Everyone has their own unique studying habits, and your first year of university will largely be adjusting and building off of those that worked for you in high school. But as you adapt to a heavier and more independent course load, if I could recommend any platform to incoming students, it would be Notion. This is entirely based on my own experiences and is a suggestion for other avid note takers who prefer to type their work. This is in no way a sponsorship or attempt to convince you to use Notion when many similar tools exist.
Today, students will find that pen and paper is rarely used in the university sphere. Those that prefer the feel of this manual writing style may end up using tablets or iPads. Many of your course resources will be digital and large lecture halls may not have much writing space.
Most students I know use Notion, as it is trusted and compatible with many platforms and documents. Notion has a template titled Student Dashboard that can be added to your account with a click. I had fun customizing the photos and icons for my classes. You can also transfer important course information from your syllabi so that you aren’t digging through saved documents to double check office hours. (Which I highly recommend you attend as much as possible!!)
Notion will also store pages of notes for each class to keep your organized. It can also link pdfs and readings. Everything is organized by class and easy to access. Assignments and To Dos can be created for each class that accumulate into an easy to read calendar for all classes. I also added a table to jot down weekly To Dos in. Best of all, Notion can be accessed from any web browser- on any device. I found this really handy for accessing notes and readings on the go.
In addition to Notion, I used a wall decal white board and dry erase markers to write my weekly schedule with class times and office hours. This helped me keep track of my day hour by hour at a glance while Notion helped me track my month and deadlines.
Any combinations of tools that work for you is great, and there are no wrong answers to staying organized!
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