Replying to Smartphones in college

So I am going to be a freshman next year and am trying to convince my parents to get me a smartphone as part of my grad present. They aren't opposed to getting me a new phone, just paying the extra 30 bucks a month for the service.

My cousins who have gone through college tell me that the phones helped them because they did most of their communication for classes and ROTC through email, and most of it needed to be answered quickly. My friend who has been doing half of his classes at the U this year said that his smartphone helped him because it helped him keep track of everything, but he's a total tech geek and ran his life out of his laptop/phone for years now.

Is there any other reasons/uses that any of you guys use that would make college life easier? I know I would get the Droid and theres wifi tethering, and the other stuff I mentioned above.

thanks