Comp Sci Students - How do you organise all your notes??

Based on 2 years of experience surrounded by fellow compsci undergrads: very few people keep ringbinders or folders of stuff. In fact, most people don't even take notes after the first term.

I can't speak for all unis, but where I study the online lecture notes are of a high quality. Comp Sci lecturers at my uni usually make incredibly good notes - unless they're one of the few who make awful online notes out of laziness or some 1980s theory about correct way to present information. In my case only 2 out of the many many lecturers I've had have been like this. In there cases its probably worth keeping detailed notes for you to read back yourself.

But personally I take a laptop to every lecture, keep the slides open on my computer but have pen and paper in front of me. If the lecturer says something NOT on the slides, I write it down. I also write down stuff on the slides that I find surprising or interesting. This usually helps to reinforce it in my mind. However, I never ever read through these notes. Its just to help me remember it and pay attention for the whole lecture. Also, if the lecturer says something you disagree with, you can google it (although don't be the **** that puts up a hand to tell them you disagree about things all the time)

How you do it is of course up to you. Where are you studying, out of curiosity?

Edit: Also, I noticed that as time goes on people switch between taking notes on a laptop to taking notes on paper. Make of that what you will. I've been given notes that were typed as a lecture went on before, and found them somewhat lacking.

I made paper notes during lectures, and stored them in a separate ring binder for each module. Our lecture powerpoint presentations were put online, so I could just print them off, match them with the notes I made in class, and keep them together

thanks so much
will there always be slides at a lecture? I don't really understand how it all works yet..

also, sorry if this is a weird question, but do you find with that you have to learn and really understand stuff as they are going through it in the lectures, or is it feasible to listen, then really try to understand it properly later at home? Im the kind of person that needs to write stuff down and draw diagrams etc to learn things, and thats not really practical during a lecture... Normally at school I take notes in class then go over them after...do you reckon that is viable at uni??

oh and I'll be at Durham where do you study?

Like others have said, most compsci students don't need to take notes. Pretty much all lectures are based on slides or notes that are made available online or on blackboard. So everything is kept digital and can be accessed at any time. You'll find that compsci students with ringbinders are very few and far between. Other than the odd module where the lecturer has insisted on providing no notes (I think I only recall 1 or 2), I could count the number of pages I've had to write on one hand.

Obviously this'll vary between unis but generally I think they follow this pattern of "everything online, download as you go along".

In contrast, the maths side of my notes was the complete opposite. Nothing is available online and if you missed a lecture, you're doomed unless you can get notes off someone else. Plus if you've got a packed day of maths lectures, boy does your hand ache by the end of it.

I see you changes uni when you started your Msc in Comp sci, was that an easy process? Could you briefly explain a little about it please?

Record the lectures in either audio and/or video. Take photos of anything he writes on the board.

Make sure to obtain the lecturer's permission before doing that though. Strictly speaking the lecture is copyright of the lecturer

I'm not sure what you mean; do you mean applying to Oxford in particular, or just generally applying for an MSc at a different uni?

Not oxford in particular, but that must have been pretty challenging goal to attain?
I actually meant just generally doing an MSc at a different uni?
What were the reasons you changed etc?

You can PM if you like regarding this, when you have time.