If you’re preparing to go to university in September, then let’s face it - your course lecture timetable is probably the last thing on your mind.

Most freshers are (perhaps rightly) far more anxious about making friends than deciding how they will structure their lecture notes.

But it’s worth remembering that after freshers’ week, there’s bound to be plenty of work to be done.

In the first week of your course, it’s probably best to allow an extra 10 minutes to find each lecture hall.

Arriving on time is always a good start with a new lecturer. In a city university, the campus is likely to be quite spread out, so get ready to stretch your legs a little.

There’s no ‘right’ way of taking notes, as everyone has their own personal style. But a few tips include:

1)      Keep it short and sweet; you can always look up definitions of certain key terms later on.

2)      Bullet points are fine, but they should ideally be separated according to the different lecture slides.

3)      Lecturers often provide handouts of PowerPoint presentations after the lecture, so don’t sit there struggling to copy copy every word.

4)      Diagrams are always very useful when revising from your notes.

5)      Highlighters and coloured pens also help to create more effective revision material.

6)      Many students type their notes straight onto their laptops, so take this option if it works for you.

Finally, if you suffer from dyslexia or another learning disability, many universities will now provide you with a note-taker, so it’s worth enquiring about this when you arrive.

Flickr Image taken from teddY-riseD’s photostream