So freshman year wasn’t the greatest in terms of organization.
I was just wondering what you guys do in terms of taking notes and organizing everything. Binders, folders, notebooks, etc.? What do you do for your lecture notes and textbook notes? Last year I took most of my notes on my laptop and then took textbook notes in my notebook, but it was kind of disorganized and not ideal.
I don’t use my laptop to take notes; personally, I get more out of lecture by writing stuff down. You can still stick with laptop notes since they’re quick to type up, it comes down to personal preference.
For each class, I would do the following:
-Have a notebook and folder per course
-If the syllabus stated to use a binder (i.e. PHYS 1112), I’d use it.
For math/science courses, don’t use your laptop. Write everything down in your notebook. I’d only advocate laptops for courses that need alot of memorization. All in all, you’d be more organized if you only used one interface for notetaking; notebooks are your best bet because, in the end, the information is retained better when you write it down AND all your tests (even computer science ones) are written ones.
I would recommend typing outlines of chapters in textbooks if you want to create a comprehensive study guide for prelims and finals.
For me I use my laptop for some things but I no matter what, I need to still write things down. If I write it down once it seems to really stick for me.
Also, in a couple of classes, I get permission from the professor to tape the lecture, then as soon as possible after class I transcribe the lecture by hand and then I’m good!
I started off just tying to type everything on my laptop but I ended up missing parts of the lecture because I was concentration on my typing.
I’m sure you will find out what works best for you. Good luck!
I used a Surface Pro last year and I loved it. If you save your notes on your Microsoft OneDrive, you can access them anywhere.
Another cool thing about the SP is that you can record video and save it right into OneNote.
Use your first few weeks of class to find something that works for you. Some of my friends exclusively used their laptops to take notes and they did fine. I, personally, find it easier to write things down, whether it be in a notebook or on a tablet.