<p>College desks in lecture halls are pretty small to my understanding. About half of my classes my first semester will be 200+ person lecture halls, so I doubt there will be spacious desks available. However - the epitome of my organization takes the form of binders - I can’t work well with staying organized with the whole notebook to folder combination - I need binders/rings/dividers/etc.</p>
<p>For college, I just purchased a 3 inch three ring binder with the intention of dividing the binder amongst my 5 classes (all lectures with the exception of H. English) – it’s pretty large and I’m worried about how awkward it’ll be when it comes to note taking.</p>
<p>Any loop holes to get around it? I’d prefer not to trash the binder for an alternative (or trash my whole system) - I’d prefer tips on getting around any potential challenges of big binder + small desk while still being able to use the binder ultimately. </p>
<p>For some of my professional continuing education classes, I like to use loose leaf paper on a clipboard–and when I get back home, I insert in to my binder.</p>
<p>And a class-organizational tip I learned from one of my sons–he purchases a plastic multi-pocketed portfolio for each of his classes. That way he has a way of keeping class notes (he uses spiral notebooks), reading notes, class handouts, lab data, flashcards, work on projects/papers, etc.–separated but together for each class. He just grabs the portfolios he needs when going to class or going to study.</p>
<p>In order to add some order and reduce the stress and frustration from a cramped writing space in your classes, may I suggest using folders in addition to your binder. You can have your three-inch binder in your room with the dividers and such. Along with the dividers for each class, you could have a folder for each class. When you go to your class, you take the corresponding folder with whatever past notes you need like that chapters notes and your notes taken that day go into the folder. At the end of the day, you put the folders, notes, and papers back to their respective places. </p>
<p>I’m unsure if this will work for you because you said you didn’t care for notebooks and folders, but it does keep down the size of supplies you have at your desk and it decreases the weight of what you are carrying. </p>
<p>EDIT: Didn’t see boys’ post. Looks like we pretty much said the same thing!</p>
<p>Hm - I was considering getting a 5 subject notebook and putting little clip dividers (can’t recall the exact name but they’re basically the equivalent of three ring dividers but you can basically slide them onto anything much like a paper clip) - and putting the dividers on with the name of the subject just to make it easier to separate/differentiate - and then ripping out the perforated pages and sticking them in the binder once I’m done with that day. </p>
<p>I like the idea of a clipboard - I knew a few kids who did that in high school. </p>
<p>But overall - the qualm I have with whatever variation of bringing something other than the binder to class and using it for notes to sort later on in the binder is that means I am without all of my notes while in class, and for classes like Latin, I might need to randomly go back to notes I took month prior in case something comes up that slipped my mind. </p>
<p>I might use the binder as an “end of the semester” type thing - and have everything sorted in it before finals so that while studying for finals, I can carry around an entire semester in a convenient place to tote to Starbucks/Library/Room etc. </p>
<p>I was also thinking about visiting my school this week or weekend and sitting in one of the empty lecture rooms to get a feel for just how small the desks are. I might be exaggerating the smallness of it and it turns out that the desk are perfectly fine for note taking.</p>
<p>I’m not terribly concerned about weight when it comes to what I tote to class. This sounds awkward written out but I have a very strong back, LOL. </p>
<p>Does your binder have a pocket? I just put a few loose sheets in the pocket and take only those out when taking notes. Then I put my notes in the rings when I have time later that day.</p>
<p>@LeighWynter - Yes - it does. So, basically I take out two or three (or however many pieces of loose leaf) and keep that on the desk and leave the binder in my backpack? That sounds like a really good idea - I hadn’t thought of that. I might keep a simple two pocket folder that has loose leaf and pull that out in class and keep my notes for the day in that and then when I have free time (between classes or towards the end of class) - I can just file them in the appropriate divider. Thank you! </p>
<p>An accordion folder or two eliminates the need for binders, and no more worrying about hole punching anything. Last year, I went through 5 AP classes + a Bible course with only an accordion folder and a clipboard. It worked great for me, and hopefully it’ll work well for me this year in college </p>
<p>Depending on your major, you may also find that you don’t take much in the way of ‘looseleaf’ notes–most of my classes had Powerpoint slides and I rarely took notes off of the lecture slides</p>
<p>@Patton370 - Accordion folders are a big no-no for me, I tried using one last quarter of senior year (this might’ve been a bad idea just because I was really unmotivated as it was the end of the year) - but I ended up just jamming papers into one pocket. I like the concept but the practice itself isn’t that great for me. </p>
