The Best Planner for College Students in 2022
Looking for the best planner for college students?
I have rounded up the top five college student planners and reviewed them all to help you find the perfect planner for yourself.
Quick little confession I have to make: I’m planner-obsessed.
My planner pretty much never leaves my sight. When I was in college, I had my planner with me basically every second of the day and I was always using it.
I credit my planner obsession with keeping me extremely organized during college. I kept track of everything in my planner during college, whether it was academics, activities, internships, or general life.
A planner is one of the best organizational tools you can have during college.
Below you will find my detailed reviews of the best planners for college students, along with the best planner accessories and my tried-and-true tips for getting the most out of your planner in college.
1. Lilly Pulitzer Agenda
The Lilly Pulitzer Agenda is the planner I used throughout the last year of high school, all of college, and now into my post-grad years!
Yep, I have been using this planner for over six years now and I love it!
Since I have personally used this planner for years, I can confidently recommend it as what I would consider to be the best planner for college.
Here are some important details about this planner:
Specifications
- Dimensions: 6 3/4″ x 8 7/8″ (Large Agenda)
What’s Inside
- 17-month agenda
- Weekly and monthly calendar pages
- Dates to remember pages
- Travel journal and note pages
- 2 sheets of stickers
- Reinforced interior pocket
My Thoughts
This is my number one pick for the best planner for college students.
One thing to note, the Lilly Pulitzer agenda comes in three sizes: Jumbo, Large, and Medium. I always get the Large (dimensions listed above) and have found it to be the perfect size to slip into my purse or backpack. It’s also their best-selling size. The Jumbo seems a little too big and the Medium seems too small.
Here’s a video comparing the sizes and showing what’s inside the planner:
Another thing I love about this planner is the design. It might sound crazy, but the seeing the classic, colorful, beachy Lilly Pulitzer designs throughout the pages of my planner just makes me feel happy and energized.
The layout of this planner is very straightforward and easy to use. I stayed soooo organized in college thanks to this planner and I think it’s the perfect choice for all college students. Not to mention it’s just super cute!
2. Erin Condren Academic Planner
The Erin Condren Academic Planner is my second recommendation for the best planner for college students.
This planner is extremely popular and one of Erin Condren’s best-selling planners. It’s specifically designed with college students in mind.
While I did not personally use this planner in college, I know some of my fellow organization-obsessed friends had it and they really liked it. Erin Condren planner fans REALLY love their planners and they have a big fan base.
Here are the basic details about this planner:
Specifications
- Dimensions: 7″ x 9″
What’s Inside
- Class schedule pages
- Detailed pages for projects and exams
- Inspirational quotes and notes pages throughout
- 12-month dated calendar spreads
- Weekly spreads for each week of the year
- 4 note pages after each monthly calendar
- Sticker sheet (60 stickers total)
- Optional 40 additional lined pages
My Thoughts
Overall, this is a great college student planner.
One thing I really love about this planner is that you have the option to personalize it with your name embossed on the front for no added cost.
This planner also has SO many cover options to choose from so you’re not limited with the design (and you can even use your own cover at no added cost.)
You can choose between spiral-bound and soft-bound. I personally recommend spiral-bound. You can choose the color of the spirals for an added cost.
Oh, and one last thing – STICKERS! You get a whole big page of stickers to add to your planner pages, which is a biggie for me.
3. Day Designer for Blue Sky Academic Planner
The Day Designer for Blue Sky Academic Planner is a great option for college students who want a planner oriented around “designing” their days.
The weekly pages in this planner have a section for writing your schedule and to-do list each day, along with writing your top three goals for the week.
Day Designer is a really popular planner brand, and they have collaborated with Blue Sky to create this affordable planner specifically for students.
Here’s some details to know about this planner:
Specifications
- Dimensions: 8.5″ x 11″ (Large Size)
What’s Inside
- 12-month agenda
- Monthly and weekly pages
- Dedicated goal-setting and planning pages
- Holiday calendar
- Additional note pages
My Thoughts
This is a really nice college student planner that isn’t too pricy.
