College Note Taking Tips: Best Strategies on How to Take Notes

By Eric Hamilton , Parent Herald Aug 28, 11:12 am

If you are a student, you know how important it is to take notes while listening to the lecture or doing homework. To get good grades, you should be able to study well and learn new information effectively. In this article, you can find more college note taking tips and recommendations on how to study better with the assignment help services.

Best tips on how to take notes

Note-taking takes some time and practice. These tips are going to help you take notes that will help you learn the material more effectively:

Be aware of what you are going to cover in class. You might not have all the materials you will go through, but most of the time teachers give students a list of all topics that are going to be reviewed.
Take notes of the words your professor says, and don't write down the sliders from the PowerPoint. That is a very common mistake of students. If your teacher gives a presentation, record the words you hear and not see.
Ask questions. If you don't understand something, feel free to ask about it. Your teacher might give you all the answers you need and you won't have to look for them. Write down the answers as soon as you get them.
Use apps for note-taking. If you like making digital notes, don't limit yourself to only using the Word Document. Try apps like Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep, as well as many others.
Highlight the key points your professor makes. Often prof state what is the most important in their lecture. Try not to miss the moment and write down information when your lecturer points out at something.
Use visuals. After you re-read the notes, try to recreate them with the help of diagrams and tables. It is especially going to work well in case the visual representation of information is the best way of learning for you.
Review your notes afterward. When creating a note, leave some space after each subtopic. Then, you can write a short summary of what you remembered. Reviewing what you have written you have taken also helps to memorize the material.

Top 5 note-taking strategies

There are many different methods that can be used to take notes. Here are some of the best ones:

The outline method. It is one of the most popular methods that are used by students. This method requires you to use bullets. You start writing a topic, then a subtopic, and the last thing would some supporting points.
The boxing method. As you can see it from the name, all the ideas are gathered in one "box". You can then sort out your notes and keep similar "boxes" together.
The Cornell method. This one is perfect for any kind of note-taking. You have to divide a page into 3-4 columns: name, date, keywords, and questions. After the lecture, you can write a short summary.
The charting method. You have to divide a page into a few sections. For every section, you will have another 4 additional columns: a description of a topic, how and where it used, and its pros and cons. The information you write down is structured, and you can see the facts clearly. But this method is really time-consuming.
The mapping method. You can use a tree structure for this one. You should start by writing the main topic at the top, and continue with subtopic. Create connections with topics that are related to each other. If needed, provide additional explanations.

How to study in college

Studying can be hard, but it is not an impossible task. In this section, you can find some of the best tips that are going to help you study better.

Make a study schedule. It will take only a few minutes per day but will help you be more productive. Use it as a plan. Write down things you need to do every day of the week and time when you plan to do them.
Don't hesitate to ask for help. There are always people around you that are ready to provide you with necessary assistance. You can also use college essay writing service to perfect your papers and avoid common mistakes.
Find a space where you can study. Choose a place where you feel comfortable. It can be a nice coffee shop, a library, a workspace, or just your own corner at home. It should be somewhere you know you can focus.
Have enough rest. If you don't do so, you will feel tired all the time. Don't sacrifice your health for good grades. You will always have some time to do study, so make sure you sleep well.
Try different learning techniques when studying. If you typically use only one method for studying, try other ones as well. You never know what you might like the most. Explore new ways of studying, and you will be able to learn information much better. Check out this site for some help.
Test your knowledge. After learning new information, quiz yourself to make sure you covered all the concepts you needed.

A few last words

It's not hard to learn how to take notes. All you have to do is just to find the best method for note-taking. Don't be afraid to ask for help, especially if you feel like you don't have much time to do homework. You can also use GoWriteMyPaper as a source of information.