Maybe this is late, and you already solved your problem.
I am a student as well, and the app I use every single day is iAnnotate (the best spent $10 ever - if my ipad could manage only 1 app, this one would be enough for me to say that the ipad was worth $500). The blackboard version we use in school does not allow me to download stuff directly in my iPad (even though I can see them), so I use my laptop to download anything and everything and save it on my Dropbox account. iAnnotate gets everything from dropbox. Slides and textbooks I save them in PDF format. (If you want a good torrent site to download books write me back.)
All my pages documents actually sync via iCloud, and I do my typing from the ipad (with a Zagg Flex bluetooth keyboard) or from my laptop at home.
Does it suck that pages can not save directly to dropbox? No doubt about it, but getting so upset about to the fact that the ipad is not a good companion is because you haven't mastered the tools.
If you really want to use your dropbox account for word documents, then quickoffice pro HD is definitely what you need (office suit that syncs with dropbox and other for $15).
I have the 3 apps, but I chose to go the "hard way" and use pages because when I change applications the formatting slightly changes, and don't feel like fixing it all the time. I don't have office in my mac, but I would guess that the formatting between office and quickoffice will work, but don't really know.
But trust me on iAnnotate.