Success in college largely depends on your ability to pay attention during lectures and take effective notes. You can’t rely entirely on your photographic memory to remember and recall everything. Taking effective notes in college is not as simple as it might have been in high school due to the increased pressure and difficulty.
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Take Brief Notes
Remember, you can note down everything in class, however tempting it may be to write every single detail of the lecture. Don’t write stuff you already know or things you can refer to later in the textbook. Try to focus on new information and avoid sweating the rest!
Don’t Scribble, Write Notes Neatly
While you are writing, ask yourself if you or anyone borrowing your notes later would be able to decipher what you have written. If your notes are neat, you will have to spend less time decoding what you’ve written and more time revising lectures. You can practice handwriting apps to improve
Be More Organized!
If your notes are disorganized, it can be a nightmare when attempting to revise. Microsoft OneNote app helps you organize your notes into sections and pages in the form of virtual notebooks. If you take notes in a notebook, it would be a good idea to use dividers to separate your subjects.
Be Focused And Avoid Distractions
Lectures can sometimes be a lot longer than students’ attention span, and they are often tempted to check notifications on their phones or have a little chat with the person sitting next to them. You must minimize distractions at all costs if you don’t want to miss out on essential details of the lecture and focus only on what the professor is saying.
Don’t Use The Complete Form For Longer Words
You can use abbreviations for commonly used words that take longer to write. If the word or phrase is new to you, you can initially write its complete form and subsequently use its abbreviations. For example, instead of writing ‘History of the Great Wall of China’ every time, you can write it as ‘Hist of GWC’ to save time
Review Your Notes At The End Of The Lecture
Quickly skim through your notes to ensure that everything you have written is legible, and if there are any questions, you can ask your professor to clear the confusion.
To Wrap Up
Taking effective notes in college is the key to success in college. Follow these tips to achieve greater heights of success. Make sure to make the best of your notes. As you practice, your note-taking skills will surely improve, so don’t be disheartened if you can’t be a pro the first time.