<p>@soccergurl7988 - I think I’ll probably be taking a lot of notes in a couple of my classes where there’ll be a lot of drills (foreign language) and broad concepts (social sciences). Unsure though.</p>
<p>I like the journals that have pockets in them, so I can keep a few handouts with all my notes too. I doubt you’ll get too many handouts in giant lectures, but that’s just speculation.</p>
<p>@Repede - Do you know how long class syllabi are? Because I was under the impression that they were a few pages long but I read some blog written by nursing students that their syllabi were an upwards of 100 pages. I’d like to keep the syllabi with me at all times and I can’t cram a huge packet into the pocket of a notebook. You are probably right about there being few handouts for huge lectures, so I’ll keep that in mind. </p>
<p>(Edit: Forgot to add - “Then again, I’m not a nursing student.”) </p>
<p>Go to your school directory and see if they have some syllabi posted for you classes. Honestly I can’t imagine them being longer than a couple of pages.</p>
<p>Even if your syllabi are long, you could keep them in your dorm and then just make a copy of the current page(s) and keep that in your binder, and replace it (them) when it (they) become (s) outdated.</p>
<p>If I remember, you are going to be a commuter student, so I can understand why you’ll want easy access to your notes and handouts. Have you considered a rolling backpack or computer bag. You can store quite a bit in them. I’d probably have the binder in the roller, and then just take notes on papers or a clipboard, open the binder at the end of class and insert the new notes. Of course, this means you can have your computer too.</p>
<p>They issued them to us at work as many people traveled, and you could get a lot into the little bags. Mine, of course, is brand new as I never go anywhere.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone - Yep; commuting will mean that I can’t just grab something I forgot - chances are if I forgot something important, I won’t be able to get it until I leave campus entirely and arrive home. I’d like most of my notes with me in case I want to study in the library (or even take the train into Downtown and go to a coffee shop or something of that sort) - or go to a tutoring/prep session - so its important that there aren’t too many different folders/binders involved because the more there are, the easier they get forgotten in a morning rush. </p>
<p>Aren’t rolling backpacks awkward for college campuses? I don’t mean in an aesthetic sense - but if I have a class on the sixth floor of an academic building - and people mulling about, I think toting a rolling bag up however many flights of stairs might prove to be challenging. </p>
<p>If it turns out that my classes have few handouts with the exception of the syllabi, I might go ahead and just use notebooks and then store the notes (ripping them out) at the end of the semester in the binder. I have three classes MWF and two classes TTh, so I might buy two multi subject notebooks and see how that works out. </p>
<p>Some programs (in my experience, some medical schools, but others may do this as well) call a sort-of professor-made course textbook that contains the material for the course a “syllabus.” This might be what those students were referring to. I have a couple “syllabi” from friends of mine in medical school, and they’re really more of a textbook or course reader than an actual syllabus (and they are, of course, upwards of 100 pages long). I don’t know how common that use of the term is, but I definitely wouldn’t consider it the typical definition.</p>
<p>What most people generally refer to as a syllabus generally only includes class policies and an outline of the course, rather than the actual information you will cover in the course. They are usually anywhere from 1 page to maybe 10 pages, depending on the professor.</p>
<p>I know you mentioned that you didn’t like using accordion folders, but I’d suggest that you give them another shot. I used to use three ring binders all the time and they were just a huge hassle; they wouldn’t even all fit in my backpack half the time and I’d have to carry some. </p>
<p>But with an accordion binder and a couple of notebooks you’re pretty much good to go. Store the papers and handouts in the binder, with each pocket corresponding to a certain class, and clean it out after every semester/quarter. Use a notebook for each subject so that you don’t have to bring all your notebooks to class on days you don’t have a certain subject. And if you really want, I guess you could transfer stuff to your three ring binders at home, although I noticed that after switching to the accordion ones I didn’t really need to anymore.</p>
<p>Good luck! Hope your school supply shopping works out </p>
<p>I don’t use NEARLY as much paper in college as I did in high school. There aren’t a dozen handouts every day, and where HS teachers would print out something for you to read, now you get it on your computer and I don’t see the need to print it. I also use binder rings to hold together looseleaf paper and printouts/handouts instead of a binder in college because I hate how the rings always get squashed.</p>
<p>It’s all about small notebooks and folders my dude. Get Moleskine Cahier journal, the biggest ones, and just a box of manilla folders for all your paper needs, which won’t be a lot if you are like me and scan everything and throw it away. Binders are annoying.</p>
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