Taking notes on prepbooks? Forum

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axel.foley

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Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by axel.foley » Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:30 pm

Hey guys --

When reading prepbooks (LRB, LGB, LSAT Trainer, etc.) do you find it effective to take notes (whether typed or written)? For those of you further down the line, do you return to these notes when drilling/PTing, or do you just find yourselves just flipping to the relevant chapters and re-reading? I ask because it's quite time consuming to take notes on the hundreds of pages I'm reading -- I feel it's delaying getting to the heart of my prep, which is dealing with real questions -- but at the same time it is a good way to retain the information. Thanks for any advice.

jk148706

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by jk148706 » Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:46 pm

axel.foley wrote:Hey guys --

When reading prepbooks (LRB, LGB, LSAT Trainer, etc.) do you find it effective to take notes (whether typed or written)? For those of you further down the line, do you return to these notes when drilling/PTing, or do you just find yourselves just flipping to the relevant chapters and re-reading? I ask because it's quite time consuming to take notes on the hundreds of pages I'm reading -- I feel it's delaying getting to the heart of my prep, which is dealing with real questions -- but at the same time it is a good way to retain the information. Thanks for any advice.
Other than markings to diagram/answer questions, I don't take many notes.

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jasper09

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by jasper09 » Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:36 am

If there was some particularly important insight in a chapter, I highlighted it so it would catch my attention during review, but otherwise, the only writing I did in the books pertained to drills/questions.

scootsy

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by scootsy » Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:37 am

I'm going through the trainer right now and find that the review chapters after each section are excellent compendiums. When there is something I have not remembered fully, reading the review chapter is generally sufficient to trigger the memory.

If there was something particular that I struggled with in a chapter, I will highlight or underline the part of the review chapter that discusses this and review it when necessary. I haven't needed to go back and dive fully into a chapter yet to re-grasp a particular concept. They are usually explained thoroughly and easy to understand the first time through, that the review chapter all I've needed in terms of revisiting what I've learned.

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mornincounselor

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Post by mornincounselor » Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:05 pm

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Twitch

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by Twitch » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:02 pm

I take notes, but this will be a matter of individual learning proclivities. For me, the action of writing something out cements it better in my memory. I also deliver rousing lectures on parallel reasoning and formal logic to an imaginary classroom when I'm driving to work, which forces me to talk everything out in detail.

Wow, I actually just admitted that.

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paully

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by paully » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:34 pm

I think it was Mike Kim who suggested to write out the process/pertinent info. of each question type on a notecard. That's what I've begun doing, and I find it far more useful and convenient when doing initial drilling. Don't waste your time with traditional note taking.

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Jeffort

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Re: Taking notes on prepbooks?

Post by Jeffort » Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:38 pm

Twitch wrote:I take notes, but this will be a matter of individual learning proclivities.

For me, the action of writing something out cements it better in my memory. I also deliver rousing lectures on parallel reasoning and formal logic to an imaginary classroom when I'm driving to work, which forces me to talk everything out in detail.

Wow, I actually just admitted that.
I really like your approach because it focuses on going through the actual thinking/analysis/application processes rather than just writing down and memorizing facts/ideas and what the steps of the processes are.

People spend far too much LSAT prep time trying to learn and memorize LSAT information instead of focusing on understanding what it means, learning how to actually apply it properly and doing a lot of practice to get better at applying everything when appropriate. Learning and memorizing LSAT facts, techniques, strategies, concepts, etc. is just the very beginning basics of prep that is only a small part of a good prep plan. The majority of prep time should be spent getting good at figuring out which information/strategies to apply in which situations/contexts and getting good at applying everything properly/effectively.

Gaining LSAT knowledge only gets people into the 150s range, getting really good at and knowing what stuff to apply when on the fly to fresh questions is the majority of what quality prep time should be focused on to improve skill/ability level and score range.

PS: I'd love to end up next to you on the road while you're lecturing formal logic! lol

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