The 3 Reasons Why Taking Notes During Advising Sessions is So Important and 3 Suggestions for How to Take Good Notes!

 

Why Taking Notes is so Important!

  1. Taking notes during advising sessions makes it possible to remember what happened.
    It’s hard to remember all of the things that go on during your advising session. Taking notes helps you to keep track of everything that you discussed with your advisor. If you forget what happens, you can always refer back to your notes!
  1. Taking notes helps you to stay focused.

Taking notes helps you to focus on the key points that you cover in your advising session. They help you to pinpoint the important things and helps you to prioritize your tasks.

  1. Taking notes can help you to keep track of the questions you asked your advisor and may help you develop new questions you have for your advisor that you can ask them at your next advising appointment.

If your advisor helps you to find a solution to a question you asked and that same question arises in the future, you can always refer back to your notes to try to resolve your question on your own. Also, as your advisor answers the questions you have, more questions may arise. You can then make notes of the specific questions you want to ask your advisor at your next advising appointment, to make sure you can continue to progress in the tasks you want to complete.

How to Take Good Notes During and Advising Appointment!

  1. Use a pen and paper.

Taking your notes on pen and paper keeps your conversation with your advisor more open and personal. It can be hard to make good eye contact with a screen front of your face. Electronic devices also are more prone to causing distractions, such as notifications or the ability to open other browsers while your advisor is explaining something, and you might miss some important information that you advisor is tell you. It may be old fashioned, but pen and paper work best.

  1. Just highlight the key points.

Making categories in your notes like “Classes” and “Internships” is a great way to only highlight the key points. It’s impossible to write down everything single thing you and your advisor talk about at your appointment, but keeping track of the key points will help you to have a solid list of your questions that were answered and the tasks you developed from your appointment.

  1. Learn shorthand.

It can be tough to write everything out word for word at your advising appointment. Learning how to use shorthand, such as w/ means with, helps you to get more information on the paper at a quicker pace. Having a legend of all of your shorthand and what it means may be very helpful when you look back at your notes, so you can understand what you wrote.

Author: Nicholas Livingston