Best Apps and Websites for Finals
Photo provided by Megan Silva
We all need a second brain right about now.
Hi all, I’m the nerd who runs the website: your trusted source for all things computer-related! I’m here to share my go-to apps and websites for staying organized and prepared for the upcoming finals season.
Notion: I needed an excuse to show you all my Notion dashboard, I am very proud of it. I like having all of my class notes in one place, an extra area for other school activities such as The Pacifican, as well as somewhere to keep miscellaneous notes such as my recipes. Each class block has notes, a list of due dates and a status checker, and the instructor’s contact information. I like that you can embed just about anything in it: I have all of the status checkers for my law school applications linked here, my Trello (more on that below), any required reading/watching material for school, and good Spotify playlists. You can even embed software to practice coding, which helped me a lot last week when I wrote some code to make The Pacifcan’s “Home” page look prettier. There is also a ton of design potential within the dashboard. Arranging and recoloring my dashboard makes my web design brain happy and serves as a fun study break.
Trello: Using “cards” it creates a visual of tasks and their priorities. As someone taking 17 units, working a full time big-girl job and two part-time campus jobs with two additional leadership roles, I like to be able to have a visual of all of my tasks and their priority levels. I color code them based on how soon the deadline is. You can link important documents to each reminder, for example, I had a media job interview and I wanted to be able to go over some sample questions, so I linked some from Indeed so I could look them over in the days leading up to it. Shoutout to Dr. Joshua Salyers and Dr. Jeffrey Hole for telling me about this app.
The Standard iPhone Calendar App: By setting alerts, it can send you notifications. Sometimes when I just need a reminder to think about a certain class or project, it feels like having a friend check on you. If you drive a car and it has Apple CarPlay, this will show on your screen while you are driving. I like this because I do notlive on campus, so sometimes I need to make sure I did everything I needed to at Pacific before driving away.
Quizlet+: This is the one website that I refuse to use the free version of. The paid version has an unlimited “learn” feature, and Q-Chat, which has become my new favorite study tool. Once you have made a set (which can be done automatically if you take good notes and upload them), Q-Chat artificial intelligence can be prompted to quiz you on the material. I prefer this to flashcards because you can really tailor it to how the class is taught: you can ask it to make short answer questions, multiple choice questions, and the question order is randomized so you do not fall into a pattern. I am guilty of memorizing the order of the answers and not the actual answers sometimes. I really like using this for accounting, because I can upload a worksheet, ask it to change the numbers, and then I have a completely new set of practice problems. I also really like all of the games on Quizlet +, taking a law class, a pharmacology class, and an accounting class means I have a lot to memorize, and I like to try to make it fun for myself when I can. I have a lot of memories of playing Quizlet Match on my tablet while doing work calls on a laptop. Another awesome feature is the Expert solutions, if you have used Chegg before this is similar to that. I do a lot of self-study for my accounting class (mostly because I have had to miss class quite a few times for work). I am able to get a step-by-step breakdown of problems from my textbook, and then I plug it into Q-chat so I can get a whole new problem to practice with.
Finals season can be stressful, but having the right tools makes all the difference. Whether you are organizing your life with Notion, staying on top of tasks with Trello, setting helpful reminders with your iPhone calendar, or mastering material with Quizlet+, these apps and websites are here to act as your second brain. Each tool is customizable to fit your unique study habits and schedule, making them powerful allies during this hectic time.