# Top student applications?



## Trip (Aug 17, 2006)

I'm just about to begin my first year of college here in a few days. To get prepared for the new school year I've got a MacBook, a new printer, and plenty of paper and pencils. But what I don't have are the applications that could help me (if even slightly) this year at school.

So, I come to the general macosx.com public! What computer applications would you see fit for a new university student? What will help me get through those long health lectures, or boring math classes?


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## ora (Aug 17, 2006)

Wahay, nice one Trip, i hope you have fun in college world. What helps depends what subject you are taking, but I guess in the US you have the whole freshman undecided year (my first year was 9-5 work every day).

For me OmniOutliner was invaluable, i used it a lot for notes as it was entirely keyboard navigable and allowed embedding of all sorts of files etc.

OmniOutliner is also very useful as a to do list, and if you are aimign to be a diligent student not a slacker, todo lists do help a lot (though i didn't manage thsi till i was a postgrad).

I found Illustrator invaluable as i used it for all diagrams etc, but i was already familiar with it. If you know how to use its its awesomely quick to illustrate your papers with.

As an undergrad i sadly spent most of my time in word/excel, and hated them. In the end i started doing all my actual text writing in TextEdit then just using word to do formatting and layout at the end.

Parallels and a copy of Windows is probably also a damn good plan for compatibility.

Adium (or another chat client), for time wasting  That and soem nice simple games.  Just whatever you do, do not even think of buying world or warcraft, i now know 5 WoW induced college dropouts.


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## Trip (Aug 17, 2006)

Thanks for the reply Ora! You've got some good advice in there. 
And just as an update: I'm going to be studying visual communications (eventually). This simester I'm just taking some general classes to get started on my path to greater education.

Keep the advice coming!


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## ora (Aug 17, 2006)

Hey Trip.

To extend TextEdit into a very nice word processor, try this stiff recommended by RacerX in an old post:



> I love TextEdit... it has been my primary word processor for years now. And thanks to third party services, it can do a ton of things for me.
> 
> Here is a list of the services I make the most use of with TextEdit:
> Nisus Thesaurus
> ...



I had to look up what visual communications was, but it looks fun! I guess your college may well use mac anyway, in which case they might even have student licenses for apps. A copy of Adobe CS2 suite would certainly prove useful by the look of it (but it is very pricy), else i guess gimp.app etc for photo manipulation etc, but I know you've done a bunch of design so I guess you know this.

Also remember you'll be able to get student discounts from apple, so stuff from the online store might be worth looking at.


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## CharlieJ (Aug 18, 2006)

Do you have internet access in your college?


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## Trip (Aug 18, 2006)

CJ MAC OSX IPOD said:


> Do you have internet access in your college?



As sad as it is: I don't know yet.


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## Trip (Aug 23, 2006)

There is wireless through-out the college, but you have to pay to get it during the year. So no, I won't have internet access at the school during the year.

Any other recommendations? Anybody? I've started school and it seems VERY intimidating right now. Anything to ease the stress?


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## mdnky (Aug 24, 2006)

xPad is a handy little app for jotting down notes during class.  

What school do you go to, if you don't mind my asking?  I can't believe they actually charge students for WiFi access on campus...that's what the tech fee they added to your tuition bill is supposed to cover.

Check with you college to see if they have anything setup to download software.  Some have nice systems full of free (for academic) editions of various programs.  You might also want to check to see if your college is part of that Microsoft program (hope they are...means a free copy of Office to you).


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## Trip (Aug 24, 2006)

I'm going to Utah Valley State College. The wireless internet is a mystery to everyone. Yesterday they had a little booth saying "Wireless access on campus! $49.99 setup fee, $25 a month!" What kind of student could afford that? Plus eating, housing, tuition. It amazes me. Hahaha.


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## RGrphc2 (Aug 24, 2006)

I just found out about these 2 apps that will help keep the school work organized:  Schoolhouse and iProcrastinate


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## fryke (Aug 24, 2006)

You'll definitely need something addictive. Like a Tetris clone. Or Xcode.


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## chemistry_geek (Aug 29, 2006)

Every Student needs to get a copy of BOTH NeoOffice (http://www.neooffice.org/) and OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) and don't forget TextWrangler (http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/) - the best text editor available.  For graphics and image manipulation, don't forget GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) - requires X11.  GoogleEarth is also a very useful program.


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## davebz (Aug 30, 2006)

Hey Trip,

     Why not take an entry level radio course?  I took radio practicum 1 my freshman year and did on-air shifts 3 hours a week.  I had a blast and got extra college credits that way.    Granted it was supposed to be part of my major (communications) but TV production and the other comm. classes had to wait until second half of Sophmore year.  What school are you attending where you have to pay for internet access?  Sounds strange to me.

BTW:  Anyone need a Jazz jock or camera operator?


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## Timotheos (Aug 30, 2006)

I just found http://www.freemacware.com the other day, oh so good. I found some helpful stuff in the productivity area.

Goodluck with VC, im doing a Visual Communication Design at the moment in New Zealand.
Good times indeed.


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## Satcomer (Aug 30, 2006)

Trip said:


> I'm going to Utah Valley State College. The wireless internet is a mystery to everyone. Yesterday they had a little booth saying "Wireless access on campus! $49.99 setup fee, $25 a month!" What kind of student could afford that? Plus eating, housing, tuition. It amazes me. Hahaha.



How cheep is that?!! You pay and EXTRAORDINARY tuition fees these days (compared to the early 1990's when I was going to school) and they are charging you access fees? They don't give you an ethernet port in your dorm rooms?


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