10 Major Reasons Why you Need an iPad for College

I remember debating whether or not I should get an iPad for college.

Like you, I saw a lot of videos and social media posts about studying with an iPad. Photos of iPad notes, videos about digital note-taking, and more.

I saw people talking about how effective it was and how easy it made studying — I was convinced but was also shocked by the price.

As a student, justifying spending a few hundred to a thousand dollars wasn’t easy.

But after thinking things through, I finally decided to purchase an iPad

Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I made for my college career.

My friends from all different majors also agree that an iPad upped their studying game.

In this blog post, I will be going over the top 10 reasons why you should get an iPad for college.

This also applies to you if you’re in high school, university, graduate school, or maybe even just enrolled in some online courses!

Full Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info.

1. Efficient Note-taking

With your iPad, you don’t ever have to worry about eraser skid marks, eraser shavings, ripping paper, smudging notes, and more.

When I started taking notes on my iPad, I quickly realized how much neater my notes were compared to my paper notes.

Instead of constantly erasing or crossing things out, I just have to tap the undo button when I make a mistake.

I can also rearrange my notes however I want!

Furthermore, if I need a straight line, I don’t need to use a ruler. I can just use the shape tool and whip out a straight line in a matter of seconds.

The iPad will change your note-taking game.

Resource:

Clarity Digital Notebooks

**2. Never worry about losing your study material**

It sounds cliché and out of reach, but remember the “my dog ate my homework” excuse? Well… my dog actually ripped up my handwritten notes I was studying from and I was devastated (and stressed).

I have friends who lost their notebooks, got their notes stolen, spilled water on their notes… the list goes on. Imagine the countless hours of hard work being ruined in a matter of seconds.

I know how this feels, as I personally lost my notes and spilled tea over my bullet journal.

With the iPad, you won’t ever have to feel that abysmal feeling ever again.

Now, every time I finish taking my notes, I save it on the cloud. I feel confident knowing that my notes will always be backed up and there for me no matter what happens.

3. Have everything conveniently in one place

From grade-school to middle school, I would get a long list of school supplies that I would need for the academic year: Pencils, scissors, crayons, notebooks, highlighters, sticky notes, glue sticks, markers, colored pencils —the list goes on.

As the year went on, my backpack gradually got more cluttered.

It was difficult to keep track of all my notebooks — I even forgot to pack my notebooks with my homework in it multiple times.

Being a dedicated student, I freaked out and panicked on multiple occasions.

Luckily, with the iPad, I don’t have to worry about this again.

I use GoodNotes for note-taking, and all the toolbar is neatly organized. I no longer have to carry around different types of pencils, pens, erasers, highlighters, notebooks, and more.

Furthermore, I take my notes in one, 12-tabbed digital notebook. It’s great if you want to keep all your notes in one, organized notebook!

If you’re interested you can grab the digital notebook I’m using in the shop, available in both grey and pink. It’s designed for high-achieving and excellent students.

There’s no more running back to your dorm to get the notebook you forgot.

4. It’s Lightweight and Portable

All the iPad models are all sleek, lightweight, and compact.

All of the iPad models compatible with the Apple Pencil weigh under 1.5 lbs.

They all weigh less than your single average textbook.

Imagine not having to carry around multiple notebooks, textbooks, supplies, and more.

Your back will thank you later, trust me. Ever since using my iPad for my note-taking, textbooks, drawing device, and more, the load I carry physically (and mentally) has never been lighter.

The iPad, apple pencil, and keyboard combination cover all your bases — textbooks, supplies, notebooks, and more.

Furthermore, when you travel, you can just bring one device with all your material on it rather than the individual notebooks

5. Save Money on Supplies

This might sound contradictory, but believe it or not, using an iPad actually saves you money.

When I took notes before I had my iPad, I would only use high-quality notebooks. Not because I wanted to, but because the cheaper notebooks never lasted me long. They fell apart so easily, my notes would always smudge, the ink would bleed through, and more.

However, I needed multiple notebooks each semester, so the costs weren’t low.

On the iPad, you have so much space for notes, homework, practice problems, essays, and more.

You also don’t have to spend a fortune on textbooks.

Not only are physical textbooks heavy and take up a lot of space, but they are more expensive than e-books.

With the Kindle App, you can annotate your readings, highlight key points, bookmark pages, and so much more.

And finally, you will save a ton of money on printing.

I used to print so many pages of reading materials, essays, notes, and more, just so I can highlight and annotate them.

At my college, printing black and white sheets costs $.05 a page. Color sheets cost $.10 a page. Over time, the cost definitely adds up. There were many occasions where I printed documents that went up to 100 pages.

Being able to scan, read, and annotate on the iPad will eliminate the number of times you need to print.

6. Scan Documents & Annotate PDFs

Reading and annotating papers, notes, etc., is a big part of both high school and university.

I used to bike to my library to scan or copy documents I needed in college, since I didn’t want to pay that much for my own scanner/copier.

With my iPad, I can now scan documents and annotate them in a matter of seconds.

It’s seriously so easy and handy — it would have saved me so much time and spared me many midnight biking trips to the library.

Your iPad camera will detect the sheet and scan a high-definition copy for you to save, annotate, email, print, and more.

Highlighting key points in a textbook in GoodNotes

7. Digital Planning (and digital stickers!)

The ability to digital plan and use digital stationery was a huge deciding factor as to why I actually got my iPad!

I used to be an avid paper planning and bullet journaler, but ever since going digital, I haven’t looked back.

Digital planning is so easy with absolutely no clutter and mess.

Ever since I switched, I saved so much money by not having to buy new planners & journals every time I run out of pages.

With digital planners, I can use an undated planner as many times as I want. I also save so much money on stationery and supplies.

If you’re interested in getting started with digital planning, read my blog post, What app should I use for digital planning.

Resource:

Digital Stickers

8. Create Presentation Effortlessly

Creating and presenting presentations is an integral part of the college experience.

Even as an art major, I had to give my fair share of presentations.

With the iPad, you can easily and effortlessly create beautiful slideshows and presentations.

All the iPads come with Keynote, a presentation software application.

There are so many well-designed presentation templates to choose from.

Both Powerpoint and Google Slides are also available on the iOS store if you prefer those applications or are more familiar with them! They both have great, intuitive interfaces for tablet devices.

9. Many Educational Apps Available

We all know that you can watch videos, take photos, write notes, surf the web, etc.

However, did you know you can even learn how to code on the iPad? Create artistic masterpieces? Video edit? Create cool animations?

There is so much you can do on the iPad. The possibilities are really endless.

Here are some of my favorite free applications you should try:

Quizlet for flashcards
Canva for designing posters, banners, brochures, and more
SoloLearn to learn different coding languages
DuoLingo to easily learn a foreign language

There are so many other amazing applications available, but these are the ones that I’ve been using a lot recently!

10. It will last you a while

Your iPad can last you years if you take good care of it.

I see myself using my iPad for many years to come.

My dad has been using his iPad for almost 6+ years and I haven’t heard him complain about anything.

There are many anecdotes of people using their iPads for many years. Some people I know are still using the iPad Air from 2014.

If you get any of the models that support Apple pencil, you should be set for many years to come.

Resource: Best iPad to get for Note-taking and Digital Planning 2020 (and which ones to avoid).

What iPad to get for studying

There are different iPads available for purchase.

Choosing one is definitely difficult at first. I was certainly overwhelmed.

I wanted to make the best possible decision, especially if I was investing that much into my education.

The good news is that there is a cost-efficient option for you if you’re on a budget.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive option where you can reap all the benefits I listed above, I recommend you get the iPad 7^th Generation and Apple Pencil 1 combination.