If you are a college student you must be having one or the other social media profile. It has been found by a recent study that 84% of university students have Facebook profiles. However, are you aware of the fact that there exist several other social media networks that cater specifically to students? They help you network, collaborate, communicate, and make your college tasks a bit easier. Most importantly, all of them offer free services also. Here are few sites that you must definitely try out.

Online study community

1. Cramster:

Whether you need study help or are simply looking for resource material online; Cramster is the best online support for you. Cramster is a networking site that not only helps you by solving your textbook questions but also has an extensive Q & A section that is created by several experts, who are willing to help you with any number of questions that you might have 24/7. Gain points by answering questions or create your own customized quiz; this site is indeed a great resource. The best part of Cramster is that it is easily navigable.

2. StuTalk:

StuTalk is an online community for students. This social networking site mainly caters to Indians by providing them a platform to search Indian students, Indian student events, search for part-time jobs, fresher jobs, internships and connect to fellow-students across India.

3. Collegespeaks:

Collegespeaks is a campus networking website which will give you an inside-the-campus feel of colleges present in India. Students and alumni of these colleges will share their experiences by posting views, issues, suggestions and announcements of upcoming events. With the coming up of this site college-seekers need not run helter-skelter for college information during the time of admission. So use collegespeaks to build your own network around campus life.

Sharing Notes online

1. GradeGenie:

GradeGenie is a study tool for the academic community. You can use it to access other member’s personal study material. The website has provided features like searching, uploading, downloading, and mass collaborating so that you can effectively use supplement study material.

2. SparkNotes:

There are times when you do not understand your teacher’s lectures or your textbooks and you have to read several chapters for your next day’s assignments. Under such circumstances turn to SparkNotes that will provide you enough resources to help you understand books, write papers, and study for tests.

3. GradeGuru:

This a free knowledge sharing network where College going students can share their study materials, engage in mutual learning and get peer feedback. At the same time they can build their own online academic profiles for internships and information on other career opportunities. GradeGuru provides a relevant and insightful social learning environment for students from all across the world.

4. MyNoteIt:

Use mynoteit to store your assignment notes online, edit or revise notes with your peers and keep track of what you have to do & what you’ve done so far. This network reminds you about your homework or a quiz through an advanced calendar specially made for easy assignment management.

5. CampusBooks:

This website may not be very social, but it is very essential. You might often find your campus bookstore to be overpriced. This is when CampusBooks will come to your rescue. It offers great alternatives of buying, selling or donating textbooks. It has a search option which will help you find any books form different sites like Amazon, Biblio and others along with their price listings so that you get the best deal.

6. Zimride:

Zimride provides a simple way to find classmate, friends and coworkers are interested in sharing a ride with you. The focus of Zimride is mainly on college, university and corporate communities.

7. Gradefund:

In GradeFund sponsors will donate money to you if you achieve good grades. Just create an account and invite your friends & family to be your sponsors. Upload your academic transcript and once Gradefund verifies it, you’ll get paid. The higher your grades are, the more money you will receive for your education.

8. ShareNotes:

ShareNotes is a unique online sharing service provider. College students can share and sell notes to their friends or other students using this site. You can download or buy notes, written reports, study guides and other course material for all subjects, from over 100 colleges worldwide.

Career oriented – Training, Internship & jobs

1. Zumeo:

Zumeo is an online job search site that will help you to find a suitable job based on your strengths, interests and your personality. The job listing feature of Zumeo is very easy to use and has a number of filters that enables you to search for jobs based on location, your personality type, your education and more.

2. Linkedin:

Linkedin is today perhaps the greatest way of networking with industry professionals while attending college. All you need to do is sign up for free in this site and then begin browsing through contacts. There are widgets that can be used to tie your social life into your professional life.

3. InternshipRatings:

InternshipRatings offers you reviews from students who have already been through internships and know their importance. They will share their “real life” experience, compensation, networking opportunities and much more. This site is the best way to weed out the internships that are of no use to you and filter the ones that are actually beneficial.

For better organizing

1. RememberTheMilk:

Keeping track of everything that you do each day in college can be pretty tough. Use Remember the Milk. It provides a convenient place to manage all your daily tasks. Using Rememberthemilk is very easy and it can also be synced up with Google calendar, Twitter, BlackBerry and a number of other services.

2. Evernote:

Evernote is a tool that permits you to store information and access it later, from any computer. You can clip a business card, a webpage, a picture, quote from books, class notes, a voice recording or whatever else you might need to refer to later. This service also offers a free iPhone application.

Sharing stuff

1. SpiderOak:

SpiderOak provides an easy, secure and consolidated free online backup, sharing, sync, access & storage solution for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It provides personal data management services that simplify the process of organizing and synchronizing data from any number of computer or external storage media.

2. Box.net:

Box.net is a great tool for individual students, groups or for organizations. Its interface is simple & straightforward. You just need to upload any file that you need and then access them from any other computer located anywhere.

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Tags: academic community, campus networking, College Networking, Online study community, social media profile, student Networking, Web 2.0