14 DAY TRIAL // School's started, for a while now, and Dropbox has something that may actually make it bearable if not entirely worthwhile, free space for everyone. Free space for everyone that's still in school that is.
Dropbox is introducing the great Space Race, in which students get more free space for anyone from their school they get to sign up for Dropbox.
Obviously, Dropbox users already get free space for referring their friends. But this is on top of the existing referral bonus and, what's more, the more people from one school sign up, the more free space everyone from that school gets.
There's one small caveat, but it's an important one, the bonus space is good for two years. Regular referral bonus is lifetime.
"Space Race is a chance for you to support your school and compete against other schools for eternal glory (by eternal glory we mean up to 25 GB of free Dropbox space for two years)," Dropbox explained.
"Earn points by referring your classmates, friends, and professors to Dropbox (they just need to sign in with their school email and install Dropbox if they haven’t already), and by getting them to complete the 'Get Started guide'," it added.
"As you and your classmates earn more points, everyone from your school registered for Space Race will get more free space. Cosmic," it said.
It doesn't matter if you already have a Dropbox account or not, as long as you register an .edu email.
Once you've done that, your school gets points for people that sign up and complete the "Getting Started" guide. One point is for signing up, two points for completing the guide, for both you and anyone you refer.
The points are added up, there's even a global leader board the National University of Singapore is the clear leader so far, but maybe that's because they've got a head start since the US is still sleeping at this hour.
As the schools pass three thresholds, more free space is awarded for everyone. These thresholds are calculated differently for each school, based on the number of students, so that schools with big enrollments don't get huge bonuses even though 1 percent of the students that go there signed up.
You get 3 GB just for adding your .edu email. Then, you get 5 GB when your school reaches the first step, 7 GB more for the second and an additional 10 GB for the third, adding up to 25 GB.
The space is only available for two years, but it's on top of the referral bonus that you get to keep forever. You have eight weeks to complete the space race, so get at it.
If you're not in school anymore, first, congratulations, second, you can find out how to max out your Dropbox bonus space here.