Studying for Finals: What you Need

You must be prepared when studying for finals. You don't want to have to keep leaving wherever you're studying to get something else. 

So here is what you need:

Laptop and/or tablet

Chargers

Head phones 

Phone 

Water bottle

Notebook & papers for at least 2 classes (in case you just give up on one class for a couple of hours)

Note cards

Scissors (if you cut your notecards) 

Pencil

Pen

Highlighters

Dry erase markers & eraser (in case you are in a classroom or study room with a whiteboard) 

Snacks (fruit, granola bars, gummy snacks, candy)

Coffee or soda or whatever gives you energy 

Know the closest bathroom 

Someone you trust to share a table or classroom with just in case you have to leave but don't want to lose your space. 

Wallet - just in case you want to buy food from a vending machine

Now these are just suggestions. 

If I were studying anatomy, I'd definitely add coloring book, colored pencils, and pencil sharpener, so I focus my studies differently than I would if I were studying human development. 

Studying for Finals: Locations

During finals week, most buildings at your school will remain open for longer, so you can study longer. The library will probably be open 24/7 and other buildings (like your union) will be open a couple hours past its normal closing time. 

Now normally, everyone floods the library during finals week. This makes the once quiet and almost desolate library now loud, hot, and crowded. Sometimes you can't find a table to sit at, let alone find a level of noise that you can study with. Because between the one floor that you can whisper, everyone is whispering too loud, and the next floor is WAYYY too quiet, you're at a loss. 

Try going somewhere other than the library. Other buildings are open and the 24 hours a day thing really messes with you. Sleep is important. Try utilizing these buildings/rooms because they could help you out the most. You can even talk on them. Sometimes, because everyone is at the library, you may be the only one in that room. 

At my school, there are so many different places you can study that many people do not take advantage. There is the:

Ballroom

Union Ballroom - there were two other people here, but they were hiding

A big empty room with ample light that allows for group projects because of the round tables as well as single study spaces. There are couches along the sides to curl up in if you need to take a nap, or just want to change seats. Finally, there are big windows to look out and people watch or check the weather before you go back to your dorm room. 

Dining Centers

A dining center on campus - no one was here

The main dining center on campus will close when meals aren't being served, but the other dining centers on campus will be open to sit at and study all the time. You just can't always get food from them (which, to avoid the "freshmen 15" and "sophomore 10" is probably a good thing), but you have plenty of space where you can just sit and relax. Sometimes noise is being made, by the staff, but unless you need ABSOLUTE silence, this is probably okay for most people

Multi Purpose Room 

Not all schools have one of these rooms, but a lot do. On my campus, this room has tables and couches and allows for a perfect setting between relaxing and structured. 

Floor Study Rooms

Now I don't recommend studying in your room (even though I do it more than I should), studying on your floor is a great option, especially if almost everyone on your floor have gone other places to study. Your floor is then quiet and you don't have to worry about packing up everything you need to go somewhere. If you forget something, that is OKAY! Just hop back over to your room. But beware. Don't turn on your TV or lay in bed when you go back in. You'll just ruin the momentum you had beforehand. 

Lounges

Many individual schools have their own specialized lounges, equipped with books or information that could help you individually with your major. Take advantage of these lounges or other lounges (if you can get into them - some you may have to have swipe access). 

Like I mentioned above, sleep is important. One problem with the library (and some other buildings) being opened 24 hours a day until the end of finals means that you have absolutely no reason to go back to your room and go to sleep. Studies have proven that sleep is very important for remembering what you have just learned. So by going to places that will close by a certain time, you have that incentive to go back to your room and go to sleep for some time. Sleep is also important for your health. You don't want to get sick during finals week, so take care of yourself. Eat some fruits and veggies while snacking instead of eating ice cream the whole week. Exchange one soda with a cold water. These things will help. You'd be surprised. Take care of yourself and you will do better on your finals than you were expecting. 

