Smartphone = GPA increase or decrease ??

[lostking243]

Hey all, I was considering getting a smartphone for the school year (I'll be a junior) and wanted to know if this helped people to increase their GPA, productivity, etc., or not?

With all the web stuff on them now, I could really see productivity and GPA dropping because of time spent messing around with it as a toy and not a tool. But then again they are so friggin powerful....What do you all think?

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[mmmcdowe]

Hey all, I was considering getting a smartphone for the school year (I'll be a junior) and wanted to know if this helped people to increase their GPA, productivity, etc., or not?

With all the web stuff on them now, I could really see productivity and GPA dropping because of time spent messing around with it as a toy and not a tool. But then again they are so friggin powerful....What do you all think?

Meh, its all about willpower.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

Hey all, I was considering getting a smartphone for the school year (I'll be a junior) and wanted to know if this helped people to increase their GPA, productivity, etc., or not?

With all the web stuff on them now, I could really see productivity and GPA dropping because of time spent messing around with it as a toy and not a tool. But then again they are so friggin powerful....What do you all think?

Stay out of the Games section of the app store, and you'll probably be all good.

 

[Mattabet]

I doubt it'll have an effect one way or another. You have plenty of ways to distract yourself at your disposal already, and most chunks of glass and plastic just aren't going to have that much effect on your GPA overall.

 

[rocketbooster]

smartphone=gpa increase if you use it like many ppl do, which is to cheat and look up answers online during tests. you may not believe this, but it definitely goes on, especially at huge state schools where classes have hundreds of ppl in them.

and no, I am not one of them. I went to a small private school. I was surprised to hear about this from my friend who goes to our state school. doesn't really surprise me, though, I guess...btw, many of these cheaters are now in med and dental school *siiighhh*

 

[mmmcdowe]

smartphone=gpa increase if you use it like many ppl do, which is to cheat and look up answers online during tests. you may not believe this, but it definitely goes on, especially at huge state schools where classes have hundreds of ppl in them.

and no, I am not one of them. I went to a small private school. I was surprised to hear about this from my friend who goes to our state school. doesn't really surprise me, though, I guess...btw, many of these cheaters are now in med and dental school *siiighhh*

My public school does indeed have 100s of kids in some classes, but there are also a proportional number of TAs walking around looking to bust you.

 

[FlowRate]

You know you're a premed when you weigh life in terms of + GPA or - GPA. =)

If you like the phone, buy it. Use it as you see fit. Chillax!

 

[Mitch556]

My phone syncs calendar and the internet so it has been easy for me to use it as my primary means of staying organized with classes, tests, and deadlines. It has been invaluable to me.

 

[rocketbooster]

My public school does indeed have 100s of kids in some classes, but there are also a proportional number of TAs walking around looking to bust you.

ppl still get away with it, tho. what really annoys me is at our state school most profs let students take tests in afternoon or evening. they prof uses the SAME test for both times. so, you get a study group sending one kid to the afternoon test and then he/she tells the rest of the group all the answers for the evening test. soo annoying. it goes on in the premed and upper level science classes. and yes, they are in dental and med school now.

 

[FlowRate]

ppl still get away with it, tho. what really annoys me is at our state school most profs let students take tests in afternoon or evening. they prof uses the SAME test for both times. so, you get a study group sending one kid to the afternoon test and then he/she tells the rest of the group all the answers for the evening test. soo annoying. it goes on in the premed and upper level science classes. and yes, they are in dental and med school now.

That happens in math classes all the time at my school. Pretty annoying. Especially when there's a large gap between class times. (my diff EQ class had a 2 hour gap between each section, the second section learned of the questions far ahead of time and, predictably, scored better on average)

 

[TedyBearSuicide]

The PDA functionality of a smart phone is very handy. You can organize your calendar, daily task, look up professor's website, office hours, location, etc. anywhere at anytime.

Classes start in August, get the phone and input all your exam days and time in the calendar and set it to remind you an hour before each exam. This will greatly increase your GPA especially after a night of beer pong.

Considering what the previous poster stated, "you weigh life in terms of + GPA or - GPA," more than likely you will not have a problem with extreme partying.

 

[lostking243]

FlowRate: haha, yeah so true about the + and - thing. my GPA blows though and I need to get it up... the stress is on to get it in an acceptable place in 1 year.

Mitch556: that's what I see as the biggest help, a (calendar+task+note+web+whatever apps you can think of) machine all in one. i missed some meetings last year that could have been attended if I were more organized and study time more well dispersed....the list goes on

 

[SolidWater]

-

 

[lostking243]

The PDA functionality of a smart phone is very handy. You can organize your calendar, daily task, look up professor's website, office hours, location, etc. anywhere at anytime.

Classes start in August, get the phone and input all your exam days and time in the calendar and set it to remind you an hour before each exam. This will greatly increase your GPA especially after a night of beer pong.

