<p>Hmm. It seems to me that the majority of students take notes, so I don’t think it’s fair to say that note taking isn’t that key 
You just must be exceptionally quick and intelligent.</p>
<p>Especially in classes like organic chemistry, I wouldn’t learn a darn thing if I didn’t take notes. I agree, though, that in IHUM (in retrospect) I probably didn’t need to take notes.</p>
<p>I generally prefer to take notes on my laptop if a lecture is highly verbal, for example, in psychology. I just write slowly, and so I just spend all my time scribbling instead of really listening and learning if I try to use a pencil. Typing allows me to actually process some of the info as well. Math and chem are two examples of classes where handwriting is better because you’ll need to draw.</p>