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The One-Note or Evernote app may be the perfect tool for capturing your notes and organizing your law school life. Both apps are available for both Microsoft and Apple users and although they are both available on your desktop or mobile phone, I would highly recommend using these apps primarily on your desktop or tablet to take full advantage. Jun 01, 2020 Evernote is a great note-taking app for students that has the capacity to capture a wide range of digital information and process hand-written notes or articles online. Evernote is also one of the best journal apps available for students.
Note-taking can be considered a necessary evil: in order to be successful, you need to take notes. But how do you know if your notes are good? And how are law school notes different than undergraduate? Note taking can be very stressful and time-consuming which adds to the stress of law school. While note-taking appears to be an ability that some people are born with, it is normally an acquired trait through hard work. These are some tips that I have found useful in becoming a good note-taker!
Be an Active Note-taker
What does that even mean? Well, being an active note-taker means taking notes that will contribute to your comprehension of the material on a critical-thinking level. This means that instead of just writing down what your casebook or professor says, connect topics that you are learning about now to subjects you have gone over in the past. This will not only keep you engaged, but it may also give you an extra leg-up when in comes to exams. Professors typically give As out to students that go above and beyond the call of the question (Note: this does depend on the professor, but on average, most professors prefer critical-thinking/connecting dots). If you are able to make a public policy argument or connect topics seamlessly, you may get a grade bump!
Studying Notes vs. Class Notes
Unlike in undergraduate, I take notes while I study/prepare for class and then supplement those notes with class notes. My “studying” notes usually include briefs of cases we cover, summaries of new topics, questions I might have, and things that I do not fully understand. During class, I add any answers or insights on my confusions and supplement my studying notes with my further understanding of the topic. I usually try to include class discussions and hypotheticals, which help when reviewing for the exam. Your class notes should also have your professor’s convictions/contentions on a topic in order to understand what they want you to get from the subject.
Note-taking to Outline
If you have not heard about the importance of outlines (and I am sure you have) then let me be the first to tell you: outlines are crucial to success in law school. Why is that? Well, because outlines serve as your attack plan for exams. They literally outline the course which helps you answer essay/exam prompts. By going through and typing/converting your notes onto an outline, you are also reviewing the material for the exam. This can also help you see the bigger picture on what the purpose of the class is (especially for a class like Constitutional Law or Civil Procedure in which most students get the aha moment towards the end of the semester). Outlines are designed to help convert what you learned in class into an organized thought process for exam purposes.
Review and Revise
The process of taking notes is very important but it is crucial that you review and revise your notes. After you convert your notes into an outline, you will need to reorganize and review your notes in order for your outline to be the most beneficial for you. As you learn more about a topic, you begin to connect dots that were previously not there and be able to elaborate on subjects in more depth. Your earlier impressions may have been misled or off base. Or a question you had previously was answered later in the course. This is why it is important to go back and review your notes, to avoid confusion and strengthen your understanding of the material.
Uniquely You
Everyone takes notes based on their preferences. Thus, do not feel obligated that you have to take notes a certain way. If something is not working for you, stop doing it. The purpose of note-taking is to ensure your success. If the way you are taking notes is not helping you achieve this goal, then you need to modify your process. Ultimately, the quantity and quality of your notes depend on your experience and understanding of the course, so don’t stress about it! Taking notes should not be stressful! It should be a helpful and useful tool that betters your understanding of the law.
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You often see lists online with the title “Best apps for doctors” or “Best apps for lawyers.” Those lists are filled with helpful apps for professionals, but they may leave you saying
“This is great, but I’m not a lawyer yet! I’m in law school!”
If this is you, you are in luck. Today we have a post for you law students who need some help organizing yourselves. Staying organized is critical in law school, especially when the handouts, books, and pamphlets start to pile up around exam time. If you think you are organized with binders, dividers, and folders, we still encourage you to embrace that thing sitting next to you right now: your smartphone and/or tablet!
Here are some great apps that can help you stay organized in law school:
Genius Scan
Genius Scan turns your mobile device into a pocket scanner. It’s really easy to use: just take a picture of a paper document, adjust the borders of the picture, and, magic, the app scans the document to your phone. The result is a PDF or JPEG scan that you can send to anyone.
No more trips to the library scanner!
As a law student you may want to convert your handwritten notes to digital format (read why hand writing your notes in class is a good idea) or you may be drowning in hand-outs from all your classes. With Genius Scan, you can easily scan all your paper documents to your phone, which is why we highly recommend you getting this FREE app!
Dropbox
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We have talked about the importance of backing up your work in law school, and Dropbox is a great app for that. A free Dropbox account gives you 2GB of storage, but you can get up to 16GB more for free by just recommending your friends. If you want to go all out and use Dropbox as your main online storage, you can sign up for 1TB (1,000GB!) for $99 dollars a year (a worthwhile investment!)
Law School Note Taking Software Mac Address
In this post we want to talk about Dropbox’s value as an organizational tool. We have all run into the problem of trying to email attachments that are too large… Dropbox is a solution to this problem because you can upload large files and share links to access the files online. You can make and share folders, collaborate in real time, and the best part is that all your work is synced automatically.
Online storage is pointless without easy access, but Dropbox excels at providing both. Getting into the cloud storage game is easy to do with Dropbox. Check it out here.
Law in a Flash
Law school is studying. There is no way around it. We all have our preferred study methods and tools, but let’s be honest, we try and use the method that takes the shortest amount of time. That may be why you’ve never tried flash cards. Well the Law in a Flash apps want to change that! Law in a Flash apps are sets of (pre-made!) digital flashcards organized into specific law school topics. But the cards don’t just test terms! There are actual hypothetical situations like you would find on a law school exam. Additionally, you can add your own notes to each card to tailor the information or answers to your professor’s preferences.
There are several card packs you can download, each filled with quality questions and answers: 1L courses, 2L + 3L courses, and an Electives pack that covers topics like transactions law and environmental law. Given their breadth, quality, and ease of use, the Law in a Flash apps can help you study for law exams without having to create and keep track of piles of flashcards. Get this app!
Evernote
Law School Note Taking Software Mac Free
While we strongly recommend handwriting law school class notes, for those of you who can’t bear the thought of not using your laptop, there’s Evernote. Evernote is perhaps the best note taking application out there because of the things you can add to your typed notes: insert pictures, clip pages from the web, and checklists just to name a few. The result is a rich note taking experience that, of course, automatically syncs across all your devices. You could type notes on your computer and study them on your tablet later in the day.
College Note Taking Software
If managing multiple notebooks for your classes is tough for you, consider Evernote for your note taking. It not only helps you create detailed notes, but also helps you organize and share them. Evernote is free, but if you get hooked on it there are two tiers above the free edition that are packed with even more features. Evernote Premium is the top level of Evernote and has some incredible features for $49.99 a year.
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Law School Note Taking Software Mac Reviews
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