Please advise: Laptop needed for 1st and 2nd year?

[MINI430]

Hey Guys,

I am about to start up at U. of Pittsburgh as a DS1 and want to know your thoughts about the aid of a laptop when studying during the 1st and 2nd year. Do you guys take notes via a normal notebook or actually type out your notes? Any advice would be great! Until then, best of luck to all of you as 1st years.

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[ItsGavinC]

I'll take the liberty of saying that at most schools students don't take notes at all. Nearly everything you need to know is given to you on the syllabus, and any additional notes are taken on that.

I think this is the norm at most schools.

 

[compugirl]

you mean the syllabus serves as class notes? not like the ones in undergrad where it just tells you what topics are covered and when exams are?

 

[grtuck]

At my school, most of the professors hand out there powerpoints to us at the beginning of the lecture. We take any extra notes off to the side of the slides. Also, the powerpoints are available online for those teachers that don't hand them out.

grtuck

 

[Biogirl361]

by syllabus he probably meant syllabus+coursepack, like the ones they had in undergrad sometimes where the syllabus was followed by 200 pages of lecture notes that covered everything you needed to know to do good on exams. i love it when profs give you all the material you need in advance... eliminates completely the need to read the book and cuts down on having to scramble down notes as best you can in class

 

[ItsGavinC]

you mean the syllabus serves as class notes? not like the ones in undergrad where it just tells you what topics are covered and when exams are?

Yes, a professional school syllabus usually contains classnotes in addition to the usual items from that you are used to from undergraduate syllabi.

Also, like the other poster, our syllabus frequently contains pages and pages of powerpoint slides, or the slides are posted on our webpage, so there isn't a need to take notes during class. This also eliminates the need to do any sort of reading from textbooks as well.

 

[MINI430]

So I'm guessing a laptop is really not needed when it comes to note taking in class or studying i.e. powerpoint slides? Also, what are your thoughts to using a PDA during the first two years vs. 3rd and 4th year? Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[ArmCandy]

I think a PDA is absolutely necessary. At Wayne SOM they are required. And with the lack of free brain space it's a heck of alot easier to place everything you have to do on to the planner. I've had one for only a two weeks and now I don't now how I'd live without it. I regard to the laptop I bought a new one and haven't used in class yet. But I use a PDA 40000 times a day.

 

[ItsGavinC]

I've used a PDA for 5 years now and wouldn't know what to do without it. My life is busy enough now that if I don't write down my appointments it becomes tough to juggle between my school things (assignments, classes, class officer stuff, student ambassador stuff), my personal things, my family events, and my church events.