Reddit mentions of TOPS FocusNotes Note Taking System 1-Subject Notebook, 11 x 9 Inches, White, 100 Sheets (90223) - Black

The SDC on campus runs skill development workshops you can register for (career central, under the co-curricular record events) which focus on academic tactics, if you're budgeting your time already and feel that sitting in for a 50 minute talk is a bad idea then you can still access the handouts that they use during these events on their website : https://www.uwo.ca/sdc/learning/selfhelp/skill_building_handouts/index.html

this link will lead to their catalogue of skill building handouts.

Other studying tips would be to adopt the cornell style of note taking, it dramatically improves readability if you get messy while note taking a fast paced lecture and it's really boosted my grades when it comes to fact recall for short answer questions, https://www.amazon.ca/FocusNotes-Notebook-Quarto-White-90223/dp/B002HG0JDS/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3C5EPRBPH17PE&keywords=cornell+notebook&qid=1568157102&s=gateway&sprefix=cornel%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-2

\^\^\^ link to the one I use, I normally split up the pages into 5 chunks and colour code the edge with a highlighter and it lasts me a term.

When I take notes while reading my textbook I usually try to condense and reword any concept down to the most imperative information, take a paragraph and squeeze it down to point format or just a sentence etc., etc.,

If your textbooks have any 'study break' questions USE THEM. They're honestly an amazing study tool.

Set up a course Quizlet and quiz yourself on your own 'chapter summary', doesn't have to be a huge deck of questions, just 5 or so that help you recall the main topics of the week, you could also make a deck of defined terms/concept glossary from the week.

Also, another big tip that'll make assigned readings easier would be to start studying for exams from day 1, this helps keep you on your reading schedule and it'll put all your readings in perspective, relating them back to the course and the stated course outcomes. I set up an exam study guide in OneNote per each course and fill it out week by week so that once exams come up I'm really just reviewing with no extra work involved, never had to cram or catch up on any readings since adopting this method. An exam study guide is a great place for you to summarize your textbook chapter notes.

The library is also a great place to really focus, you could keep a list of related texts/books per course and their call numbers on hand and then study in that general area of the library, if you ever need extra clarification on a concept you could check a different book's coverage of the material, maybe you'll add on some important information to your notes or find something interesting to discuss with your prof.

I've also heard you could bring your textbooks in to the SDC/learning centre or so and they would sort through the best study tactic per textbook depending on how it's structured.

Practice makes perfect and the more you take notes while studying, the less you'll actually be writing because you'll know where the important information is.

Here is the mobile version of your link

>basic outline method

Cornell method fine? My football coach/geography teacher showed the method and had us take notes using it. No one ever used it again. Investing in a notebook like this one then!

>check into if your school has a writing center

I'll see when school starts.

>If you are living in a dorm, definitely talk to the people on your unit.

What do I say to them? Just go up to them and introduce myself?