Five apps assist with student life

Maintaining a healthy weight, managing money, and keeping track of to-do lists while juggling academics and extracurriculars is something that many college students struggle with. These five innovative apps alleviate some of those responsibilities from students.

1. Evernote: The perfect place to jot down lecture notes or simply passing thoughts, Evernote is an application that will help keep life organized. In addition to its text note and photo note functionalities, Evernote offers many features and provides a solid solution to list keeping on the go. Evernote also sports a scanning feature that imports handwritten notes and paper documents at a high contrast to ensure maximum readability. Additionally, Moleskine and Evernote have partnered on a product line for individuals who still prefer traditional pen and paper note taking. These Evernote notebooks by Moleskine are entirely compatible with the Evernote app and are considered the first smart-notebooks of their kind. Syncing across nearly all platforms and devices, Evernote is perfect for the student wanting to travel light without sacrificing the option of studying at anytime, anywhere.

2. Acorns: Financial stability is a key component to a stress-free life. Beginning to invest at a young age can pay dividends in the long run, and Acorns is the application for that. Targeting millennials who are looking to put their money to work, Acorns rounds up spare change and invests it in portfolios of users’ choosing. For example, if coffee was purchased for $2.35, Acorns would round up to $3.00 and invest $0.65 in the stock market on the user’s behalf in a fund of his or her choosing. It doesn’t seem like much, but spare change adds up over time, particularly when it could be accruing interest. Acorns offers five portfolios, all with varying levels of risk, managed by Nobel Prize-winning economist, Harry Markowitz. Acorns is already flourishing among millennial investors as it allows individuals under 24 to trade without fees and commissions. Beginner investors should not be turned away either as Acorns makes it incredibly easy. Seasoned investors will find Acorns’ appeal as well. This is the app for the money-savvy student.

3. Google Drive: Google Drive is more than just a platform for group PowerPoints and last-minute lab reports. Compatible with almost any file type, it’s one of the best cloud storage services currently available. USC students are given 10 terabytes of Google Drive cloud storage by the University with their email address. That amount of storage is more than even most computer science majors know what to do with, so taking advantage of the perks is encouraged. There is no better pocket companion for making some last-minute edits or working on the go than through the Google Drive app.

4. Clear: The daily grind can become pretty hectic, and Clear is an excellent app for keeping you organized, setting important reminders and keeping lists to remain on task. Clear is unique in that created items can be sorted by priority, whether they are reminders to head down to Leavey Library for study sessions or to purchase supplies on a list at the bookstore. It is an app that will noticeably increase productivity and can be tailored to meet the level of structure all users appreciate in their own life. With an intuitive user interface and a minimal design worthy of a Tumblr blog, Clear will definitely appeal to many students.

5. Lose It!: The concept of the “freshman fifteen” is daunting for most incoming students, so for those concerned about future health habits, look to the app Lose It! This app helps users maintain a healthy lifestyle by making it incredibly easy to keep a log of both diet and exercise. When logging food consumption, users can select from a pre-existing catalog of food items or opt to create their own unique food items. To make it even easier, Lose It! also sports the ability to scan bar codes if users wish to be very particular about logging their diet. Lose It! calculates a daily calorie goal for each user depending on height, weight, daily exercise and weight goals. With this information, a healthy dietary plan with a completion date is created for the user. This app is also great for simply maintaining a healthy weight. Healthy living is for everyone, especially new college students, and Lose It! is well worth the download.