By Stefanie Weisman
It’s back-to-school time! I’m going to be posting a series of “quick tips” on this blog, to help you start the school year off right.
Here’s quick tip #1: When taking notes in class, make sure you use lots of symbols and abbreviations to record things quickly and efficiently. Here’s a list to help you get started:
| Symbol/ Abbreviation | Meaning |
| + | and, in addition to, plus |
| – | except for, excluding, minus |
| = | equals, is equal to, is the same as |
| ∼ | is similar to, is like, is about, resembles |
| < | is/ has less than |
| > | is/ has more than, exceeds |
| ∴ | therefore, thus, because |
| → | leads to, results in, means, signifies |
| ↑ | gets bigger, increases, grows |
| Δ | change in [something] |
| w/ | with |
| w/o | without |
| b/c | because |
| ex. | for example |
| vs. | versus, as opposed to |
You should also develop your own abbreviations for different types of courses – especially for long, complicated words that come up frequently.
And when the teacher uses multi-syllable words that take a long time to write, try to substitute them with shorter synonyms – for example, “means” instead of “signifies,” and “but” instead of “however.”
For more study skills tips, check out The Secrets of Top Students.
Stefanie Weisman 