Successfully Take Notes in College

Are you struggling as a college student due to taking poor notes in your classes? If so, there are steps you can take to improve. You will acquire tips for learning to become a great note taker in college.

It is important to be selective about what you write down. Instead of trying to write down everything your professor says, you must mainly write down the most important points.

Are you insufficient at picking up everything you hear? If so, you might solve this problem by using a tape recorder that takes in everything you hear and holds this information for you to play back after class.

Are you one who writes very slowly or cannot take the pressure of having to quickly take down the important information in your lectures? If so, you can benefit from having someone who is quicker share his or her notes with you.

It is up to you to get clarification. If you do not clearly hear or understand something the teacher says, you must ask him or her to repeat or elaborate on it.

You must avoid letting your mind wander and prevent yourself from becoming distracted. You must not daydream, talk to a fellow student or do something else that will take your mind where it should not be when the professor is speaking.

Where you are sitting in the classroom can have an effect on your success. The closer you are to the instructor, the more easily you can hear his or her words.

You will have an easier time taking notes by using my method of shorthand - this is a process in which you write down some of the words you hear in an abbreviated manner while skipping writing down some of the other words you hear. Below are examples you can use to do this:

Example 1: Someone says, "Yesterday was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and the temperature stayed in the eighties." You can shorten this by writing: Ystrdy ws grgous dy. It ws snny & the temp styd in eghties.

Example 2: Someone tells you, "The summer is my favorite season of the year. The weather is usually warm and free of rain. Furthermore, the flowers and trees are pretty and the sun goes down late in the day." You can shorten this by writing: Smmr my favrte seasn. Weathr uslly wrm and fre of rn. Flwrs and tres prtty. Sun goes dwn lte.

Follow these tips to become a great note taker in college!