[rschaf2]

Which do you prefer for taking notes while studying, and why? Side-bound note books, or legal pads? And, why?

(This likely won’t apply for those of you who type out notes)

Back at it.

FAR - 55, 72, 73, May 2016
AUD - 69, July 2016
REG - Late 2016
BEC - Late 2016

[Andyred04]

Truthfully, I don't have much of a preference. I use a legal pad because I can get them at the office for free 🙂

I definitely think writing is better than typing notes though. I read a study somewhere that said you understand the material more if you write because you're actually thinking about what you're writing. I'm not sure if it was a verified statistic though.

FAR 80
REG 87
BEC 87
AUD 96

Primarily Gleim, supplemented with Ninja Notes & Ninja MCQs

Missouri CPA as of January, 2017

FAR: 80 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
REG: 87 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
BEC: 87 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
AUD: 8/27/16

PA Candidate

[dess213]

My office, too, provides legal pads. I write copious amount of notes, but to be honest, I never review them. For FAR I had 6 notebooks full of notes, Audit I had 3 + several legal pads, and for BEC I've used 3 legal pads so far. Mostly I am just writing down information as I go through the MCQs. Since all of the information is so unorganized, it is irrelevant whether I use a side-bound notebook or a legal pad. When I was writing notes as I was reading my chapters for FAR, I preferred the side-bound because I had information I needed to find.

FAR-83
AUD-90
BEC-83
REG-80

I'M DONE!!

[Anonymous]

Neither one. I can't use notes while studying. It is too distracting for me. I got my degree in accounting with taking minimal amounts of notes. Most of what was important to be remembered was in the book anyways.

[marqzho]

I have a photographic memory. Once I see it, I will never forget it. There is no need for me to take any note. And yes, I'm just kidding lol

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[Jdn9201]

Neither..the only ‘notes' I take are the flashcards I make to remember important acronyms or formulas. I learn best by doing MCQ's and understanding why an answer was wrong or right. I don't have much patience for taking notes, but I do agree that writing it down helps you to remember it easier than just reading or listening to it.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[ohiostategirlcpa]

Copy paper sheets in a folder. This way you can sort them, replace them, insert them, etc.

F91 A95 R90 B94
CMA since 2015
(Gleim books/PDFs, MCQs, SIMS)

[Anonymous]

I write down notes and mnemonics on index cards. As someone said, you retain more when you write as opposed to typing.
I don't go over the flash cards daily but when I travel somewhere I will bring them along. Of course, nothing beats doing the MCQs and SIMs repeatedly.

[Josh]

Off topic in REG, maybe here too? I like CPA Reviewed Podcasts on Stitcher (maybe because I get to use headphones at work?), so I keep working on strategy until my family says I have to pick someone's strategy and stick with it. I'm considering making a video journal, but I grabbed a legal pad from my brother who bought them for his business with his permission, and I'm considering what I heard, to get a stack of legal pads and use them on questions.. the book, etc., to teach myself REG perhaps even follow rewriting the Notes or SuperFast Notes instead as I do more cumulative MCQ's.. I know I have many areas to “iron out.” in my analytics.. we'll see how I'm doing when I finish bankruptcy law/Debtor-Creditor relationships. I got 10 point combo in the middle of REG, but I've been using Blitz and MCQ's prior supplementary. Now I'm considering the reverse, Ninja as my main/Gleim supplementary. I hope switching things up will be beneficial? GLM/NIN vs. NIN/GLM? for FAR?

AUD - 75
BEC - 78
FAR - 76
REG - 80

Josh
“Focus on the future for 50%, on the present for 40%, and on the past for 10%." - Maasaki Hatsumi

[Author]

Replies