While the regular Day Designer planners cost around $60, these Day Designer for Blue Sky academic planners cost about a third of that! It’s a good budget-friendly option, but you are still getting a high-quality planner.
This is another planner with different size options. You can go smaller than the 8.5″ x 11″ dimensions listed above if you want a more pocket-sized planner.
4. Student Happy Planner
If you love all things colorful and stickers, then the Student Happy Planner is for you. This is a customizable planner that is almost like a scrapbook.
Happy Planner sells extension packs so if you wanted to add more pages to your academic planner (such as budgeting pages) then you can do that.
Happy Planner fans rant and rave about these planners, which include specific planners for life, budgeting, fitness, meal planning, etc. This particular planner is designed specifically with students in mind.
Here’s the low-down on this planner:
Specifications
- Dimensions: 7″ x 9 1/4″
What’s Inside
- 12-month agenda
- Detailed pages for course details
- Monthly and weekly pages
- Overview pages for each month with notes
- Inspirational quotes throughout
- Additional note pages
My Thoughts
This is a great choice if you really want to customize your planner.
Happy Planner sells all kinds of accessories like extension packs with extra pages you can add to your planner. For example, if you wanted to add budgeting pages to your academic planner, you could do that.
They also have a crazy amount of planner stickers you can add on.
5. Bloom Academic Planner
The final planner I recommend for college students is the Bloom Academic Planner. This is a simple and cute academic planner.
This planner packs in a ton of features at a very affordable price. If you just want something functional and cute and don’t care about having a “brand name” planner, then this is the perfect option for you.
Here are the details on what’s included with this planner:
Specifications
- Dimensions: 6″ x 8.25″
What’s Inside
- 13-month agenda
- Monthly and weekly pages
- 20+ additional life planning pages
- Additional note pages
- Sticker sheet (93 stickers total)
- Reinforced interior pockets
My Thoughts
If you’re looking for an affordable planner that comes with a ton of extra pages, the Bloom Academic Planner is really the perfect option.
I love all the additional “life planning” pages that come with this planner, including pages for goal setting, creating a vision board, habit tracking, purposes and values, spending tracker, and more.
Plus all the free stickers are a great bonus! I love me some planner stickers.
College Student Planner Accessories
Some people like to go all out with accessories for their planner.
I kept it pretty simple. I wrote everything in pencil (so I could easily erase and change things) and I used a ton of stickers, but that’s about it.
However, some people like to use a color-coding system with colored pens and sticky notes, or they go all out with stickers and washi tape in their planner. Whatever helps you stay organized, go for it!
Here are some popular planner accessories:
How to Get the Most Out of Your Planner
Here are some of my top tips to help you get the most out of your planner!
Academic
At the end of the first week of classes once you have your schedule finalized, take some time to sit down with the syllabi from all your classes. Go through and write down every date from the syllabus in your planner – dates for tests, quizzes, projects, extra credit, and the final exam.
In the note pages of your planner, write down the course information (course name and number, class days and times, professor name and contact info, TA name and contact info, time and location for office hours.)
Do this for every class you’re taking. I promise this makes a huge difference and you’ll never be surprised by a deadline you were unprepared for.
Personal
At the beginning of every semester, you should also take the time to write down important dates for personal things. If you’re in a sorority or any other type of club or extracurricular activity, get the dates for meetings and events.
Weekly/Daily
On Sunday night, I always take a look at the weekly page ahead in my planner and review what’s there already to get an idea of my schedule. I also go ahead and write down anything else I know I have for the week. This only takes a few minutes and helps me get prepared for the upcoming week.
On a daily basis, I will add things to my to-do list as they come.
My favorite thing to do is cross off something after I’ve accomplished it or after the event has passed. Nothing is more satisfying than the feeling of physically crossing something off in my planner!
More College Tips
I hope this guide helped you find the perfect planner to use during college!
For more college tips about all things organization, you may be interested in reading the following blog posts:
