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For any person approaching their first year of college, it’s an eye-opening experience in every way you can imagine, and even more! From the people to the nights out, from the culture explosion to the new things you’ll learn about yourself, and the money, or lack thereof. Much as it’s a cliché to say that being a student means you're just gonna have no money ever, it’s the truth. And as part of being a student, you’ve got to find ways to make your money stretch further, and a direct result of that is having plenty of nights in. Tech plays an important part in being a student, from the obligatory Netflix watching to the studies, but what tech do you need to survive that first important year?

Your Computer

It’s a big debate whether to go for Macs or PCs, but you’ll need to get one that is as multi-purposed as possible. If you enjoy gaming, you’ll need something with a lot of memory and speed, and there are AVADirect PCs for any gaming enthusiast, but it will also depend on your course what computer to use. If you're doing something like video production, then maybe you'd be better off with a laptop rather than a tower, and something with a screen larger than the standard 13”. If you're doing an English major, tech doesn’t have to be at the forefront of your mind as much. But your computer will be your lifeline when you have no money, so get a good one!

Money Management Software

It’s not really something that crosses your mind, but if you managed your money better, you would be out of the dorms more! Software like Mint is useful because they provide mobile apps too. But it is a slower approach to money managing because you'll have to enter transactions into the app. There are apps like Money Manager or Money you can get that is a handy techier alternative.

Note-Taking Software

Everyone has their own idea of how best to take notes, and there are apps like Evernote which do a generally good job, but it doesn’t cover every base. You may need to get Microsoft OneNote instead. But if your note style taking is much more in-depth than a few words here and there, you should invest in speech to text software. While there are some great apps that do the job when you're dictating your notes after class in your dorm, like Google Docs, you may need something a bit savvier in terms of software that can instantly turn a professor’s ramblings into text. Try Dragon Dictation, but be warned, with any software it takes time for it to learn vocal inflections, so don’t expect it to work right off the bat.

Free Software

The magic word, free! There are loads of sites like JourneyEd that offer software (and sometimes hardware) discounts, but there are also software packs you can find online that are specifically for student use that cost nothing.