Your student email and your student ID act as a passport to a huge world full of discounts. (File Photo/Daily Campus)
Two weeks ago, I finally signed up for Spotify Premium and was more than happy to accept the wonderful student discount rate of $4.99 a month. Imagine how surprised I was to learn that I even got access to Hulu with that discount.
I’m sure that, like me, many of you are broke college students. With money spent on tuition, books, food and rent, most of us barely have two pennies to put together. Luckily just like with Spotify, your student email and your student ID act as a passport to a huge world full of discounts.
1. Amazon: If you haven’t tried this one out yet, you’re a bad college student. Amazon Student gives you free access to Amazon Prime for six-months. After that six month trial, you get to access Amazon Prime for 50 percent the normal rate, which comes out to roughly $50 for the year. You can sign up for a free trial on Amazon.com. Prime is especially convenient with next-day free shipping on many items to the Amazon store in Storrs Center.
2. New York Times/Wall Street Journal: The NYT and the WSJ are some of the biggest newspapers out there with coverage on a variety of events from breaking news to new things in pop culture. Students can use their student email to get the NYT for $0.99 for the first four weeks and half-price for the rest of the months in the year. Using a UConn email students can also get a 15-week subscription to the WSJ for $1 a week.
3. Apple: Apple offers some of the best student discounts around. Many items across their site can be accessed for five percent off with an education discount. Looking to buy a new laptop? Apple offers a $200 discount for students on new Macs and iPads. The money you save could be put toward many grocery trips in the future.
4. Adobe: If you’re like me, then you were devastated when UConn told you that it would not be extending the Adobe subscription for the upcoming year. It sucks that we no longer get that creative cloud for free, but Adobe is not leaving you completely hanging. Students can use their UConn emails at checkout to get a student package for the full Creative Cloud for $19.99 a month. That’s a savings of 60 percent or $360 for the year.
5. U-Pass: Looking to head into Hartford or New York for some fun? You can get discounts, or in some cases ride completely free, if you get a U-Pass. The pass allows you to travel on most public transportation in the state for free as long as you use it in conjunction with your student ID. You can sign up for a pass on the UConn Parking Services website.
6. Fun events in NYC: So you used your U-Pass to get into NYC, but what do you do now? If you’re in the mood for a show you should head on over to Carnegie Hall or the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Both locations allow students to get discounts for admission by presenting their student ID at the box office.
7. B&H Photo Video: This last one is rather over-looked, but a great resource for everybody. B&H is one of the largest camera supply stores in the nation. They have a location in New York City but most of their sales are done online. Students can sign up online for huge savings on everything in their store. The discounts range from cameras to electronics and even computers. It’s a great resource even if you’re not a photographer. You can sign up on the B&H website.
Amar Batra is a senior staff photographer and weekly columnist for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email amar.batra@uconn.edu. He tweets at @amar_batra19.