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7 essential Android apps for college students

So you (or your child) are going off to college this fall? Don't forget to pack a toothbrush, some extra-long sheets, a great laptop, and all the important tech gear. These essential apps for your Android phone will help keep you organized, productive, awake, and ready to tackle the challenges of higher education.
Image: Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus for Android
The Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus for Android may be one of the pricier Android apps for school, but it one of the most useful.Handmark
/ Source: Tecca

So you (or your child) are going off to college this fall? Don't forget to pack a toothbrush, some extra-long sheets, a great laptop, and all the important tech gear. These essential apps for your Android phone will help keep you organized, productive, awake, and ready to tackle the challenges of higher education — and maybe even have a bit of fun along the way!

1. Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus for Android
Price:
$19.99
Download: Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus
A good dictionary and thesaurus used to be a standard fixture on every dorm room desk. While their utility hasn't changed, their form has! With this app, you can carry around a full dictionary and thesaurus on your phone. More than 200,000 dictionary entries and definitions and more than 300,000 synonyms are included, and you can search online or download the dictionary directly to your mobile device.

2. Virt U: The Virtual University
Price:
Free
Download: Virt U
This app lets you download and watch lectures from universities such as MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, and Stanford right on your phone for free. Whether you're looking to complement your existing courses or brush up on other subjects that interest you, you're sure to find something among the hundreds of lecture videos available for both online and offline viewing. Connect with friends and post favorite lectures to Facebook, and join in discussion on Virt U's forums.

3. Droid Scan
Price:
Free for Lite, $7.49 for Pro
Download: Droid Scan Lite, Droid Scan Pro
Not everyone has completely converted their lives (or classes) to a digital format yet, which is why Droid Scan is such a valuable app. It allows you to use your phone's camera as a scanner, turning photos of documents into high-resolution documents you can then open on your computer, save, organize, or share. We certainly wouldn't recommend skipping class and then just scanning your friend's notes, but this app could be helpful for taking photos of whiteboards, handouts, or even the menu of your favorite takeout place. Droid Scan Lite allows you to save files as .jpegs; the expanded Pro version gives you more file formats and better scan quality.

4. Evernote
Price:
Free
Download: EvernoteWe're pretty big fans of Evernote here at Tecca. This great note-taking app works in conjunction with a Web app and the desktop program, syncing your notes between all three. You can type notes, take photos, record voice memos, and create to-do lists that are easy to find on all of your devices. The Evernote app is free, as is a basic account, or you can upgrade to a pro account with extra features for $5 per month or $45 per year.

5. Studious
Price:
Free
Download: StudiousThere once was a time when students kept their class and homework schedules in physical notebooks, but those days are long gone. Studious does it all for you, right on your phone. When you put in your class schedule, it automatically silences your device during class time and reminds you of upcoming homework and tests. Save text notes and photos so you don't miss a thing.

6. GrubHub
Price:
Free
Download: GrubHub
Everyone's gotta eat, and sometimes you just don't have time to take a trip to the student union cafeteria. GrubHub makes it almost ridiculously easy to order food for delivery right to your door! Using GrubHub's database of more than 25,000 restaurants in more than 300 cities around the country, you can browse menus and read restaurant reviews, recall past orders, and save multiple addresses for quick access, then place your order right from your phone.

7. Alarm Clock Xtreme
Price:
Free
Download: Alarm Clock Xtreme
Don't sleep through your most important classes! Snooze button mashers and gradual awakeners, rejoice — there's an alarm clock app for you. Alarm Clock Xtreme works for everyone, no matter what your sleeping and waking habits might be. You can set it to wake you up gently and gradually, set a variable snooze duration, and even set it to require you solve math problems before it will turn off the alarm. The app also features a countdown timer and lets you set reminder alarms for events throughout the day.

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