There are many ways to help you succeed in getting good grades.  Studying on a regular basis, doing the chapter reviews or taking well written notes can boost your grades in no time.  Taking good notes is probably one of the easiest most rewarding things you can do.  Below is a list of 5 ideas to help you take better, more understandable notes.

• When the professor starts his lecture always write the date at the top of your paper.  By doing this it will be easy to find when you have homework.  If you had homework from Tuesday’s class you will be able to find the exact day and not just guess.
• Once the professor starts talking about a big topic try highlighting or CAPITALIZING the topic.  When the professor lectures on a big topic you should always make it noticeable.  It will keep you organized and it will be easier to find.
• When the professor is talking about a big topic try doing bullets for each important fact or sentence.  It will organize sentence from sentence instead of just one big paragraph.  Also if there is an important word in that sentence you can always highlight that or capitalize it.
• Try to use good hand writing when taking notes.  Sometimes when we are writing so fast we start to get a little sloppy when it comes to our writing.  This is important because if you’re writing an event or just a word you’ve never heard of and it’s sloppy you won’t be able to understand it.
• Never abbreviate unless you know what it stands for.  It’s easy to tune out the professor when trying to take really fast notes.  You just copy everything he has written down even if you don’t understand what it means. Simply ask a classmate or the professor.  Those abbreviations are going to only do you damage when you’re studying for the final exam.
•  Stop.  Take a breath, write, and listen.  You will be able to grasp so much more.  Once we start writing so fast we stop listening.  Then you get home and wonder what everything you wrote down means.  By listening you find listen to examples they might give or get the full detail or something you’ve never learned about.  If you forgot to take notes while listening, you will be able to write your own since you understood what they were talking about.

Taking notes is a very important part of college.  How good your notes are is usually how good you do on the test.  With those easy ways to help take better notes you should feel confident and ready when the professor begins his lecture.