Quickoffice HD – My personal favorite office suite app includes word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation functions. It’s so easy to use that I typed this entire post with it, though it’s a little pricey at $14.99. Very simple to e-mail files, and the ability to sync to GoogleDocs provides a seamless transition between PC/Mac and iPad.

Notability – Although you can take notes on Quickoffice’s word processor, Notability is my app of choice in class. The ability to take notes in any sort of outline form is great, and so is the multitude of options available to export your notes, to e-mail and Dropbox (an app mentioned later on). Perhaps the coolest feature of this app is the ability to record lectures, and the recording is saved in the same file as the notes to make studying a breeze.

Flashcards – If you’re like me, you’re swimming in piles of flashcards come exam time. Do yourself a favor and pick up the Flashcards app, which allows you to make digital flashcards that you can’t lose or mix up. Flashcards not only makes studying easier, but also more efficient, as it keeps track of your answer for each card and provides multiple options for reviewing cards. Plus, studying somehow seems more fun when you’re swiping your finger across a screen.

Dropbox – Tired of crowding your e-mail inbox with files sent from your iPad? Tired of having to sync your iPad to your computer every time you want to add a photo or document? Dropbox makes life easy, as it allows you to “drop” files into it and access them wherever else you have Dropbox installed.

Nook/Kindle – Definitely worth getting these apps, as more and more textbooks are coming out with (cheaper) digital editions that you can read on your iPad. Also great for pleasure reading.

CATA – Obviously well-known to iPhone users, but absolutely clutch for the last 5 minutes of class when you’d much rather catch the White Loop than trudge through the snow.

Pulp – This app allows you to create a custom newspaper from all of your favorite websites (provided they have an RSS feed, which most do) and it reads just like a real newspaper. Definitely more discreet than rifling the through the paper during a cramped lecture in the Forum, and posting articles to Facebook and Twitter couldn’t be easier. Pulp is my favorite app on my iPad right now.

USA Today – Much like Pulp, a news app that reads like the real USA Today. A must-have to brush up on current events.