudyBlue helps you prepare for tests with handy online flashcards, excellent resources for organizing class notes, and more. You can even share study materials with other students around the world.
10. Wikipedia
While Wikipedia must come with a caveat, we still think it’s certainly worth mentioning on this list. As your professors have probably already told you, it’s important to be wary of inaccuracies on Wikipedia. But the site is still a great resource for getting familiar with basic facts about any topic. And if you check the resources listed at the bottom for validity and credibility, there’s no reason you can’t use them in your upcoming term paper.
11. The Owl
Memorizing APA and MLA formatting can seem like a nearly impossible task. Luckily, you don’t have to cram all the information in your brain thanks to websites like The Owl. This site was created by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab and helps guide you through the formatting of any papers you’ll have to write during your college experience. The site has extensive information about research and citation.
12. Indeed
Soon enough you’ll be on the hunt for a career in your field of study, and Indeed is a great way to get you there. This nationwide website helps you look for jobs in any industry. It’s more credible than Craigslist and will allow you to upload your resume, can suggest similar jobs, and sends you new job posting alerts.
13. Google Drive
We can’t go without mentioning the world’s easiest cloud-based storage service. If you have Gmail, you’re probably already using it. But for those unfamiliar: Google Drive is a free service that allows you to create, store, and access files from anywhere in the world where you have an internet connection. You’ll never have to worry about saving a paper to your computer and losing the data. You can also create files that can be edited by multiple people, so it’s a must-have for group projects.
14. TED Talks
As interesting and inspiring as they are informative, TED Talks are a great way to learn about the world around you, learn about industries, and come up with new ideas for class projects.
15. RealCalc
In today’s world, there’s no need to fork out cash for an expensive calculator. Real- Calc is a scientific calculator you can download to your phone or computer and use to accomplish almost any math assignment you may have. Looking for a degree program or trying to finish one off? Independence University has excellent options for students looking to better their careers and their lives. Learn more about our degree programs.