Which is the best way to take notes when studying for the GMAT?

Question

I am not a great note-taker, yet. And I'm looking for the most effective note-taking method for my study sessions.

I've been using Notion to take notes as I progress through TargetTestPrep's course. However, I've noticed that I take too much time during this process. What would you recommend? Is digital the way to go or should I focus on pen and paper?

Eventually, I would like to convert these notes into questions or flashcards (any tips on that too? Especially for verbal).

I'll appreciate your advice.

bb · Answer

It is all about what makes you remember the material. That’s all that matters. I used hand-written notes. That made me remember things a lot better. I only reviewed my notes once - the day after I wrote them.

I never had to really come back to read or review them. Writing them and reviewing the day after was enough. (The only exception we’re word lists such as verbs used with gerund, subjunctive words, etc - I wrote those on a separate sheet snd memorized them while I went about my day)

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ueh55406 · Answer

It's a bit subjective question, but something that is comfortable to most people are shorthand notes and bullet points (who doesn't love bullet points?). won't take a lot of your energy, very easy to write/read, make them as concise as possible (but don't miss out the important content in your goal to be concise), and super helpful and clear when you're revising (which is the whole point, isn't it ?)

CR.
Assumptions
>"Unstated premise".
>can't be a re-statement to what is already told in the passage.
>Must cover the logical gap (b/w premise and conc.)
>blah
>blah

Inference
>
>
>
>

CR. 
 Assumptions 
>"Unstated premise".
>can't be a re-statement to what is already told in the passage.
>Must cover the logical gap (b/w premise and conc.)
>blah
>blah

Inference 
>
>
>
>

AE11 · Answer

Thank you!

Were you concise with your notes? I tend to overdo them because I fear I may lose out on something important.

Did you store them in a notebook or in a folder?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to extract as much valuable information as I can.

AliTariqPrepVista · Answer

I'll answer part especially RC.

You can get print outs of Official RCs, and start annotating as you read and answer the questions.

This is good for the initial phase of your preparation.
You'll notice that you'll find patterns in how the RC operates.

With practice, the need for annotating will fade away, especially for short RCs.

Follow same strategy for CR.

For SC, you'll have to have some handmade material at your disposal that you can keep refering again and again, because SC is very extensive. 
I once counted the total variations only in   Comparisons  , and found 32 variations tested by GMAC in the official material.

AliciaSierra · Answer

Hand written notes helped me a lot. During starting of prep, I made hand written extensive notes for everything. Gradually, you will realize that you are remembering previously attempted questions and you will start seeing pattern in SC, CR and RC.

Sometimes I took digital notes too i.e. word, excel or snapshots but I didn't remember much from my digital notes.

Sometimes I took digital notes too i.e. word, excel or snapshots but I didn't remember much from my digital notes.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi AE11,

I think handwritten notes are great because, by writing them, you are forcing yourself to put things in your "own words". Doing so ensures that you have an understanding of what you are reading. Also, when taking your notes utilize our active review sheets, so you can ensure all of your notes are organized by chapter and lesson. If you need any additional advice, feel free to reach out to us on live chat.

AlexTheTrainer · Answer

Feel compelled to push back on the idea of taking notes for CR. To be honest, “push back” is mild. Not looking to make trouble, but taking notes on CR is a very bad idea.

Most folks know that LSAT LR and GMAT CR have strong similarities. No LSAT student in their right mind takes notes on LR passages. This is so for two reasons.

First, no one has time to take notes on CR/LR passages. But more importantly, no more than 50 people on the planet can accurately paraphrase CR/LR passages. People like myself know how to properly paraphrase a CR/LR passage, but that’s only because I’ve been teaching these beautiful tests since the 20th century.

CR/LR passages mean exactly what they say and say exactly what they mean. To change any of the wording at all entails changing the meaning of the passage.

That being said, most LSAT prep instruct students to take notes on RC. The same should be done for GMAT RC, but not for the reasons that most people might imagine.

The large majority of correct answers for RC reflect either a super basic idea from the passage or some kind of voice/opinion. This raises the question of how one is to extract these super basic ideas and voices/opinions. The key is to read RC passages more quickly than what most are comfortable with and taking notes at the same time.

Reading quickly and taking notes means the only notes that will be generated should be the basic ideas. Hopefully, one can include the voices/opinions, and then you’re good to go.

But please, for the love of Science, don’t take notes on CR.

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Which is the best way to take notes when studying for the GMAT?

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