Do you throw away all your notes?

[gene_pool]

I have so many notes. And I think I want to throw them all away.

But idk, part of me wants to keep all of them so that I can look at how I took notes in the past... just in case I am in some weird dilemma where I need to re-learn how I took notes before. I have a file for all my notes, but part of me feels like I will feel so free if I just got rid of all of it. Another part of me thinks they could be useful somewhere down the line...

Thoughts?

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[ANATOMYgirl22]

Get rid of them. I only kept one set of notes and it was high level anatomy stuff that I knew would be relevant in med school (and I don't actually use them very often).

But make sure you recycle. Don't want to be wasteful

 

[Satire5Texul]

I collected them so I can burn them at the end. As an energy cleanse. Just try to forget everything that happened and let go.
Really did wonders honestly. I make it a point every semester to do this now.
The ones that were particularly nice and useful I have by subject in a cabinet.
Try to get away from the hoarder in you. I had many trash bags with some classes, but they never were useful. Probably because the notes were primarily built to understand the specific professor's class.

 

[Bottle]

I agree with poster above. Also, if you have that awesome, organized notebook that you worked so hard on, keep it as memory. My mom did that with my 1st grade and I love to go back and see my terrible hand writing.

 

[RedPhys]

I have only kept my notes from my last physiology class, as the professor mentioned former students of his that were now studying in medical school had benefited from having the lecture notes (special printouts handed to us during lecture, not our own handwritten notes).
That, and notes for an advanced language course I took, as it contained a lot of idiomatic expressions I think are hard to come by in usual textbooks.

For other coursework, I just look again at the textbook used in that semester to refresh my memory.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I already have two cubic feet of class notes after 2.5 semesters of med school. An important skill to learn is how to find relevant information quickly... Old class notes and lecture slides don't really do anything for me after the primary exam. 😛

 

[itsthat1guy]

I have only kept my notes from my last physiology class, as the professor mentioned former students of his that were now studying in medical school had benefited from having the lecture notes (special printouts handed to us during lecture, not our own handwritten notes).
That, and notes for an advanced language course I took, as it contained a lot of idiomatic expressions I think are hard to come by in usual textbooks.

For other coursework, I just look again at the textbook used in that semester to refresh my memory.

to remember vocab in a foreign language you really ought to just use anki, saving your notebook is just a waste of space, not to mention relatively ineffective with regards to long term memorization

 

[darkjedi]

I've never gone back to old notes after I've finished the class. Part of why notes were useful for me was just the process of making them and maybe the quick review right before the test. If I wanted to look something up after the test I'd probably just google it. Sometimes I'll keep my notes if they look really pretty though.

 

[MrLogan13]

Toss them. You'll probably never look at them again.

 

[tea guzzling traveler]

Especially in prereqs, you'll never look at it again after the MCAT.

 

[Mad Jack]

Throw them away? Hell no, I burn them.

 

[Doctor Dream]

I've kept mine for MCAT studying. I took damn good notes for some classes lol, I'd rather sift through my own notes than google topics I'm already somewhat familiar with.

I did burn my analytical chem notebook though. Every day that class had me like

 

[ScrubsMD]

Get rid of them!

 

[gene_pool]

I'm throwing all of it away now! I can already feel the biggest lift off of my heart, lol..

 

[RedPhys]

to remember vocab in a foreign language you really ought to just use anki, saving your notebook is just a waste of space, not to mention relatively ineffective with regards to long term memorization

**** Anki ... I have a digital list I always add to, anyway. No need to keep using 'flashcards' .
It's more for memorable keepsakes than for the actual value, though the notes do have value.
Been meaning to just transfer the stuff I wrote down onto my computer, but that'll be for later.

 

[Gurby]

I don't take notes. Any useful piece of information goes straight into Supermemo.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

Threw out all my notes along with all the books (throwing away Sociology felt really good).
As soon as I finish this final semester, I'm deleting my premed folder on my PC.
But I regret only one thing.................................. Not burning them ! Gives a longer lasting pleasure...

 

[MrChance2]

.

 

[frosted_flake]

I plan on making s'mores with my undergrad notes

 

[neurotroph]

I've saved flash cards from upper-level bio classes that I hope will be useful again in med school. I spent so much time writing those, man.

 

[Wrigleyville]

Notes are studying aids. Once you pass all relevant tests they are garbage.

 

[optimistic3]

I kept all mine! I spent sooo much time and effort on them all; I just can't bear to throw them out! Once I filled up 2 of those 66 quart storage bins, I did end up getting rid of the notes from my gen eds and just kept the stuff from my core science classes. I was able to get it down to 1 bin.

I've probably only used my old notes twice or so.....

 

[Spirit of the Student Doc]

I agree with poster above. Also, if you have that awesome, organized notebook that you worked so hard on, keep it as memory. My mom did that with my 1st grade and I love to go back and see my terrible hand writing.

That picture is rather disturbing.....................


I personally have all my notes (except for math) on my laptop... So I guess I store 'em forever

 

[Susanoo]

I keep all the notes I've ever taken, unless I lose them or somebody else throws them away. I still have notebooks from 1st grade. Lots of boxes of papers...... Partially doing this because it can be nostalgic to look back on things I've done years ago. (it's fun to read english essays you wrote when you were like 10 or younger)

 

[Bottle]

That picture is rather disturbing.....................


I personally have all my notes (except for math) on my laptop... So I guess I store 'em forever

It is healthy to disturb yourself every once and while! It should take exam stress from you.