College will throw essays, tests, quizzes, and more to make you work for that degree. So it’s best to find the right equipment and sites to stay organized and cut down on the college workload. Although college advice sites will copy and paste the usual Quizlet, Khan Academy, Wolfram Alpha trifecta, some of the best sites are the ones you hardly ever hear about. They range from time management services to textbook price comparison sites. So after 4 years of college, here are some of the best sites I’ve come across that benefited me during my college academic experience.
1. Symbolab
You ever needed a quick answer to any math homework set or you forgot your calculator at home after skating 15 minutes to the library? Well this is basically your Math tool for everything you need. A life saver during Calc 1, this site can do integrals, trigonometry, matrices, the works and with a STEP-BY-STEP worked out solutions. It’s basically Wolfram Alpha, another useful site, but the best part is that it’s FREE and has a much better interface (in my opinion).
I’d recommend pairing this with Wabbitemu (Android), an app that acts as an actual TI-83 calculator.
2. Slugbooks
Have you ever tried your best to avoid buying books only to find out you HAD to buy it? It’s dreadful. But Slugbooks makes it suck less. Slugbooks is a comparison site that allows you to copy your books’ index number and or title and plug it into their system. Then it pulls a comparison list of the retailers offering the book and their prices, so that you can choose the best deal.
It’s a great way to save money while you try to figure out how you’re gonna steal those 3 oranges at the dining commons.
3. Tomato Timer
If you already heard of the Pomodoro technique (hyperlink) then this is a timer to help you stay on track. For those who aren’t familiar, the technique is essentially a timer that requires you to focus for 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks in between followed by a longer 15 minute break after two hours. By allocating time only to work and then taking periodical breaks you dramatically improve your study efficiency.
The cool thing about Tomato Timer is that you can adjust the time of each work and break period to suit you best. They even have cool sounds to alert you when each session is over. Definitely use this tool and play around with what settings work best for you.
4. Shovel
When it comes to staying organized, I recommend your personal calendar like a physical agenda, iCal, or Google Calendar. However even though we have a fast way to streamline your schedule shovel makes it easy to keep track of ALL your classes and assignments.
Shovel has a gorgeous interface as well as “shovel” function to predict times when you might have too much work in order for you to prepare in advance. It does this by scheduling your time based on how long it takes for you to finish each assignment. It also has a grade calculator!
Right now they are offering a 14-day free trail with NO credit card required so you can check it out for yourself!
PLEASE NOTE I’M NOT BEING SPONSORED BUT I WISH I WAS! I JUST THINK ITS A COOL PROGRAM.
5. Sleepti.me
In college you will be overwhelmed trying to balance your academics, social life, extracurriculars, work, and of course sleep. Because it’s important to maintain healthy sleep habits, finding optimal times to go to bed and wake up is key.
Sleepti.me does this for you. You can enter in a time you’d like to get up and the site will show you the best times to go to bed so that you wake up right after a sleep cycle. You can also put in the time you’re going to sleep and the site will show you times you should wake up.
Always, I’d recommend trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep a day but you know your body best. If you think getting less hours of sleep gives you an extra few hours of study time, remember to consider the rest of your waking hours. Trying to do your assignments with less grogginess and more focus can turn your 4 hour study sesh into a more realistic 2 hours of attentive studying.
I’d pair this with apps like Sleepbot (Android) and Sleep Cycle (IOS) in helping track your sleeping hours to make sure you get enough sleep. Sleepbot even has an optimal sleep schedule feature integrated in the app. Don’t sleep on this great combination.
6. Google Scholar
Okay this might not be the most obscure resource in the world but I still felt it was necessary to put in here.
Everyone knows how Google works but Google Scholar is a great avenue for finding specific research articles. This can be incredibly helpful. And their citation feature always comes in clutch saving time on the tedious works cited part of your essays or research papers.
7. Canva
Usually everyone is involved in some type of org, club, or institution. When it comes to standing out, marketing is key for growth and expansion. Canva is great for trying to make any type of advertisement. They have templates for fliers, layouts, banners, you name it.
I’ve used it in a multitude of settings. Whether it was advertising for college dances as an RA or creating a flier for my work’s fundraiser event, Canva has the resources to make my fliers pop. If you’re trying to standout in your club or workplace, I’d definitely recommend using Canva to spread the word.
8. Anki
You’ve probably already heard of Quizlet, but let me introduce you to its ugly but smarter cousin. Although Anki is technically another flashcard site and app, it has a special feature that many flashcard sites like Quizlet and StudyBlue don’t have; spaced repetition.
When it comes to the science of memory retention, Anki has it down. By letting you grade how well you know each flashcard, Anki starts to quiz you more on the cards you know the least while quizzing you less on the cards you know the most.
Made this flashcard during my Psych 1 days. I picked it out randomly but if you needed a reason to focus on being more present, here’s your sign.
By spacing them out and quizzing you more on the cards you’re less familiar with, it makes effective use of your time while you study. Because there is a learning curve, I’ve hyperlinked a video on how to use Anki effectively. If you can learn how to fit this in your study schedule, I can guarantee you will definitely cut down on your study time.
If you know of any super helpful and sorta obscure or slept on websites that you didn’t know how you lived without, let us know in the comments. Help your fellow struggling students out.
Regardless, we hope you take advantage of all these sites so that all your work is worth the BS (or BA).
Best,
Chris L.
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Chris Landeros
My name is Christopher Landeros but you can call me Chris. I started this website after struggling to find relatable and relevant info for first-gen college students. I kept learning the ropes and was wondering why there wasn't a resource to show you how to practically navigate college. So here I am, creating the most in-depth content for College Lighthouse.
I'll send you an academic planner and more of these awesome articles!