How to Prepare for Clinicals

For many, clinicals start bright and early, and that means waking up even earlier to get there and be ready. If you're anything like me, you like to sleep for as long as possible. 

Here are some tips for getting ready for and being prepared for clinicals:

1) Check the weather

If it is supposed to be cold in the morning or all day, you don't want to leave your room without having a scarf or gloves. On the other hand, if it is supposed to be warm, you don't want to leave the next day with a sweatshirt or jacket on, because you'll just have to carry it. 

2) Set out all of your clothes the night before. 

You've probably been told this many times in high school and everything else. "Set out your clothes to be more prepared!" But this will help you out immensely. Have your scrubs folded and sitting on the dresser/chair/whatever so it's not on the floor, along socks inside your shoes, and a warm up jacket (if you have one) or long sleeved shirt for underneath your scrubs. 

3) Put your name tag somewhere you would remember. 

Put your name either on your scrub top so you don't have to do it in the morning, or in your scrubs pocket or a bag of yours so you know it's there and won't lose it. Keep it consistent. When you're done with clinicals for the day, put it back in that same spot.

4) Check your wallet.

Whether you have to take a bus, train, or you're carpooling, you're going to have to pay someone for transportation. Make sure you have enough money to pay for the bus/train fare or pay someone for gas. If you're driving alone, make sure you have enough money to pay for parking - some clinical sites make you pay for parking. You don't want to be blindsided because you don't have enough money. Also, if you plan on buying food there (if you are there for any meals or just want a snack) make sure you have enough money on hand for that. A lot of vending machines now have credit card readers so all you have to do is swipe your card and you'll get what you want. BEWARE! This is a great way to go through your money quickly. My recommendation - only pay for things in the vending machine with cash! You'll be less likely to spend as much

5) Pack your lunch.

granola bars, banana, apple juice, pretzels, and a sandwich in the fridge

If you're at your clinical site for any meal and don't plan on buying your meal at the cafeteria (also, not all clinical sites have a cafeteria for you to buy food at), you should probably pack your lunch. 

If you don't eat breakfast right after waking up, pack breakfast bars or other things in your lunch bag so you can eat at sometime before clinicals.

Remember to include: main meal (sandwich, pasta, salad, pizza, soup), snacks (pretzels, chips, fruit snacks, breakfast bars), fruit (banana, cut apples, grapes), and a drink (water with a drink mix, bottle of apple/orange juice, soda). Put another bottle of water in your bag, because you drink much more water during the day than you think you do. 

6) Pack your clinical bag.

You probably have certain things that you have to bring to clinicals, including but not limited to: stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, pen, pencil, black sharpie, penlight, and iPad/notebook. You know what your instructors want you to bring. 

7) Set up your desk/vanity/bedside table for the morning.

Do you take any medications in the morning? Put them out so you don't have to go far to take them. Put a bottle of water there too. If you need to put your hair up, include a comb/brush with a hair-tie, bobby pins, clips, or headbands - whatever you need to put your hair up. 

8) Shower

This could be done before you go to bed or before you go to clinicals - whichever makes you happy. But please do it. And that includes all other personal hygiene habits, like deodorant and brushing your teeth. Just please do it. Everyone around you will be thankful.

9) Check your alarms

You don't want to sleep in and miss your clinicals. Just make sure you are ready to wake up on time. 

10) Put your lunch bag (unless there is stuff in the fridge still), clinical bag, and clothes all together in one condensed area.

By keeping everything in the same area, you don't have to travel all over your room or house to get to your stuff. It's all right there. If you have food that should be refrigerated until you can put it in your bag and go, keep your lunch bag by the fridge. It'll help remind you that there is food in there for you. 

11) Try to go to sleep early.

 know I included a lot of steps in here and it makes it seem like if you do them all, you'll be up all night getting ready for clinicals. But once you get in the habit, making your lunch and packing your clinical bag will be so incredibly easy. 

12) Wake up and start getting ready.

Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair and put it up. Eat breakfast (if you want to) and grab your bags and leave. Your morning routine will take you no more than 20 minutes if you don't shower, 30-35 if you do. That way you can get the most sleep possible without running around like a chicken with its head cut off. 

Is there anything that you do in the morning or the night before that helps your morning go faster?

Breath Patterns

Breath patterns are extremely important to notice while assessing a patient as a nurse. 

Here are the most common ones that you should know: 

Cheyne-Stokes Respiraton

Often found when a person is at the end of their life, however, it is common in infants and elderly while they are asleep. They have regular periods of inspiration and expiration followed by period of apnea. 

Biot's Respiraton

Irregular patterns of inspiration, expiration, and apnea. Often found in patients who have had severe trauma to the head or any severe problems with the nervous system (spinal cord or brain).

Eupnea (Normal)

Regular and constant cycle of inspiration and expiration. There are no periods of apnea. The rate is 12-20 breaths/minute. 

Bradypnea 

Regular breaths at a lower rate than eupnea (<12 breaths/minute). 

Tachypnea 

Increased rate of regular, shallow breaths (20+ breaths/minute). Often found in those experiencing fear, have a fever, or recently exercised.

Hyperventilation

Increased rapid rate of regular deep breaths that occur in patient's who are experiencing fear, anxiety, or extreme exertion. Hyperventilation is when the person believes that they are not receiving enough oxygen, when in fact, they are over-oxygenating and there is a lack of carbon dioxide in their blood system. 

Learning Medical Abbreviations

Sometimes, your professors will use abbreviations that you are not used to because they forget that you are not advanced nurses or are trying to teach you the abbreviations without explicitly saying "this means this." Either way, you may miss out or feel lost in class because they use these abbreviations. 

I complied a list of some abbreviations that you may come in contact with that your professors may not always explain to you. 

r/t (RT) - relating to

s/s - signs and symptoms

PRN - as needed or as circumstances arise

po - by mouth

mcg - micrograms

kg - kilograms

g - grams

tsp - teaspoons

mL - mililiters

ac - before meals

pc - after meals

BP - blood pressure

Rx - perscription

Dx - diagnosis

NDx - nursing diagnosis 

NSAIDs - Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug

q4h - every four hours (q = every)

EMR/EHR - electronic medical record or electronic health record

MI - myocardial infarction (Heart attack)

CVA - cerebral vascular accident (Stroke)

CA - cancer

DM - diabetes mellitus

CAD - coronary artery disease (heart disease)

UTI - urinary tract infection

HTN - hypertension

ICS - inter coastal space

Are there any other abbreviations that you have come upon that you don't know what they are?

Using PowerPoint to Study

PowerPoint is a great utensil to use while studying. It really can be used as note cards. If you need to know concepts or memorize a sequence, PowerPoint helps the most.

Most note card apps (and real note cards) give you two sides, a front side and a backside. You cannot hide concepts one at a time. With PowerPoint, you can use animations to keep steps in order. 

How to make a note cards:

Make the title of the PowerPoint the title of the note card.

Here: Health Promotion (YA) (Young adult)

Make the bullet points the information on the card.

Here: Immunizations, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Click your first bullet point. 

Go to animations and decide which one to use. 

If you want the information to appear one-at-a-time, click the first bullet point and each main bullet point will be given an animation. If you want the information to appear all at the same time then highlight the whole section.

PowerPoint is really a helpful study tool to use, especially in nursing school. I used it mostly during Human Development. The only problem that I can think of is that it does not randomize the slides. But to counter that problem, you can put your notes on a slide show so it will be full screen. That reduces a lot of distractions that you could have on your computer. 

Do you use anything else that helps you study?

Finding Your Fun Fact

On the first day of classes your professors want to get to know you. Most likely they'll have you introduce yourself by saying your name, where you're from, and a fun fact about yourself.

"Hi, I'm Kathleen, from Pennsylvania, and my fun fact is....." *cue stammering as I prepare a fact about myself.*

You want your fact to make yourself sound interesting and you want to stand out.

