Discover Successful Note-Taking Strategies of A-students

Every high school and college student should recognize the value of note-taking strategies. These strategies are simple, but highly efficient. Though there is no single note-taking strategy that can apply to every student, but some practically tested pointers and tactics of A-students can come in handy to you.

Discover a stack of note-taking strategies that smart students use to write well-organized research papers.

• When reading a source, always have a stack of note cards on hand to copy quotes and pieces of information related to your research paper. Once you have finished your research, you should divide the cards into sections according to the sections of the paper, and, then proceed to the outline.
  
  - Recommended by Anne Stancil, Davidson College

• Take notes on your sources, and using these notes, write your paper directly onto your computer.

- Recommended by Katia Fredriksen, Princeton University

• Write down any ideas that you think important with page numbers for applicable references. From these detailed notes, which are usually a page or two long, jot down some basic ideas for organization.

- Recommended by Carrie Arthur, Davidson College

• Create computer files for each new element of information and all its subsequent parts. Also create files for each person you have interviewed and include in the files all pieces of information that relate to this person. Then, before writing, print out all the files and organize them into an outline.

- Recommended by Jordan Smith, master’s candidate in journalism at University of Texas