With finals week upon us, it’s hard to find one college student who isn’t scrambling to study for an exam or finish typing up a research paper. All of the stress from the past semester has accumulated to this very moment in time, and it’s easy to fall under pressure. Therefore, it is my duty to help you, my fellow sleep-deprived students, by providing you with some useful information. Without further ado, here are 6 Chrome extensions that could potentially save your life, sanity and GPA this finals week.
1. Grammarly.
Need help with your grammar? Look no further! Grammarly is designed to check your spelling, grammar and punctuation on any document. It will automatically screen anything you write on the web, including Twitter, Facebook, e-mails and even those pesky online discussion board posts you’re forced to participate in for class. It picks up on any grammatical and spelling errors so you don’t have to! If that isn’t enough, Grammarly Premium is also an option. Although you have to pay for this version, it can check for additional errors, suggest phrases to enhance your vocabulary and can even detect plagiarism.
Rate: 4.5/5
2. Google Dictionary.
Have you ever read an article and didn’t understand half of the words that were in it? We’ve all been there. Google Dictionary allows you to look up the definition of any word with a click of a button. Double-click on a word you don’t know and its definition will show in a pop-up bubble. You can even translate foreign words into your language of choice!
Rate: 4.5/5
3. Cite This For Me: Web Citer.
As if writing papers weren’t bad enough, there is always the added stress of correctly citing your sources. If you have professors like mine, you’re bound to get points off for so much as an incorrectly placed comma. Web Citer can take care of this issue for you by generating a citation of your choice. Just click on the little button on your browser window, and it will provide MLA, APA, Chicago and Harvard citations for whatever page you’re on.
Rate: 4/5
4. Memorize!
Memorize! is a useful extension that helps you to remember whatever boring information you can’t be bothered to write down on actual flash cards. You enter a list of questions and answers, and then set the time interval between asking each question. Once you click “start,” questions will be shuffled and asked at its scheduled time intervals on your browser. This way, Memorize! will pop up at its scheduled time to force you to study while you’re browsing the internet. When you correctly answer the question, it will be removed from the list. If it’s wrong, you have to try again. Questions will be repeated until you are able to answer them all correctly, or until you stop the timer.
Rate: 4.5/5
5. Strict Workflow.
Strict Workflow enforces a strict time schedule of work and play, enforcing a 25-minute work period in which distracting websites are blocked followed by a 5-minute break period. It targets distracting websites, with the extension coming pre-loaded with sites already on the “block” list. You can add whatever distracting websites are your kryptonite to your blocked list, or even switch it up and make a “whitelist” of websites that you are allowed to visit, with the rest of the internet blocked during the 25-minute work time. Once the work period begins, there is no way to unblock a website without completely removing the extension or restarting the browser, so there’s no chance of wiggling your way out of doing work.
Rate: 4/5
6. StayFocused.
If you want something that can help you more in the long run, try StayFocused instead. StayFocused is an extension that does just that—it helps you to stay focused by restricting the amount of time you’re allowed to spend on distracting websites. You can set a certain amount of time for "blocked" websites, but all of those sites will disappear for the rest of the day once that time is used up. Not only will this help you with your studying, but it can also encourage you to stop wasting your days by scrolling through your Facebook feed 100 times.
Rate: 4.5/5