Here are some things to think about when you think of your fact:

Have you ever been on a fun vacation anywhere? 

Have you ever been out of the country for any reason?

Is this your first time out of state?

Did you ever go on a mission trip?

Did you have an interesting job or internship that applies to your major?

Do you have any hobbies or special talents, like singing, cooking, drawing, or playing a sport?

Do you have any special certifications, like a scuba diving license or a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant)?

Is there something cool about you or your family, like you've been around the world or you're a twin/triplet?

Have you ever met a celebrity or sports star?

Did you ever get sick or injured in a funny way?

Tips:

1) Keep it short and sweet.

2) Be honest. Your classmates are the people you're trying to make your friends.

3) Keep it light & cheery. Instead of "My great grandmother died last month" say "My great grandmother lived to be 104." See the difference?

What was your fun fact?

Freshmen Orientation Tips

I loved Duquesne’s Orientation. It was so much fun. We met every day and did everything from touring Pittsburgh to having multiple dances to having comedians perform for us! I was up all day and practically all night! It was so much fun and I got to meet a ton of people.

Now not everyone’s orientation will be like mine, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun. Here are some tips for enjoying your freshmen orientation:

  Go to as many events as you can.
They're just fun and they were scheduled to make you happy.

Try to take a small step out of your comfort zone.
By branching out of your comfort zone, you get to meet more people. You don't have to befriend every single person, but getting to know people is the first step to friendship!

Don’t have anyone to go with? Ask your roommate(s).
Your roommates are as new as you are to the school. You guys may not know anyone else. It's a great way to start out a good year while living together.

Participate!
These events were planned with you in mind. Don't just sit in during the events. Ask questions, call out, dance, and sing! 

.     Introduce yourself to everyone you meet.
Like I said above, you don't have to be friends with everyone you meet, but the first step to friendship is introducing yourself. 

Get ready to say your name, major, and where you are from.

This happens ALL THE TIME.

Take a step back.

Shy personality? Introverted? Step back. There are going to be crowds everywhere. This is the entire freshmen class and more going to these events. It's okay to take a step back and relax. Leave early or show up late. 

Sit out in your lobby, lounge, or even outside and talk to the people who walk past.
This is pretty self-explanatory. Sit out and get to know people.

 Above all, have fun and try to get to know people. Orientation was made with you and your classmates in mind. Enjoy it and participate. 

Are you excited for your orientation? Tell me about it!

Roommate Contract

When you first move in with your roommate you may have to make a roommate contract. If not, you should still make one. A roommate contract outlines the rules that you two both agree on. Having and following your ground rules will help avoid conflict.

 Here are some things to take into consideration:

• What time will quiet time be? 
• Quiet time could be during the day for studying or naps or for going to bed
• What can you do while your roommate sleeps?
• Will we sleep with the TV on, music playing, or in silence?
• What temperature should we keep our room?
• Do we expect the room(s) to be completely spotless?
• How long is too long to leave chores undone? Includes:
• Doing laundry 
• Doing dishes
• Taking out the trash
• Who gets control of the TV and when?
• Can I borrow your stuff without asking or should I ask first?
• What can NOT be shared?
• Can we share clothes? Shoes? Food? Snacks?
• How long can we borrow it before we HAVE to give it back?
• Can we have parties in here?
• When we bring someone (romantic) back to our room, how long can we have the room to ourselves? 
• How should we tell each other we’re going to have guests (romantic or not)?
• How many days before I have an planned overnight guest should I tell you?

Promise to ask nicely for things you would like, whether it be silence, food, or clothes.

Agree to say something right away about a person your roommate spends time with in the room or something your roommate does that bothers you. DO NOT BOTTLE IT UP! It helps out a lot. You should not be uncomfortable in your own room.

Is there anything else that you would request of your roommate? Or is there something you would expect your roommate to request of you?

