Every "AI tools" list online has 50+ entries and half of them are dead by the time you read it. Here's a shorter, more honest list — tools students actually keep using past week one.
For research and writing
Perplexity for research with citations, Claude or ChatGPT for drafting and explaining concepts, Grammarly (now AI-powered) for polish.
For studying
NotebookLM for turning your own notes and PDFs into a queryable study companion — probably the most underrated tool on this list. Notion AI for organizing and summarizing.
For building
GitHub Copilot if you're writing any code at all. v0 or Claude Artifacts for quickly prototyping a UI without full setup.
For everything else
Gamma for presentations you don't want to spend three hours formatting, Otter.ai for meeting and lecture transcription.
The pattern across all of these: they remove a specific chore, not "do your work for you." That distinction matters — tools that replace thinking hurt you long-term; tools that remove friction help you think faster.