Beneficial to take notes while doing bibles?

[twiix]

Just a general question for those who have already gotten through the beginning phases of studying..

My study plan has been to go through all of the PowerScore Bibles & Manhattan Prep books. LR first since it's the biggest weight, then RC since it's my worst subject and finally LG since I think I already have a lot of these skills down (the 2 diagnostic tests I'e taken have been -3 and -5) so hopefully it doesn't take as long to learn the basics of this.

But my question is, should I be taking notes summarizing points and rewriting definitions/explanations while I go through these books? While doing LR I feel like I spend way more time writing stuff down compared to actually going through the content in the book. While I believe it will make it easier to find notes on each type of question by having my own notes written, I don't know if this is worth it in the long run. I find it takes some refreshing after each chapter to regain familiarity to questions from previous chapters because as soon as you finish one chapter, its on to the next type of question and you pretty much put everything else in the back of your mind. This could be a benefit to the notes, because I can quickly page through my notes and find key points. Alternatively, if I spent less time doing the books in general, my thoughts are that I would have more time to PT and BR, and this type of practice might be more rewarding for the amount of time spent on it.

Anyway, just looking for some feedback from others who have gone through this and what they think is best.

[scandk]

I think it mostly depends on personal preference, but if you feel like taking notes is disengaging you from the material maybe take less extensive notes?

Personally, I read the chapter first without notes and then went to take notes. I didn't really use the notes often, if at all, but the act of writing some of the material down helped me absorb it & made sure I was engaged when reading.

[ngogirl12]

I think taking notes helps, but it really depends on your learning style.

For example, when I'm going through the Manhattan RC Guide:
1. I highlight, underline, and make notes of important concepts
2. I copy that information onto paper and put it in my LSAT binder
3. I review those notes (I'm still going through the book)
4. I mentally review those notes before doing the drills in the chapter
5. It's all in my head!

That's just my learning style, everyone has their own. I find it very helpful though.

[MAPP]

I took electronic notes when I went through powerscore LG and LR, that way I can do a key word search if I need to find anything specific. But tbh, I don't use the notes much. It mostly helps to cement the concepts from the book.

[twiix]

I think taking notes helps, but it really depends on your learning style.

For example, when I'm going through the Manhattan RC Guide:
1. I highlight, underline, and make notes of important concepts
2. I copy that information onto paper and put it in my LSAT binder
3. I review those notes (I'm still going through the book)
4. I mentally review those notes before doing the drills in the chapter
5. It's all in my head!

That's just my learning style, everyone has their own. I find it very helpful though.

This has been my approach besides the highlighting and marking up the book. I just mentally do that and then write stuff down to set aside as you described. The benefit is that it'll be easier to sell the books after I take the test?

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone! I've read lots of guides and all I ever see is "go through books" and such, and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting a ton of time by writing stuff down to make it stick better. I'll probably keep on doing what I'm doing so that I have stuff to reference while taking timed sections and doing BR.

[twiix]

I took electronic notes when I went through powerscore LG and LR, that way I can do a key word search if I need to find anything specific. But tbh, I don't use the notes much. It mostly helps to cement the concepts from the book.

Do you use Evernote? Or what note taking program do you use? I've though about making an evernote folder for LSAT that way I can easily categorize everything.. but the only off-putting aspect would be that it's going to be more difficult to include diagrams.

[MAPP]

I took electronic notes when I went through powerscore LG and LR, that way I can do a key word search if I need to find anything specific. But tbh, I don't use the notes much. It mostly helps to cement the concepts from the book.

Do you use Evernote? Or what note taking program do you use? I've though about making an evernote folder for LSAT that way I can easily categorize everything.. but the only off-putting aspect would be that it's going to be more difficult to include diagrams.

I just used microsoft word

[twiix]

I took electronic notes when I went through powerscore LG and LR, that way I can do a key word search if I need to find anything specific. But tbh, I don't use the notes much. It mostly helps to cement the concepts from the book.

Do you use Evernote? Or what note taking program do you use? I've though about making an evernote folder for LSAT that way I can easily categorize everything.. but the only off-putting aspect would be that it's going to be more difficult to include diagrams.

I just used microsoft word

Did you find a good way to include diagrams in word? I imagine it would be pretty straightforward for most of LR and probably all of RC, but LG would get complicated

[MAPP]

I took electronic notes when I went through powerscore LG and LR, that way I can do a key word search if I need to find anything specific. But tbh, I don't use the notes much. It mostly helps to cement the concepts from the book.

Do you use Evernote? Or what note taking program do you use? I've though about making an evernote folder for LSAT that way I can easily categorize everything.. but the only off-putting aspect would be that it's going to be more difficult to include diagrams.

I just used microsoft word

Did you find a good way to include diagrams in word? I imagine it would be pretty straightforward for most of LR and probably all of RC, but LG would get complicated

It wasn't easy to include LG diagramming, but I tried as best I could. But tbh, I haven't looked at the diagramming in my notes yet, I've been using the 7sage videos for LG so I get all the diagramming help/reminders I need there

[zeglo]

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[twiix]

No, just read, and do the problems at the end of each section. I only take notes within timed sections when reviewing. Even then, I mostly internalize it. Writing everything out might make you rely on that as opposed to remembering.

I've cut it back a bit, but I'm still writing SOME things down. Honestly, I don't think I've ever gone back and looked at my notes besides when I get stuck on a question and do BR, but writing the stuff down at least in a generalized conceptual form seems to have made it stick better.

[zeglo]

.

[lawschoolbound17]

Fairly new to LSAT studying, but, I think the answer to this is dependent upon the person. Some people can absorb material by just reading, others absorb the material from actual application and some absorb material from handwriting notes.

Personally, I have tried taking notes but didn't find it helpful for LSAT studying. That said, however, I also learn more from actual application and drilling more so than writing.

Good luck!

[pittsburghpirates]

Personally, I didn't really take notes from any of the books I used but I took a lot of notes related to my PTs. This helped me a lot to understand which types of questions I was missing and why I was missing them. But like the poster above said, this is more personal than anything else. Good luck!