10 Essential Apps for College Students Living in Dorms and Off Campus

There are a ton of instant messaging apps out there, and while Yik Yak may be the anonymous one that's loved by thousands high schoolers and college kids at the moment, there aren't too many that are specifically designed to bring college communities closer together. DormChat is tackling that! When you sign up to join one of the 200+ college communities included in the app, you can start meeting new people and chatting with them in groups or privately based on chat groups tailored to specific interests. Everyone needs a valid college email to participate, so you know everyone you talk to is legitimately part of the college community.

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Originally just called "Wigo," this app first launched as a college-only social tool for helping students find and get involved in interesting events at their schools. The wildly successful app has since expanded to include events in nearby cities for everyone -- not just college students. Use the app to see what's going on locally, and add friends to track their events too. It has a built-in chat tool for planning purposes, and you can see in real-time exactly who's going where.

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With all that studying (and partying) going on, you'll be bound to get hungry pretty often, and when campus cafeteria food or the stale crackers you have hiding in your dorm won't suffice, you'll be able to use EnvoyNow to find and order food from nearby restaurants. The app is an on-demand food delivery service exclusively for college students, allowing you to browse local menus, place your order, and pay for it all through the app. Your food will be delivered to your door, study spot or pregame in 30 minutes or less.

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QUAD claims to be the only free chat app with college groups in mind, although it may now have some stiff competition against DormChat and possibly some others. Thousands of college students are using the app to discover their campus, find roommates, meet classmates, make new friends and do all sorts of other things to make college life more fun and social. You can have up to 500 members in a chat, either made public, private or hidden. It's a perfect tool for sharing class notes and study material, or just stay updated on hot and trending "quads" related to your personal interests.

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Yeti Campus Stories is a bit like Snapchat with a focus on colleges. You can share photos and videos with added captions around your local campus area, which anyone using the app can see by checking out the Trending feed or taking a peeking at the featured school. Just a word of caution: you may come across some pretty x-rated posts on Yeti, so keep that mind. Like Snapchat, it has its upsides and downsides as far as what content gets posted there. If you decide to post on it, be mindful of what you're posting!

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For a lot of students, going away to college means leaving home and settling in to a dorm room or house with one or multiple roommates. If you have the opportunity to pick your own roommates, you may want to check out Roomie -- an app that gives you potential roommate matches from your college, which you can give a thumbs up or thumbs down in a similar way to how Tinder works. If two matched users both give each other a thumbs up, a private chat will open so you can discuss more about rooming together.

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If there's anything that college students hate the most, it's got to be paying hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars for textbooks they'll only need for one semester. StudETree is a great app to have on hand if you're looking for a bargain -- or even if you're looking to sell your old books from last semester. Sellers can scan the barcodes through the app to easily fill out all the information, snap a photo and set a price to list it. Buyers can drill down their searches by title or by the name of their college.

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Tapingo rivals EnvoyNow as another college campus-focused food ordering and delivery service. Which one is better? You'd have to try both to decide for yourself! Tapingo gives you direct access to menus from all sorts of nearby places both on and off campus, with the ability to customize your preferences according to the places and food you like. Once you place your order through the app, you have the option to pick it up or have it delivered. The app also offers discounts and promotions from time to time, which is a nice perk for cash-strapped students!

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Looking for an app that can help you save some money? PocketPoints might be it... if you'd be willing to put your phone down for a bit! The app is designed to reward students with points for not using their phones during class. All you have to do is open the app, lock your phone, and leave it as long as you want in order to gain points. You can then use those points to get deals and discounts at places around campus. Not only will you save money at your favorite restaurants and local businesses nearby, but you'll minimize distraction while in class.

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Staying organized isn't always easy when you're trying to balance classes, study time, school events, social gatherings and possibly even working part-time while attending college. OOHLALA is a social task organizer app built with the college student's schedule in mind. Not only can you build your own timetable to stay on top of everything you've got going on, but you can also see friends' timetables too. Get access to your very own Campus Guide, connect with other students using the app and join the community through groups and chats.

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