Google this post title and you get a LOT of crap. I finally realized that I had to be more specific to avoid lists full of games and Wikipedia apps, and started searching for “best note taking apps ipad.” The results were varied, and deciding on a single app didn’t seem possible.

An inherent flaw of the iTunes store, and apps in particular, is that your only indication of how good or bad an app might be is the reviews left by users – who are mostly lazy, and likely won’t leave one unless they have a problem. So I bought way too many of them, and can now provide you with the dirt on several really good iPad note-taking apps, including the good, the meh and the “WTF?!”

This week I’ll be posting in-depth reviews of SoundNote, CourseNotes, LiveNote and a couple other iPad apps that a college student may want to consider. I can already tell you that which app you want depends on the type of class you’re in, as well as how important “prettyness” and exportability are to you.

One last note –  these posts are from the perspective of and iPad-only student. I have no iPhone or sexy Mac to sync, so the ability to get notes into an XP machine definitely matters.

I am suspicious that Google is the precursor for Skynet. Despite this,  I love Google Calendar like I love my real-life BFF. I’ve tried everything from the Hipster PDA, single sheet calendars and mini-planners. None is so simple and flexible as Google Calendar.

• It fits in my pocket, courtesy of Blackberry syncing.
• It lets me plan study schedules, then entirely re-arrange them the day of via drag-and-drop.
• It sends me email reminders, so I never forget to do that weekly online quiz and get all my assignments turned in on time.

But the best part? It allows you to create multiple calendars, and change their colors. I have a calendar for Classes, Assignments Due, Upcoming Exams and Study Time. I share my husband’s calendar, so I know when he’ll be home and can juggle homework time to be able to have dinner with him most nights.

Google Calendar, you are my pal.

Everyone  makes them – we spend precious time each day making a nice, long list of things we want to accomplish. Lofty goals, such as “Review last week’s physics lecture notes” and “Volunteer at Shelter”. Then, just to be realistic, we add “Take shower” and “make breakfast” so we can feel good crossing something off the list.

What a way to set yourself  up to fail, huh?

Your to-do list is rubbish. We’re going to use it today to get you started on a better path, but eventually you’re tossing that baby out the window. Good riddance!

1. For now, go make your silly to-do list. Be sure to include ANY AND ALL assignments that are due this week, or will be due next week. Yes, this is a good time to bust out those syllabi you haven’t looked at all semester.
2. Go print a free weekly calender from CalendarsThatWork.com, or use a digital one if you prefer. Then set it aside.
3. Take a long, hard look at your list. You are going to be very, very honest with it in a moment.
4. Beside each item on your list you need to write in how long it’ll take to do.  Seriously, be realistic.

Now, your list will look something like this:

• Calculus homework – 2 hours
• Laundry – 4 hours
• Dinner – 2 hours
• Save the world – 10 minutes

Now you can grab your lovely, hour-segmented calendar and fill in your unshakeables (classes and work schedule).  Once that’s done, go back to your to-do list and start grabbing the important things and filling them into your schedule. When you’re done, if you’re half as busy as me it’ll look like this:

That’s all you need to get started – come back later in the week for our next step.

For the rest of March and into April I’m going to provide you with tricks and tools on how to get organized, get on top of your mountain of schoolwork and survive the last half of the semester.

It won’t be easy – you’re going to have to cut down on partying, start studying smarter (not harder) and learn how to learn. Yes, I said learn how to learn.

If you can tough it out through the semester and use these tools, then you can turn a failing E into a passing C, or better.

As a student who works full-time, I’m fully aware that it is insanely hard to plan your days around your class schedule. One of the things I’ve discovered is that if you don’t plan for your work and your classes it’s really easy to either skip your personal life or forget to complete important assignments. Over the years, I’ve tried a few different methods, which I’ll explain below:

1. CalendarsThatWork.com – First, my two favorite calendars are offered free. Having said that, I’ll admit to subscribing to the service because it’s totally worth it. For students the Weekly Portrait is your new BFF – use the left column to write down class times, and the large right side to note new homework or when assignments are due. Don’t want to have a full page calendar? Just want to plan out blocks of time for classes and events? Use the 7-Day Booklet.
2. Backpack – I use a proprietary software at work that is similar to this tool from the folks at 37 Signals. Backpack offers a free 30-day trail, making it ideal for students, although you have to give up the credit card info to sign up. At $7 per month it’s less than the average lunch on a college campus, and you have a whole month to figure out if it helps you enough to be a good investment. Plus, it has the added advantage of being online so you can access it from any computer.
3. Abandon your traditional To-Do list for the “paper clock” method. Unfortunately, I cannot find the site I originally found this great idea on. The concept is pretty simple, though, so I think we can get through this. You just draw a clock, as shown below, on a piece of paper or the back of your hand. Projecting out around the clock you write in stuff you’d like to work on around that time of the day. I made an example for today, which happens to be Superbowl Sunday.

Every semester, college students struggle to take notes for class while the professor lectures at light speed. Methods vary for how you store the information you’ll need the most come test time, but almost every student has the same problem – they just don’t know how to take effective notes. Later this week I’ll cover some tips and tricks for taking notes for all kinds of courses. For now, get ready for the week by checking out and using these great tools.

1. A single subject notebook – The trick here is that you stop using loose paper, or multiple subject notebooks entirely. You take notes for each class in it’s own single-subject notebook, so they’re always organized by lecture as well as subject. Finish a book? Start a second one. When you get to Finals Week, grab all the ones marked “Chem 102″ and don’t worry, coz none of your notes are missing.
2. The Cornell Notemaking PDF Generator – An awesome tool for those who use the Cornell method, with customizable options that make it easy for you to quickly create the type of paper you need before dashing off to class.
3. Evernote – If you’re the type to take notes on your laptop this tool is pretty awesome and a free alternative for those who like Microsoft’s OneNote. More importantly, they just created a tool to import data from Google Notebook, which got fired from “active development” earlier this month. Offers more features if you pay for monthly service, but the basic package gives you plenty.
4. Ubernote – Similar to #2, but doesn’t seem to have the character recognition feature. If you have no intention of using your iPhone camera or a Wacom tablet, then this is just as good as Evernote.
5. TiddlyWiki – Used Wikipedia? Same idea, smaller scope – so small you can save it to a USB thumb drive! Create a “Bio 187″ wiki for yourself, and then reap the rewards of super-portable notes!
6. WordPress – Just make a blog! You can use categories and tags to control the data, much like the Wiki suggestion, and be able to access it from any computer with internet access.

Admittedly, only a few of these tools are the old pen & paper type, but in this modern age it seems I see more kids in class on their laptops than with a notebook.