7 MUST HAVE WEBSITES FOR UNI STUDENTS

Hey friends!
Welcome back to another post all about uni-hacks and how to smash your uni days because I know those can be some of the most challenging years! Anyway, today I decided to share with you the top websites that I use frequently during my degree/masters that have practically helped me through the endless assignments among other things. Let's just jump right in! I'd just like to say that I am not paid or gifted to share any of this websites, I'm just writing about them because they have saved me some time, effort and money in one way or another and I hope it does that for you too!

1. Cite This For Me

Pinterest

Okay, referencing is a bitch. No lie about it, but this website has definitely saved me too much time and effort from sourcing and sorting out all the sources that I've used when writing my papers or reports. I'm not sure if you've been introduced to it yet, but this works like a charm when you're citing either books or websites. You simply need the URL, date, author(s) and or the ISBN of the books you used and you're good to go. Make sure you select the right format, according to the one where your Uni requires you to use, otherwise your efforts will be wasted because to make amendments you're going to have to tackle them one by one! If you're unsure, just refer to your uni guidebook or select your institution from the citation style. Also, I would highly recommend that you copy and paste the references once it's 'generated' because you only get that many citations with a free account with the next website below ⤵

2. Google Drive

Commons

Here's the thing, Google Drive has been saving my ass since I was in my poly days and I was introduced to it by a teacher who wanted to make group work easier and more collaborative. Basically it's microsoft word online - it auto saves and you can access it anywhere with anyone. For example, you and your team has to put together a powerpoint slide and everyone has their own part to play, instead of waiting for one person to finish and passing the file on, you can work on it together, on your own device and it automatically saves and refreshes. Apart from that, you can use Google Drive for simply anything - from working on your assignments, to making lists or travel itineraries. I personally use this to write assignments because I am too paranoid that my laptop will just fail me and my work that took weeks or even months (research paper) would just vanish into the world of cloud. This is also especially useful when you don't have your own computer/device because you can always access it from any device and just pick up from where you left off!

3. Google Scholar

Pitt Libguides

I think this is something that would be extremely helpful for people who are writing research papers because Google Scholar gives you access to all the published research papers and they are frequently updated to reflect new papers. I use a mix of textbooks and research papers because sometimes textbooks can get outdated because of the publishing process and time it takes whereas research papers are more accessible and updated. So if you're looking for some reliable sources to cite in your papers or you just need to check out other research that are similar to yours, head on there and you'll be fine!

4. Slack

Dribble

This website/app was introduced to me by my tutors who wanted to give us a platform where we can reach each other and other tutors easily. It's basically like Facebook but minus the crazy news updates. You can create groups to include your entire class, your specific team members for a particular project or just your group of friends! I used them for all of the above because it is definitely less disturbing when you chat to your friends on the site that your teachers introduced you to than to be on your phone right? Apart from that, my class used to share the latest news relating to what we are studying and sources that can be useful to cite in our assignments so if you're looking for something like that, here you have it!

5. Smart Insights

Technology For Marketing

If you're into digital and or marketing stuff and you might need it to support your assignments as your resources, this is the place to go. All the articles are written by professionals and industry experts which not only gives your citations great credibility, they also include a range of topics so you can easily take a deep dive into the areas that you want to!

6. Forbes

Forbes

Here's another site where you can go to for credible sources but unlike Smart Insights, Forbes covers a massive range of topics and not just digital or marketing. This is great because you get to learn about other things on top of your area of study. Again, it is also written by industry experts or people who kind of know a thing or two more than the average me so if there you go, another place you can get credible sources!

7. Mendeley

Wiki

Because referencing is such a hassle, I had to include a second referencing tool for you to check out and ease that area of stress you know? This software/app was introduced to me by another tutor who has a knack for research papers and basically taught us how to write amazing dissertations and I have to thank him for that because trust me, I was a wreck when I found out I had to write a paper after my horrible experience in my degree days. Anyway, he showed us this magical thing where it literally stores all the published research papers where you can not only cite it effortlessly, you can also gain instant access to papers that are similar to yours - regardless of genre, titles or even research methods. But you have to download this program onto your computer to access it fully and trust me, this works like a charm. It also exports out to a word document AND sort it for you according to the format and order especially when you have to cite about half a dozen authors in one citation. I used a mix of this and citethisforme because I had a range of resources so I highly recommend that you do that too!

BONUS: Student Beans/My Uni Days

Studentbeans

Okay here's a bonus website that I frequent a little more than I'd like to admit. It is two websites where you can get access to student discounts for all sorts of things such as clothing brands, food or even just entertainment! It includes brands such as TOPSHOP, NEW LOOK, Monki and more. I have been using this since my first year at uni and it has saved me more money and made shopping less guilty. And although some people may say that 10% to 20% is not much, but hey, at least it is something right? And if you frequent some of this stores often enough, you'll find that you can actually rack yourself up a pretty sweet deal! All you need is your university email, graduation date and you can easily sign up for a free account. Don't forget to download the apps on your phone so you can use them in stores too!

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And there you have it! The must have websites for uni students! I hope that these will help you as much as it did for me and I will see you in the next post X