Considering what the previous poster stated, "you weigh life in terms of + GPA or - GPA," more than likely you will not have a problem with extreme partying.

hahaha "extreme partying"! no I have never really drank ever, but to each his own

 

[SolidWater]

=

 

[teenmachinery1]

For my final year of undergrad I had a Palm Treo 750w. Helped me immensely with some classes.

That was a few years ago, and I now have an iPhone, and it's DEFINITELY a plus, and here are a few examples why:

iFlipr: flashcard program. It has a web interface you can use (I use it while in some classes to make my notes). Then it syncs up with your phone so you can review flash cards while you have down time (walking to class, in car, wherever).

Photo capabilities: This has helped me a lot in science classes (chemistry lab mainly) for taking quick pics of lab mates papers, white boards, etc., which you can easily review later.

Evernote: good for syncing notes.

Those are just a few good ones, but it has also been invaluable to have a web browser to hop on the web and look up something quickly on wikipedia and so on in a lecture.

Now there are down sides, like game capabilities, but I have great self control and don't even really bother to install any. So the real question is do you think you have sufficient self control?

I agree with this post. I would add iTalk which I use at meetings and stuff to record the discussion. you could also record lectures using this. Also, with biochem I used lectures as mp3s and listened when i was walking around and stuff. For medical microbiology I used lectures available online from med school in south carolina and this helped. you can google things during lecture for words/concepts that are unfamiliar. There are also apps for medical spanish, flashcard making, time management, calenders, to-do lists, everything all in the iphone.

technology is powerful.

 

[TopSecret]

Hey all, I was considering getting a smartphone for the school year (I'll be a junior) and wanted to know if this helped people to increase their GPA, productivity, etc., or not?

With all the web stuff on them now, I could really see productivity and GPA dropping because of time spent messing around with it as a toy and not a tool. But then again they are so friggin powerful....What do you all think?

Smartphones make good ice breakers. You will see your dating life improve and it's good for organizing your schedule and your contact info.

 

[Poliscidoc]

Hey all, I was considering getting a smartphone for the school year (I'll be a junior) and wanted to know if this helped people to increase their GPA, productivity, etc., or not?

With all the web stuff on them now, I could really see productivity and GPA dropping because of time spent messing around with it as a toy and not a tool. But then again they are so friggin powerful....What do you all think?

It helped me in class, I would google answers or stats and then rattle them off. Also if my teacher had a certain stock (Former Econ Major) I would update them on the current price. It basically helped me either look like a genius or a complete kiss ass. But I am smiling all the way to a 4.0 last semester

 

[movax]

In my case, WinMo smartphone was the only way I could keep all my classes and clubs straight. Syncs up nicely with Outlook too, and I get all my email on the go, since I'm not at a PC for most of the day usually.

 

[camo]

smartphone=gpa increase if you use it like many ppl do, which is to cheat and look up answers online during tests. you may not believe this, but it definitely goes on, especially at huge state schools where classes have hundreds of ppl in them.

and no, I am not one of them. I went to a small private school. I was surprised to hear about this from my friend who goes to our state school. doesn't really surprise me, though, I guess...btw, many of these cheaters are now in med and dental school *siiighhh*

Dude you are totally right. However, it happened at my private school this past year. I am a biology lab dude and during the Anatomy lab practical, I actually caught some dude using his phone. I was pissed, you don't freaking cheat on my watch. However, in the end nothing happened to him. little punk.

 

[Mattabet]

Smartphones make good ice breakers. You will see your dating life improve...

Full Disclosure: TopSecret is paid in BlackBerry stock for posts he makes to the pre-allo forum.

 

[TopSecret]

Full Disclosure: TopSecret is paid in BlackBerry stock for posts he makes to the pre-allo forum.

Oh damn. How did you know?

Actually, I use an iPhone. You can use ePocrates Rx and Medscape on it for work and use Facebook and MySpace to keep in touch with friends. Plus, women love the iPhone.

 

[ziggydoc]

It will HELP your GPA if you can stay away from surfing the net or doing other cool but unproductive things on your palm or iphone or whatever other fancy toy phone you have. (I have the new Iphone ). It helps a ton with keeping on track of what you need to do, checking for important email and messages on the fly, and recording lectures/talks. I work in a research lab, and you can upload scientific papers for reading when you have down time and aren't near a comp. or have the paper copy (save trees!!!). The scientific calculator is full of win as well. And if you are in a lab or have your hands full, the voice activated google mobile search is simply AMAZING. lol

Anyway, I feel like a iphone commercial, but like others have said, techology is powerful if you chose to use it right.

 

[brahms11]

My BlackBerry is the only thing that allows me to manage all of my assignments and extracurriculars. It can also come in handy for less important things like not getting lost (if you're a directionally challenged person like myself.)

My only caution is to turn off email notifications for Facebook or other networking sites...otherwise you'll be tempted to check out what your friend posted on your wall every ten minutes in class!