6 apps to help navigate the MBA

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is known as one of the more challenging postgraduate degrees, full of complex content and rigorous assessment. Many students continue to work while studying, making the MBA journey a constant balancing act between personal, professional and study commitments. The good news, however, is that there is a fantastic selection of apps available that are perfect for MBA students. There is everything from personal organisation to file storing and mental health assistance, right at the click of a button. Our selection of top apps for business school students is below – download them to help you navigate the MBA with greater ease.

1. Evernote

The act of taking notes is synonymous to study. It helps understand concepts in a student’s own words, and is a great resource to refer back to for assessments. Evernote is a note-taker’s dream – it allows you to create to-do lists, jot down notes, or even take a picture of a lecture slide, all in the one app. According to Evernote, “A note can be anything you want it to be. And once you make a note, it’s accessible wherever you go, forever.”  The app can be synced across all of your devices, meaning you don’t have to remember where you saved each note. This level of mobility works perfectly for online MBA students, as it complements the ability to be able to work anywhere and anytime.

2. Todoist

For ultimate personal organisation, Todoist should be every MBA student’s go-to app. Like other apps, it can be accessed on multiple devices, making it a portable planner that goes everywhere you do. It includes handy features such as the ability to breakdown tasks into sub-tasks, make comments for a later date and set reminders. Todoist is also handy for group assignments, or whenever you’re collaborating with others towards a common goal, as access can be shared among numerous people.

3. RefME

We’re sure that most students will agree that referencing is an important, but tedious part of every assignment. Queue, RefME! The app is one of the many tools out there for referencing and is compatible with smartphones and desktop browsers such as Chrome. It allows you to scan books using the app, manually enter sources and swap between referencing styles. Like other apps, it also supports teamwork and collaboration through project-based membership. There’s also a paid option that could be well worth your pennies – a Microsoft Word add-in that allows you to place in-text citations, automatically updating the reference list at the end.

4. Headspace

While mindfulness isn’t a focus of a business school programme, it can certainly help you navigate the MBA in the best frame of mind. Good mental health has an abundance of benefits including reduced stress levels, being able to perform better in high-pressure environments and overall health and wellbeing. Headspace is a mindfulness app for beginners – it runs listeners through daily 10-minute meditations, with the ultimate goal of keeping them levelheaded and content. Aside from this app, it’s also important to remember the resources that your business school offers for mental health. For example, the Australian Institute of Business has extended its Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to students. The EAP is a confidential assistance program offering information counselling support and resources to help with all aspects of your study, life and work. Looking after your personal health is one of the keys to succeeding in the MBA journey.

5. Roambi Analytics

This is one of those apps that will be useful during your MBA, as well as in a practical workplace environment. Its purpose is to present business data accurately, clearly and meaningfully. You can input numbers or data from your mobile, spreadsheets, websites and databases. Then, Roambi Analytics will transform the information into visuals and/or graphs, allowing you to better illustrate your findings. Throughout the MBA, it may help you make sense of the more complex data, and present it professionally for the purpose of assignments. In a business sense, it’s a great way to make sense of information and present the significance of your findings.

6. Dropbox

While Dropbox is not new, or offering to cut down the amount of time spent working on your assignments, it is an excellent file storage system that allows for access anywhere in the world. Gone are the days where your computer crashes and you lose all files you were working on – Dropbox is an online platform that hosts and stores any files that you wish to upload. Aside from obvious benefits such as the ease of sharing files, Dropbox also means that your hard drive is not full of files, and therefore not slowing down your computer or mobile. It’s available both on desktop and as an app, making it easy to access from all of your devices.

What do you think?

We’d love to hear from current and past MBA students about their go-to apps during business school. Do you have any to add to the list? With million of apps out there, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed, so identify what your needs are and branch out your search from there. Comment to join the conversation.