Essential Apps for Ole Miss Students

In this day and age, people are so dependent on their electronic devices. As an Ole Miss student, there are several applications I have downloaded on my cell phone that simplify my day to day life in Oxford. We’ve compiled a list of apps essential for an Ole Miss student to have. Encourage your student to check them out! All of the applications are free to download to a mobile device.

Pocket Points is an app that rewards you for paying attention in the classroom and behind the wheel- how cool is that? After downloading the application, it uses your location to determine whether you’re in an academic building on campus or driving across town in your car. All you have to do is open the app and then lock your screen! For the number of minutes you stay off your phone while in class or while driving, you get points. These points can be redeemed as discounts at participating businesses, ranging from Redbox movies to bars on the square. (It’s only 5 points for a free shot of Fireball at the Levee and only 20 points for 20% off your purchase of Ole Miss at Barnes and Noble!)

If your student is planning on using the bus system on campus, they can make sure they never miss a ride by downloading the app, NextBus. This app tracks all O.U.T. bus routes on campus and gives you an approximate time until the bus arrives at your stop. The app also tracks the bus that continuously drop students off at the Square each night. I didn’t have a vehicle with me freshman year, so my friends and I used this app all the time!

EZ-RYDR is a newer option for you and your student to consider utilizing. It’s a ride-share company developed by CEO Kyle Staude and a couple of his friends, all of which graduated from the University of Mississippi. Through their mobile-app, your student can have unlimited rides for a set price, rather than paying ride-by-ride. To ensure maximum safety, perspective EZ-RYDR drivers must undergo standard background checks along with a behavioral profile. Staude also meets with all of the drivers face-to-face before they are hired. Support an Ole Miss graduate and consider downloading EZ-RYDR and purchasing a membership!

Your student is probably familiar with the Uber app, which is an easy option to get around Oxford. There’s also the app, Uber Eats, which is a food delivery service! Both of these are pretty self-explanatory and come in handy more often than not as a college student.

LiveSafe is an app that you can report safety risks, incidents and also offers emergency options. Risk is everywhere, but so are people within your community. By reporting these risks on the LiveSafe app, you can contribute to keeping Oxford the safe town it's known to be!

Blackboard is where your baby Rebel will find all their coursework, assignments and grades for the semester. Ole Miss students are constantly on Blackboard on their computers, which is why I advise your student to go ahead and download the app version on their mobile device. This way, your student will get notifications on their cell phone with reminders about upcoming assignments and they can check their grades on the go! In the unfortunate event that your student’s laptop isn’t working, you can also upload assignments to the Blackboard app and submit them straight from your phone.

Hooked uses location services to help you save money at your favorite local restaurants. They gather all promotions and coupons for near-by restaurants just for you! I use this app to help me decide where to order food depending on the deals. I have also found a few new places to eat around Oxford through this app!

If you or your student aren’t familiar with the app, Venmo, y’all have been living under a rock! Venmo is a super simple way to transfer money to others from your bank account. As a college student, I use Venmo every single day. Whether it’s to pay my friend back for dinner or to pay a classmate back for an extra scantron, I’m constantly using it! My roommates and I use Venmo to pay our utility and rent bills every month- definitely a necessity for your phone!

This last app is an app that has personally helped me a lot during my time as an Ole Miss student. It’s called Quizlet, and it’s a free website/app providing learning tools for students, including flashcards, study and game modes. I use Quizlet to study for any exam I have coming up. I usually use their website browser to create all my flashcards, then practice them on the app on my phone. Having this app is so convenient! As I walk from the library to class, I have the flashcards at my fingertips, ready to study at any time!

These apps have simplified my daily life so much during my time in Oxford so far. Your student can use them to save money on food, find deals around Oxford and stay on task with their schoolwork. Have your student download them to save themselves some stress as fall semester quickly approaches!