How to Study

Take Notes on What You Don’t Know
You know the capital of Germany. You know the chemical formula for
salt. You know who’s the current U.S. Secretary of State. So why
waste time and space writing them down?
Frequently, your teachers will present material you already know in
order to set the stage for further discussion or to introduce material
that is more difficult. Don’t be so conditioned to automatically copy
down dates, vocabulary, terms, formulas, and names that you mind-
lessly take notes on information you already know. You’ll just be
wasting your time—both in class and later, when you review your
overly detailed notes.
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This is why some experts recommend that you bring your notes or
outline of your textbook reading to class and add your class notes to
them. I think it’s an effective way to easily organize all your notes for
that class.
Remember, taking effective notes requires five separate actions on
your part:
1. Listening actively.
2. Selecting pertinent information.
3. Condensing it.
4. Sorting/organizing it.
5. Interpreting it (later).
Develop Your Shorthand Skills
Here are five ways to streamline your note taking:
1. Eliminate vowels. As a sign that was ubiquitous in the 
New York city subways used to proclaim, “If u cn rd ths, 
u cn gt a gd jb.” (If you can read this, you can get a good job.)
And, we might add, “u cn b a btr stdnt.” 
2. Use word beginnings (“rep” for representative, “Con” for
Congressperson) and other easy-to-remember abbreviations. 
3. Stop putting periods after all abbreviations (they add up!) 
4. Use standard symbols in place of words. The following list,
some of which you may recognize from math or logic courses,
may help you: 
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ª
approximately
w/
with
w/o
without
wh/
which
Æ
resulting in
¨
as a result of/consequence of
+
and or also
*
most importantly
cf
compare; in comparison; in relation to
ff
following
<
less than
>
more than
=
the same as
increasing
Ø
decreasing
esp
especially
D
change
it follows that
\
therefore
b/c
because
Ø
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5. Create your own symbols and abbreviations based on your
needs and comfort level. 
There are three specific symbols I think you’ll want to create—they’ll
be needed again and again:
That’s my symbol for “What?” as in“What the heck does that
mean?”; “What did she say?”; or “What happened? I’m com-
pletely lost!” It denotes something that’s been missed—leave
space in your notes to fill in the missing part of the puzzle after
class. 
That’s my symbol for “My thought.” I want to separate my
thoughts during a lecture from the professor’s—put too many
of your own ideas (without noting they are yours) and your
notes begin to lose serious value!
My symbol for “Test!” as in “I’m betting the farm this point is
probably on the test, dummy, so don’t forget to review it!!!”
Feel free to use your own code for these important instances; you
certainly don’t have to use mine.
You may also want to create specific symbols or abbreviations for 
each class. In chemistry, “TD” may stand for thermodynamics, 
“K” for the Kinetic Theory of Gases (but don’t mix it up with the 
“K” for Kelvin). In English, “Sh” is the Bard, “LB” is Lord Byron, 
and “RP” are the Romantic Poets.
How do you keep everything straight? Create a list on the first page
of each class’s notebook or binder section for the abbreviations and
symbols you intend to use regularly through the semester.
Just be careful—in your fervor to adopt my shorthand system, don’t
abbreviate so much that your notes are absolutely unintelligible to
you almost as soon as you write them!