Roommates

"As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." - Winnie the Pooh

Roommate Contract - What to think about while making a contract with each other

The MAJOR Choice for Roommates - Choosing your roommate based on her major

12 Questions to Ask Your Roommate - What to ask your roommate before you move in 

Packing

"You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... Get on your way!" - Dr. Seuss

Packing List - A real list of things to pack for school  

What Clothes to Pack for College - How to fill your closet right 

Food to Bring to School - How to satisfy your tummy at school

6 Must Knows Before Heading Off to College - Important things to succeed in life

12 Questions to Ask Your Roommate

Before you move in with your roommate, you should ask her some questions that'll make your life easier. If you do some of these things without asking beforehand, you may end up with some unnecessary conflict. 

**** These are great questions to ask someone you are considering as your roommate. ****

There are some things you should ask your roommate before you move so you can get to know each other a bit better and so you can prepare yourself.

• Do you watch TV or listen to music to fall asleep?
• Do you need some light or pitch black to fall asleep?
• Do you go to bed at a certain time each night?
• Are you a heavy sleeper or light sleeper?
• Do you study in silence or do you need noise?
• Are you a messy person or a clean person? Or somewhere in between? 
• Give a scale with 1 being hoarder-like messy and 10 being incredibly too clean. And when they ask you, answer honestly! 
• What are you bringing to the dorm?
• Are you bringing a mini-fridge? A microwave? A TV? A broom or vacuum? A rug?
• Are you comfortable sharing:
• food and drinks?
• clothes and shoes?
• Do you smoke? 
• What are some ground rules you want to set?
• Are you allergic to anything?
• ~If you’re comfortable asking/they are comfortable responding~ Do you have any health concerns I should know about? If so, how do I help you with that?

These are some questions that you should ask to avoid conflict with your roommate. You don't have to be best friends with your roommate, but knowing these will make for a much easier time living with her. 

7/16/14

Food to Bring to School

Whether your meal plan allows you to eat in the dining halls for every meal, you are not going to want to. Here is a list of some foods you'll want to bring along for early mornings, late nights, or snacks on the side. 

First, determine how many meals you have with your meal plan. Do you have enough to eat almost every meal in the dining halls or do you have to fend for yourself sometimes?

Second, will you get up each day for breakfast?

• No - Get some breakfast bar and juice for your room.
• Yes - You may want cereal and milk in your room or eat in the dining hall

Pack Snack Foods!
In case you missed dinner (or are having a midnight meal) you may want some microwaveable meals like Easy Mac or Digeronos personal pizzas.
Water bottles are a must or get a reusable one with a water filter

Here is a list of foods you may want to bring to school:

• Cereal
• Breakfast bars
• Bagels
• Cream Cheese or butter
• Microwavable pancakes/waffles
• Bread or Tortillas
• Lunch meat
• Nutella
• Jelly
• Peanut Butter
• Fruit – Bananas, Apples, Oranges, Grapes
• Pasta
• Shredded cheese
• Spaghetti sauce – jarred or in resealable container
• Microwavable pizza or pasta
• Pretzels/Chips
• Salsa
• Water bottles or water bottle with water filter
• Drink Mixes (Mio, lemonade)
• Soda
• Coffee/ Hot Chocolate, Tea
• Juice
• Milk - Quart
• Condiments (salt, pepper, mayo, ketchup, mustard)

Hope this list helps you decide exactly what you'll bring to school this fall! What else would you bring?

7/15/14

What Clothes to Pack for College

College is a time to develop and grow. One of those ways is with your style. While I give you this list, shape it to your personal style! This list is just a guideline. Take what you find comfortable and wear it! Your closet isn’t going to be that big, so take what you want to bring, and cut that much in half! Bring what you know you’ll wear! Don’t bring that shirt that you never wore in high school but might wear someday. You won’t wear it.

