If you somehow managed to make it through Welcome Week with fewer than 100 pieces of paper, under 30 new stickers, and fewer than three new apps, you might not know what I’m talking about. But if you’re like me — your new desk filled with leaflets and your phone storage on its last legs — then you might be in the market for something to let you know which of those papers, apps, and websites are actually important. Look no further Class of 2030, as here is a list breaking down exactly what you need to smoothly navigate your first months on campus.
Important for joining and managing clubs, and learning about campus events, the CCC app is an essential download for any URochester student. The website works well too, allowing you to group the clubs you participate in on a sidebar, and easily search for and find events across campus, but the app allows you to easily pull up your personal QR code to scan, which many events and giveaways use to check you in. Without that QR code you might not get the beanie you’ve been waiting half an hour for, or get to see your friends star in some of the many free performances clubs put on around campus.
Similarly, the University of Rochester Events Calendar is a website all students should mark down if they’re ever looking for anything to do. The calendar lists University-wide events for the year, including at the Memorial Art Gallery and Strong Memorial Hospital. These events can range from talks by professors and professionals to art displays and therapy dog visits. Through the Events Calendar, students are sure to find something that catches their interest. You can also filter the listed events by time period and type of event, making the website easy to use for anyone looking for something to do.
Switching tracks a little, the next app I’m recommending that everyone download is TripShot, our shuttle tracker. TripShot, though it can be buggy, is a helpful tool in trying to plan off-campus excursions. Depending on what shuttle line you’re using, the shuttle schedule might offer a more accurate outlook on timing than TripShot, and is always useful for planning ahead, but TripShot offers important features as well. It allows users to see both a live view of where shuttles are located, and a live estimation for when they will reach your stop. It also lets you see how shuttle paths cross, and makes it easy to find stops near you.
You may already have it downloaded, but the GrubHub app is a must-have for campus dining. Not only does it allow you to order for pickup, essential for places like Starbucks that sometimes have an hour-long wait, but it also lets you keep track of how many Dining Dollars you have left, saving you from the rookie mistake of spending it all in the first six weeks. Perhaps a smaller benefit, but I appreciate that the GrubHub app shows all campus dining options in one place. It helps my indecisive self (and my indecisive friends) decide where to eat. Also helpful with this is UR Mobile, which you can use to see the menus at different dining halls in advance.
Turning to a more academic side, if you don’t already have Blackboard bookmarked it’s time to get on that right away. Blackboard is the homepage for all of your classes (think Google Classroom if you used that in high school) and where many of them will have you submit assignments. If you have readings, Blackboard is also likely where they will be posted, and it’s where professors post any announcements as well. The app is handy to have downloaded for the times you find yourself out of the house at 11:45 p.m. with something due at 11:59 that night, but it doesn’t offer any features that the website doesn’t, so it isn’t necessary to have both.
In a similar vein, Workday, which is the site you used to register for classes, should also be bookmarked now if it isn’t already. Workday is where you’ll find your grades, tax forms, new classes, and much more (though check out melcourses if you’re looking for a more intuitive site to find next semester’s classes). Workday is also helpful if you’re planning to work an on-campus job, as it offers some of the necessary information for that as well.
Last of what I’ll include in this article (I have to stop somewhere) is the Duo Mobile app. I cannot explain to those who have not experienced it how much better it is to receive a Duo Push when I’m trying to sign into one of many sites than it is to wait for a code and type it in, or Rocky-forbid receive a call. Sure, it’s only saving 30 seconds, but I think it’s added up to a solid hour over my three years at this institution, and I swear time slows down waiting to receive a code. I 100% recommend downloading the Duo app; it is extremely worth it.
That concludes my list of app and website recommendations, though I will add one last recommendation: checking out the department website for your major/minor. There’s usually pretty helpful information there. I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming venture into the app store and beyond — I hope your phone storage can keep up.
