For starters, you could check out the previous
Free Ways to Make Money Online? thread. All of the posts there have great suggestions, which will work for students, too.
However, now I'd like to focus on websites which you can only apply to as a student or websites which need skills most students will probably have:
- MindSumo: If you have a .edu email and you enjoy problems and puzzles, just go for it. You'll get paid to propose feasible solutions to some real-life problems (there are lots of possible categories, such as computer science, engineering or business). Also, prices are great (minimum cashout is $100, but you get $30 when you sign up and $25 when you just answer a problem; then, if your answer gets selected, you'll be payed a minimum of $50).
- OneClass: As a student, you'll probably take lots of notes during class, so how about gaining something out of them? If you have a .edu email address (they use it to verify your student status), you can upload your notes and get points for each of them, which you can use to get gift cards (there are PayPal, Amazon and many more cards, even...Starbucks, apparently?). You can also use the website to find some material you might need for an exam.
- Prolific Academic: You get paid to take part in academic research surveys (most of them are about social sciences and psychology, but you can find much more than that). They collaborate with universities all over the world, and you may even have fun doing them.
- Studypool: Tutoring is always greatly advised as a way to put some money on the side, if you're a good student, so why not doing it online, too? You can help other fellow students out with any problem they have in all kinds of subjects (Physics, Maths, History, Accounting, foreign languages, there's anything you could ever think of), and get paid if you helped them the most. Give it a try.
- InstaEdu: Another tutoring website, it's more popular but it's also harder to get accepted as a tutor: however, if you're good at the subject you're studying, you shouldn't experience much trouble. You get matched to a student on the go, and you can chat, talk and video to them. It's probably one of the highest paying ones, though (about $20/hour).
- BrowseU: It's a new, rising site, but it's based on a great concept: gain money to pay student loans. It's basically a search engine, and all of the ads revenue are shared among members. It doesn't take much time to use, even a few searches a day could work, and it's constantly growing - the more users, the higher the revenues, the higher your gains. If you're thinking about trying it out, spread the word.
- ThePensters: If you consider yourself good at writing academic papers, then this is the right website for you. You're basically working as a freelance writer here, but you should be used to writing academic papers already, so it's a pretty nice opportunity.
Also, if you're a student, there's a chance you may have good English writing and speaking skills (as in,
really good), so you could also check out:
- Nicetalk: It's a smartphone app (for both iOs and Android) you can download to help Chinese students train with English. You'll need to pass a test to get accepted, first (it's a recorded video), but after that, you'll be able to gain up to 10 dollars an hour (minimum cashout is $20). If you feel uncomfortable with them seeing you, however, you can also try the next one.
- Palfish: Same concept as Nicetalk, but you've got more freedom on how to interact with the students (you can still record yourself, but you can also just talk or even chat). You can set your own rate, with the minimum being $5/hour. The only downside is that they pay in Chinese currency, so they get charged a little fee when they pay you (nothing troublesome, but still worth mentioning).
Also, this may not be exactly an online job, but how about selling your old books online? If you're not using them anymore, you may as well gain something back.