My style changed each day. My nursing specific classes were on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and my GenEd classes were on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So for my GenEd classes, I wore a t-shirt and jeans or even t-shirt and leggings. But for classes with my nursing professors I wore jeans and a nice sweater. I would even do my make-up and hair.

The way you dress gives an impression to your professors. While my GenEd professors would be very helpful for schoolwork, my nursing professors are the ones that will be seeing me more often as a student and as a prospective nurse. If I dressed well, I would give off an appearance of having my life together, so if they want to recruit students for an internship or research, I could be more desired than a classmate who looks like she doesn't care because she rolled out of bed before class. Now your grades have to show that your appearance isn't just an illusion, and you have to get to know them, but the way you dress will help you a lot!

Pack:

• 2 pairs of PJs 
• Underwear Galore! Socks galore! Bras Galore! (You can never have too much underwear)
• Winter coat, 2 pairs of gloves, scarf, winter hat/earmuffs, snow boots.
• Bottoms:
• 1 pair of dress pants
• `3 pairs of jeans
• 2 pairs of shorts
• Leggings
• Skirts
• 

   Tops:
• 3 Blouses
• 3 T-shirts
• 3 Sweaters
• 3 Cardigans
• 2 Long Sleeved Shirts
• Camis
• Denim Button Down
• Blazer
• 2 Sweatshirts
• Jean Jacket
• Leather jacket
• Dresses
• 1-2 sundresses
• Semi-formal dress
• Professional dress (for church, presentations, or job interviews)
• Workout clothes – if you work out, you know what you’ll wear!
• Belts, Scarves
• Bathing suit
• Shoes: Flats, converse, sneakers, work out shoes, toms, heels, boots, flip flops.
• Small purse
• Wallet
• Something to make into a costume (80s with neon leggings & cut off sweatshirt; black dress with cat ears, jersey with eye liner to be a football/soccer player)
• 2 or so cute but cheap shirts to get paint, sharpie, and anything else on. (Wet Seal’s 5/$20 sale is awesome for this)

A lot of people I know (that includes me) brought too many clothes or shoes to school! I really only wore about 1 pair of flats, my converse, 2 pairs of boots, rain boots and snow shoes. I used my heels a couple of times. In total, I brought triple the amount of shoes I wore. I did NOT need all of that. I also accumulated a t-shirts and went shopping a couple times so I left school with a lot more clothes than I came with. Limit your clothes to mainly your favorite clothes. You know you'll wear them & you'll have room for it all.

For a full packing list, check out my packing list post!

7/10/14

The MAJOR Choice for Roommates

Everyone is different when they choose a roommate, some people choose randomly, others choose based on tidiness, friends from high school, or majors. Choosing by major is an interesting one. There are different points to take into consideration when choosing your roommate by their major, whether it be the same as yours or a different one. I collected a bunch of pros and cons from friends of mine to come up with this list.

“It doesn’t matter [their major] as long as they are an open-minded person and you can get along with [them].” –Aketzalli

Pros of having same major

• Same sleep schedule
• Same class schedule
• Can relate to you about classes and difficulties
• Someone to study with & help you understand
• More motivation to study/do work cause they are working & you are not - Healthy Competition
• Similar friends
• Familiar face in class
• Understands your breakdowns due to stress - supports you through them
• Helps you with homework
• Easy access to missed notes due to not going to class
• No worries of waking each other up in the morning when getting ready

Cons of having same major

• Too much competition & comparisons that could lead to jealousy
• Clash with viewpoints on major
• Clash with time management
• Different schedules
• Tired of being around them when you have the same schedules
• Unhealthy Competition - Comparing grades

Pros of having different majors

• Unbiased viewpoint when you complain about professors or school work
• No competition, just support
• Some similar classes
• Same sleep schedule
• Meet different people than those in your program
• Never tired of seeing him/her because you only see them in passing and during the evenings
• Different friend groups
• Can learn about their majors to become more well rounded
• Help each other in school work
• Hear about more things that are going on around campus
• Outside perspective of school work

Cons of having different majors

• Different stress levels
• Completely different schedules
• Different sleep schedule
• Wake up roommate in the morning if you have different schedule
• Can’t get help with/borrow homework
• Workload debates
• (S)he doesn’t relate to you when you’re having a mental break down

As you can tell, there are a lot of pros for having a roommate of the same major, but the cons can be more trying than the cons of having a roommate of a different major. Who you room with should come down to more than just similar or different majors. 

