I don’t know about you, but growing up in the midwest our middle school and high school teachers practically shoved Cornell Notes down our throats. I absolutely DESPISED them, partly because they were forced upon me in an incredibly boring way, partly because of my pride in my own note-taking style (I’m a HUGE color-coding queen), and partly because I didn’t see how they would be any more useful than making a Quizlet, Kahoot, or studying in my own way.
Well, I’m here to tell you friends β Cornell Notes have completely changed my way of studying as I approach the midpoint of my first semester as a sophomore in college.
So what are cornell notes, anyway?
As I was working on this article, I discovered that none of my Texas friends had ever even heard of Cornell Notes, which absolutely blew my mind. I was first introduced to the concept in sixth grade, and not only was it so boring, it was also hard to follow and felt really complex. But much has changed since I was 12-years-old, and I can tell you with certainty now that Cornell are actually quite simple.
The key to understanding Cornell Notes is the red margin line on the left side of the page (that no one knows what to do with and most likely has doodled in at some point).
On the right side of the red line in the “normal writing section,” you are free to write your notes however you like with headings, subheadings, bullet points or arrows; whatever works best for you.
On the left side of the red line in the margin area is where you write questions about the content you’re writing about on the right side of the line. These questions tend to relate to the overall headings or subheadings of your content, and should be written in a way that prompts you to remember the content you’re writing about at a later time.
The final piece of Cornell Notes is writing a summary of the information at the end of the specific unit or chapter you’re working on. The summary is important because it makes you to decipher between key information and other details. Rewriting out this information will help you remember it even better, and allows you to focus you’re studying on what’s most important and worth your time.
I know it sounds strange at first, but guess what? You’re basically making your own built in flashcards. Click here to see what I’m talking about.
How to study with cornell notes
The best part about Cornell Notes is that when you want to study for an exam, all you have to do is take a blank piece of paper, a book, notebook, or folder, and cover up the notes on the right. You can use the questions on the left in the margins to study all of the information you wrote down in your notes. Game. Changer.
If you prefer to type your notes rather than handwriting them, I get it β I am a much faster typer than when I handwrite things. If you’re wanting to give Cornell Notes a try, there are plenty of templates available online to copy and paste into Word, Google Docs, Pages, or whatever other digital note-taking medium you use. When you study, you can type the questions on the left side of the page, your notes on the right, and put something over the right half of your computer screen when you study, yielding the same effect as handwritten notes. However, I would recommend covering your screen with something thicker than a sheet of paper (such as a folder), because with a thin piece of paper, you can often still see your notes projected through the paper, which isn’t very effective for testing your knowledge when studying.
How cornell notes have transformed my studying as a sophomore in college
Before using Cornell Notes, I was a hard-core Quizlet girlie. I would make Quizlets weeks in advance of an exam and spend hours adding 150+ cards to my deck for just one unit of any given class. So, with exams that covered three units, that’s 650 flashcards minimum. Yes, that’s excessive, but it’s what worked for me in high school and I stuck to it in college.
Last year, it would take me hours to make just one Quizlet β still, it resulted in the best exam scores. But as a sophomore, I’ve gone all in on the college experience: I go to all my sorority events, I’m one of five leaders in my bible study club on campus, a member of three other clubs, and I even joined an all women’s non-audition choir. I’m unable to allocate the same amount of time as I did last year to making Quizlets for studying.
But that’s what’s so great about Cornell Notes β whether I’m taking notes on my own or taking notes in class, I’m making my own built-in study tool to use later for my exams. As the saying goes, I’m killing two birds with one stone. Plus, I’m able to partake in so many fun things on my college campus without taking away from my college priorities: studying and learning. The best part about Cornell Notes is that I’m able to keep my own original note taking style on the right side for the major information, while just adding simple study questions on the left.
but alexandra, my way of note taking is way better.
*Sigh* Trust me, I’ve been there. It’s hard to step away from any habit, especially one so subjective as note taking. Most of us have been taking notes the same way since we were thirteen or fourteen years old. Habits that are that solidified in our mind are hard to break. It was hard for me to push my pride to the side and acknowledge that my system just wasn’t efficient anymore, and I needed to try something new. But I’m so glad I did. Cornell Notes are such a time saver, and help me remember and recall important information from both my textbook readings and in-class lectures.
I can’t promise that Cornell Notes will work for you, but I can promise they’re worth a try. Worst comes to worst, you can always use the information from your notes to make a Quizlet for later.