Tools for Your College Journey 

Whether it’s diving into some weirdly specific interest or generally being a well-informed human being, it’s good to have resources for broad, strategic learning. There are many other resources out there, but these are the ones I’ve encountered and enjoyed. I have used all of these resources and can personally recommend them. Most are free or inexpensive. I have affiliate partnerships with some, meaning that if you use them I receive a small commission at no cost to you.

General Information

The New York Times—An essential resource that was assigned by a professor during my senior year as required daily reading. You can get this at a discounted student rate.

The Stuff You Should Know Podcast—These two podcast hosts keep up a delightful banter, and delve into every topic under the sun.  

Learning and Studying

Khan Academy—This was how I re-taught myself algebra after I decided it was ridiculous to be 21 years old and terrified of an x/y. They have great tutorials in tons of different subjects, all for free on the website.

Duolingo—A free language-learning app that keeps lessons to short bursts and ‘gameifies’ the learning process. I will confess that I got overexcited at the beginning, taking on both advanced Spanish and starting French. I’m starting over with just the Spanish, and doing much better.

Coordinating and Group Projects

Trello—I absolutely love this program for creating collaborative projects and assigning tasks. You can break a project down and build checklists and create due dates. It is MUCH easier than trying to use a long email chain to keep track of who is supposed to take care of what.

Google Documents—I know this is no surprise to anyone, but google docs are an excellent collaborative resource, with the bonus of serving as a secure and accessible backup for your projects. Adopt early, and use always.

Dropbox—Again, not a groundbreaking recommendation, but one that is extremely useful for sharing files and storing anything you might need to access from multiple locations.

WeTransfer—If you’re ever working on a video project or with other massive files, this is a free file transfer site. It’s easy to use and has saved me on a couple of short deadline occasions.

Test Prep

Magoosh—A test prep website with clear and easy-to-use video tutorials complete with both necessary skills and specific test strategies. I’ve used the GRE prep and highly recommend it, plus they have SAT, ACT, TEFL, and others.

Books

Check out my list of the 5 books ALL students should read before their freshman year.

I'm never going to say that a good resource will make college or college life simple. It won't. College is hard, life is complicated, and an app or a website isn't going to change that. HOWEVER, a good resource for a specific problem or project can make your life a whole lot easier. So check these out, and best of luck to you!