S.O.U.N.D. Advice on Note-Taking

Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to taking notes during class discussions. Some of your classmates will have valuable information to share during class discussion; others may bring up irrelevant or even incorrect points. Learn what you should write down, and what’s best to leave out of your notes. Look for clues from your professor: when the professor mentions that a student asked a “good question,” for instance, write that question (and any ensuing points of discussion) in your notes. You should, of course, write down what the professor writes on the board. After class, go home and get your class notes down to just a few sentences of what the discussion was about and why it was significant. Then, incorporate your class notes into your reading notes so that you have one unified document.

Don’t record everything. The first year of law school means lots of new materials, but understanding which parts of the material are most essential – and being able to cull that essential information – is crucial not just for academic success, but also for success in preparing for the bar.