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    Entrance Prep: Why Making Smart Notes Matter

    By Sumit Saini
    5 Mar'22  5 min read
    Entrance Prep: Why Making Smart Notes Matter
    Synopsis

    Years of hard practice to crack entrance exams boils down to remembering what you studied at the right time, in the right way. Your prep journey must start with making notes of whatever you study. Careers360 gives you 10 smart tips that can make your note making real smart. If you want to score well in JEE, NEET, Class 12 or 10, read on.

    Entrance Prep: Why Making Smart Notes Matter
    Synopsis

    Years of hard practice to crack entrance exams boils down to remembering what you studied at the right time, in the right way. Your prep journey must start with making notes of whatever you study. Careers360 gives you 10 smart tips that can make your note making real smart. If you want to score well in JEE, NEET, Class 12 or 10, read on.

    We always tend to write down something on a piece of paper or in a notebook so that we don’t forget it. We do this because it's an important piece of information which we may need to recollect at a later date. In a nutshell, this is the essence of note making. In the context of entrance exams or board exams, note making refers to writing down the content of a chapter in a simplified way to understand the topic well.

    Note making is a skill which is cultivated over time and for students it plays a vital role to cover a huge syllabus in limited time. Students can find abundant coaching materials, online notes etc. to augment their understanding of the topics, but these notes cannot substitute the notes you make on your own. Note making is an exercise which helps you to delve deep into the nuances of topics. When a student makes his or her own notes, it broadens their understanding, enhances focus, helps in retaining it in memory for a long time etc.

    It is important to have your own notes because it is an exercise which helps you in multiple ways. Let's discuss some of them in detail.

    Helps In Consolidation Of Bulky Syllabus

    Sometimes it becomes challenging for students to revise the whole syllabus a few days before the examination due to the paucity of time. Having your own crisp notes comes to the rescue here. Self notes make it easier to revise the syllabus quickly before the exam which boosts the confidence level and eventually helps in better performance in the examination.

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    Prioritize The Topics Based On Their Importance

    In every class and examination, there are certain topics which are considered as HOT or favorite topics which are being asked repeatedly over the years. While making notes, one can highlight these topics so as to emphasize more on such topics before the exam and it helps in devising a smart strategy to maximize marks with relatively less effort.

    Writing Your Own Notes Helps In Retaining For Long Time

    Many studies have proved that learning outcomes improve when writing is incorporated into it. For example, if one student reads ready-made notes and another student makes his own notes in his own language, the latter has more chances of understanding and performing better in the examination. So, note making is always recommended for students and it has been part of the conventional method of classroom teaching wherein students make their own notes in the classroom for a comprehensive understanding of the topics. It also keeps the students active and engaged during the leacures.

    Use Of Mnemonics To Memorize Important Information

    A mnemonic refers to a strategy which is designed to help students enhance their memory of important information. There are a lot of facts and data which are difficult to memorize. These techniques can be used to memorize such things. For example, In Chemistry there is a lot of factual information which needs to be memorized. Students can incorporate mnemonics in their notes to make it easier for them to memorize. Also they can relate certain topics to their real life events which can help them better understand and retain the information for a longer duration.

    More Student Friendly, Eye Catching And Aesthetically Pleasing

    Students have the liberty to use common terms, multiple-colour pens, incorporate different styles of writing etc. These aspects add value to one's notes in such a manner that it becomes easy to comprehend and revise notes without feeling bored. Having self notes gives students an option of editing or incorporating anything new in order to update their notes. Different colour pens, apart from making notes beautiful, can help in classifying topics according to their importance levels. Like black colour pens can be used to highlight the most important topics, pink colour pens can be used to highlight less important topics and so on and so forth. Also the notes written in our handwriting gives us more ease while reading and revising before the examination.

    The points discussed above broadly highlight the importance of note making, however as mentioned, to reap the full benefits, note making is a skill which must be mastered. There are certain guidelines to be followed while making self notes and certain things which need to be avoided in order to make good quality notes. The following points must be kept in mind to make effective notes

    Write In Your Own Words

    Simple, and very crisp words in your own language must be incorporated into the notes which make it more handy and articulate. Try to avoid difficult words and use mnemonics etc, to make notes more easier to understand. Students can use real life examples to memorize facts and figures.

    Do Not Write Everything, Avoid Redundant Information

    Notes must incorporate only things which are required to understand the topics. Write short and succinct sentences which include abbreviation and symbols. Some students have the habit of writing every detail and nuances of the topics which make note making exercise counterproductive as it makes notes very bulky. It also leads to duplication of efforts and makes it difficult to revise before the examination. Also due to the bulkiness, students find it difficult to revise properly and hence eventually loses interest in reading those topics.

    Use Separate Notebook For Different Subjects

    Every subject must have a separate notebook for note making. Some students make notes of all the subjects in a single notebook which creates confusion in later stages as it becomes difficult to segregate and locate the topics. This can increase the burden during examinations. Hence separation is highly recommended.

    Use Of Diagrams, Flowcharts

    Students can use diagrams and flowcharts, it has many fold benefits:

    1. Diagrams and flowcharts can articulate huge information in concise form

    2. Easier to revise

    3. Pictographic memory helps in retaining information for a long duration.

    Underlining And Highlighting Important Concepts

    Important topics, points, facts and figures must be underlined with different colour pens. It helps in quick revision of important information before the exam. There are a few things which are difficult to memorize like factual information of Inorganic Chemistry. Students can highlight such information so as to go through it just before the examination in order to remember it well..

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