Best Websites for College Students

From all aspects of college life, here's a list of the most useful websites for college students.

Classroom Tools

RateMyProfessors.com - Scope out new professors for the upcoming semester and rate and review the ones you had. A comprehensive site with tons of reviews on what former students thought their professors.

Study Blue - StudyBlue is used to study and prepare for exams (and better yet, actually learn and remember the material). With StudyBlue you can create digital flashcards and use them with their free mobile app, making it great for studying on the go.

Evernote - Great note taking tool perfect for college.

Koofers - A nice collection of college tools: test banks full of past exams, lecture notes and study guides, professor ratings, flashcard maker, class schedule generator, and grade distribution data.

Piazza - Piazza is an online Q&A platform designed to connect students, TAs, and professors so students in the class can get questions answered quickly anytime and anywhere. Both students and professors can set up Piazza hubs for their classes.

Financial Aid Websites

FAFSA - The go to government website for obtaining college grants and loans.

Fastweb - A great place to search and apply for college scholarships.

FinAid.org - This site has every possible thing you ever need to know about financial aid and paying for college. Easily the top resource on the web on the subject. SimpleTuition is good for comparing student loan rates and offers.

College Textbook Websites

Chegg - The go to website for renting textbooks. Not only can Chegg save you hundreds of dollars by renting your textbooks, they have other useful tools on their site like course reviews, homework help, and a class schedule builder.

CafeScribe - One of many places to download textbooks in digital form, making it a lot cheaper than traditional textbooks.

BigWords.com - One of the better online price comparison websites for finding textbooks of all kinds.

VitalSource has downloadable textbooks.

Other websites to buy and sell textbooks.

Buying and Selling

eBay - This online auction site provides an easy way to sell your stuff and find good deals on things you may need.

Amazon - The world's biggest online retailer and one of the best places to buy your textbooks. Students can also get a free Amazon Prime account and get free two-day shipping.

Craigslist - A popular and free local classifieds service.

Research

Wikipedia - A good tool for looking up information fast, this free online encyclopedia provides a useful starting place for your research projects. (Just don't cite Wikipedia in your papers.)

Citelighter - Citelighter is your tool for writing papers more efficiently and keeping research thoroughly organized. Citelighter is a downloaded as a toolbar for your web browser to assist with gathering research and citing sources. You can highlight any text on a webpage relevant to your research and “capture” it. The application will automatically grab the necessary bibliographic info from the source. Capture, organize, and create is the simple three step process to gathering sources and outputting them in multiple bibliographic formats (APA, MLA, Chicago) with Citelighter doing most of the work for you.

Yahoo Answers - Find and share information by asking and answering questions. Can be helpful if you are stuck on a homework problem.

College Finance Websites

Mint.com - Helps track your spending so you can be on top of your college budget.

CashCrate and Swagbucks are looking for college students to get paid for taking online surveys.

College Fashion and Design Websites

College Fashion - Gives tips and trends on fashion for college students.

Best Web 2.0 Tools and Online Apps for Students

Box.com - Free online file storage and sharing. Makes it useful in accessing your files on any computer or device with an internet connection.

Flickr - Share and organize your photos online.

YouTube - Video sharing website great for storing your videos, viewing educational lectures, listening to music, and killing time.

Reddit - News site where the stories are chosen by community members rather than editors.

Best Free Software Programs Useful for Students

Gimp - Just like Adobe Photoshop, but free.

iTunes - Organize your music, access podcasts and get your music on, of course.

Skype - With this program you can chat with your friends for free online.

OpenOffice - A free alternative to Microsoft Office with spreadsheets and word processing.

FileZilla - A free FTP program for transferring files between computers.

VLC Player - Free high-quality video player.

Social Networking and Blogging

Facebook - Social networking essential for college students. Many believe a facebook account is a must-have for college students as a way to connect with current and former classmates.

Tumblr - A popular platform for those who wish to start blogging.

Twitter - A quick way to get out messages and random thoughts to others online.

College Sports Websites

ESPN - One of the most visited websites by college students, useful for following up on your favorite college sports team.

Humor

CollegeHumor.com - One of the most visited websites by College Students. Site includes videos, cute college coeds, funny stories and pics.

View more college websites on our student resources page.