Can You Get Through College Without Taking Notes?

By Ian Acosta on August 20, 2017

Can you get through college without taking notes?

Notetaking is one of the oldest pastimes of college and, by extension, classes in general. Many students’ game plan to passing their classes is to have a solid foundation built upon studying, going to office hours, and note-taking. However, this obviously is not the case for everyone.

Some students argue that taking notes is a waste of time and effort that distracts from the overall message of whatever the professor or instructor is trying to convey. What say you? I will lead off with my personal take by saying that I believe note-taking is an absolute necessity in order to pass a class.

With that bias out of the way, I will pose some questions that I believe are issues students will come up with when deciding whether or not notetaking is the best route for them.

Do you have a good memory?

I will not use the term “photographic” here but is your memory as solid as a steel trap? Do you typically tend to remember topics and concepts just from reading them in a book or having the professor explain them to you? Is remembering the topics or questions on homework and quizzes easy for you?

If your memory is as sharp as you think it is, notetaking may in fact be a waste of time for you. However, you do not want to take this sharp memory for granted. Do not sleep on your study skills. Be sure to read up on the lessons and go over homework and quizzes before any major projects or exams to ensure you have a solid foundation in place.

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Are you an audio or visual learner?

Do you prefer watching a slideshow during your lecture or are you more inclined to simply listen to what your professor has to say? Can you listen to a taped recording of your notes as you verbalize them to yourself? Do you prefer to have a video tutor there with you to help you along with your note taking and studying?

These are different forms of media used nowadays by students to personalize their class experience to their liking. Which one do you fall into? If you are more of a visual learner, you may like to go back and read to yourself. This can include notes, quizzes, past exams, etc. If you fall on that end of the spectrum, note taking is more likely to be on the essential side for you.

How do you study for exams?

Simple question here really: do you rely typically on notes or something else to help you develop and retain your knowledge for the course you are taking? Here is a situation: say you prefer studying with no notes at all. The only resources you have are your past homework, quizzes, and online lectures. Given an adequate amount of studying and learning, how confident would you feel in yourself to pass an exam or a final?

If there is any sliver of doubt you could do it this way, take notes. Personally, I used all of those resources to augment the notes I took in order to reinforce the notes and concepts I originally jotted down. When it all came together for me, it helped me more than it would have had I left note taking out of the equation.

Do you study in groups?

Ask yourself this: do you prefer to study by yourself or in groups? Also, how often do you prefer to study by yourself or with others? The reason behind these questions is two-fold. One, depending on how often you study with others, your study style may not necessarily be the same as theirs, i.e. they may take notes whereas you may not.

On the other hand, if a good enough discussion comes about based on a given quiz or recent homework, you may not, in fact, need to take notes if the discussion covers any questions or areas of concern you may have had. Who you study with may influence how you study. You may tend to pick up on strategies or ideas that work for them that you have not tried before and thus, mold your study habits over time to even include note taking.

As you may have guessed, there is no cookie cutter answer to determine whether or not you will succeed or fail in college by taking notes. There are far too many other variables that come into play that will determine whether or not you succeed. The length of time you study, your class schedule, work schedule, clubs, extracurriculars, the number of classes you take, and plenty of other factors will come into play other than just notetaking.

I will say that you should control what you can control and that is studying. If taking notes helps you pass your classes, great. If it doesn’t, no worries. Keep doing you as long as you walk across the podium after four or so years.

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