I'm going to start off first year this upcoming September. Just wondering how you guys took your notes? I think I'm going type up notes during lectures and then maybe take a binder with a notebook for any quick note taking and handouts during tutorials? Anyone else do this? Did you like it or not? If not, how did you do it?

Hey umm personally I found it really depended on the prof. Some profs will take their time and I wrote out my notes by hand. I find I remember things better when I write them out and on top of that I don't get distracted on my computer msn,facebook etc (trust me its easy)

SOME profs however talk LIGHTNING FAST and have thousands of bloody bullet points. For these special people i used my laptop.

So pretty much use your judgement but if you can I would say write it out you will remember it better and focus solely on the lecture (no matter how boring it is)

Chill in lecture, take notes off slides @ home.

If prof doesnt post slides, learn off textbook.

Some profs will give you a set of notes ahead of time. I just printed them out and wrote on the slides/in the margins.

For math I liked writing out notes by hand because formulas were too much of a hassle to type out. For other subjects where the profs talk fast I use my laptop.

I took all my notes by hand last year, then later typed them up. It helps me with retention, and forces me to re-read the notes daily. But that's me. You may be different.

I also only had 3 courses last year, 2 of which were language courses, and I found it easier to make quick handwritten tables for verb endings and the like. Plus it keeps me away from things like flash games and online poker, not to mention the extra weight of carrying around my laptop as well as all the books.

Well since you're in Commerce:


Commerce 1PA0
- No real reason to take notes. It's a Pass/Fail course that depends on your attendance and whether you do quizzes. All slides get posted online anyways. I don't even think your score on the quizzes matter, but most of them are easy to get so long as you pay a very slight bit of attention.

Commerce 1E03
- First year I had Cossa as my prof. Slides will be given before lecture. Blanks are left in the slides that you fill out while in class. She also didn't allow laptops for the first half of the term (then took it easy the second half and said we could.)
- Cossa was pregnant my first year and wasn't around my second year. From what I've heard last year they had the same prof as my 2nd year marketing prof (Capretta). Capretta doesn't give out slides with blanks in 2nd year marketing, I'm not sure about 1E03.

Comp Sci 1BA3
- There were 2 different profs in my first year. Barely anyone showed up for Hurst. He posts his notes online (though whether or not they'll actually help is a different story... although from what I've heard he was easier last year)

ECON 1B03 / 1BB3
- 1B03 you're mostly likely gonna get Holmes. She basically reads off her powerpoints and posts them all online.
- 1BB3 I had O'Shaughnessy. She posts all her lectures in podcasts form
- Both of these classes aren't that hard and you'll be fine so long as you have the powerpoints/podcasts.

Math 1M03
- Unless you have a tablet, it's a good idea to bring paper. Then again, it's math so it's kinda self explanatory

and from Course List 1

Sociology 1A06
- The year I took it, the course was piss easy, but the prof no longer teaches that course. Either way I heard that it was still easy last year. All I really needed was the textbook and powerpoint slides and didn't really show up for class.

Psychology 1X03
- All the lectures are online. Whether you want to type it out or write it out is up to you.





I have a tablet. Starting second year I began to compile my notes all in Microsoft OneNote. It's really kinda hard to say whether or not it's a good idea *just* typing out notes, since most courses will throw in the occasional diagram or graph.

...very fast?

With a pen.

With a pencil.

with a... sharpie?

I think MD-L's response is pretty well spot on. I personally prefer writing all my notes out because the material is better retained for me that way. Sometimes I'll type my notes out afterwards if I've been writing extremely quickly and my writing's messy, but for the most part, I rely on written notes.

You'll also run into a problem if your computer goes psycho on you for some reason , so always have a set of back-up notes (i.e. on a USB key). I know people that typed all their notes on their laptops and lost those notes right before final exams because their computers died or the like. Trying to locate notes at the last minute isn't exactly fun.

Another option is to bring a tape recorder to lectures. It really depends on how you learn. If I'm in a course with a prof that speaks particularly quickly and I'm writing out my notes, I will also bring my tape recorder in case I missed a point or two. Sometimes those one or two missed points make all the difference when it comes to assignments and exams. For auditory learners, tape recorders can be quite helpful. You can listen to tape recorded lectures to review for midterms and exams as well.

Don't worry too much about first year; you'll learn the ropes pretty quickly . If you need any other advice, we're here to help.

Lined paper, a ruler, and many coloured pens - nothin' better than a double-red-underlined title for each note of each lecture. I suppose the methods of gr6 just stuck with me.

My European history class in Grade 12 was lecture style, so I sort of developed a writing technique there.

Wrote down all the important points as fast as I possibly could, regardless of neatness or not. Then I wold go home and rewrite them in the neatest way possible, in a way that would help me study for exams. Doing this also helped me weed out something in my rough lecture notes that I think later on, will not help me.

In high school I would write my notes quickly in class and then rewrite everything neatly into my notebook to help me remember it more... but then one of my friends told me that in university you won't have time for that... is that true?

Originally Posted by omgmt

In high school I would write my notes quickly in class and then rewrite everything neatly into my notebook to help me remember it more... but then one of my friends told me that in university you won't have time for that... is that true?

Not true, all you have to do is manage your time properly. In a week there are 168 hours, if you sleep for 12 hours a day for some reason then you have 84 hours of awake time. Depending on your program and course load you could have up to 30 hours (I think engineers have that much, or close to that much anyways. I'm in Science and I have like 24 hours). That leaves you with 54 hours for eating, studying, doing assignments, leisure time, etc...