Most colleges now have a Facebook page for each class. Join it and get to know people there. Make friends with people on there and then decide from there. Take into account how tidy (or messy) they are, if they smoke or not, and their sleep schedule! If you’re a tidy, non-smoker who goes to be early, you probably don’t want to room with someone who makes a mess everywhere they walk and stays up all night long smoking.

Know yourself and go from there. 

How will you choose your roommate? If you already have your roommate, how did you choose them?


***Special thanks to Emily, Aketzalli, Kim, Maggie, Rhi, Irene, Brynne, Tori, Rachel, Kayla, and anyone else I forgot to list who helped me make this list!***

7/9/14

9 iPad Apps for Success in Class

If you have an iPad you know that it can be extremely distracting with all the games, Pinterest, and Facebook? Who knew, but you could actually use your iPad to take notes and do well in school!  Here are some apps that I think everyone should use! These apps are also available on your iPhone but I prefer my iPad because it is bigger.

Notability – $4.99 

Basically Notability is a notebook on your iPad. You can make different notebooks to put your notes in. When you make a note, you can change the color of the paper and add lines or grids. You can type, draw, highlight, and erase all your notes. It works wonderfully as a notebook. If your professors give you a PDF, PowerPoint, or another document to download and read, you can download it onto the app and read it from there. You can record your lectures or even add photos to your notes. You can send the notes to people who missed class or to yourself through email, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Honestly, this is the best app for school!

myHomework – Free 

This is a planner on your iPad. First, you add your classes. If your professor has an account then you can find your class with that, but you can also add your class manually. You put in when you have the class, the building, and teacher. Then put your homework in with its due date and priority. It will give you updates on when your homework assignments are due next time. When you’ve finished, mark it off. It’s great for planning your time out for projects.

Flashcards by NKO – Free

This free version of the app is great. You can buy different notecards and make your own ones. When you go into “My Decks” you are shown all your different notecards that you have made. Click on the deck you want and you are offered the basic notecard style of testing along with games, and quiz. It offers you many different ways to study with notecards. Also, it saves paper and money because you don’t have to keep buying notecards.

Penultimate – Free

This is an app similar to Notability. It is connected with Evernote so you can send your notes to your Evernote account. This app is even takes into account on how you hold your stylus and hand as you write. You can make different notebooks and these are just like paper notebooks where you flip between papers.

Google Drive – Free

This app is just the iPad version of Google Drive from Google. It keeps all your documents that you have created or downloaded in one place. You can create new folders, documents, or spreadsheets. You can even upload photos. It connects your iPad to your Google account.

Chegg – Free

This is an app for reading e-textbooks. You can buy or rent a book from the app and from Chegg.com and access the e-textbooks with the app. Chegg really has the best prices.

Microsoft PowerPoint & Word – Free

Both apps are free however the only problem is that you need to have a Microsoft account and have Microsoft Office attached to the account. But after that (which in my opinion EVERYONE should have Microsoft Office) it makes writing papers and making Powerpoints so much easier. Send the Powerpoints and Word documents to yourself with the use of OneDrive (which comes with Microsoft Office) and you’re good to go with all your work.

Quizlet – Free

This is another flashcard app. It is connected with Quizlet.com. The app has the notecards, learn, and matching modes. Notecards is simple flashcards. Learn gives you the definition and you have to type the answer of the first side of the notecard. Matching is the matching game.

**I paid for these apps by myself. These are my own reviews.**

All these apps are fantastic and incredibly helpful apps. Are there any apps that you have used to help you in school?


7/1/14