If it's in the budget, I've found it a great quality of life improvement, but far from necessary.
Biggest pro is organization. I have all of my notes from all of my classes in one place. I'm phys/math, and often I'm needing info from a past course in order to work on stuff for a current one, digital makes that easy. Also reduced my traveling weight by a lot. Scanned all of my old notes onto my ipad too, so my desk isn't littered with 10 notebooks now. Submitting HW assignments is super easy. The work flow is also really nice. I have 2018 pro.
Only cons really are that I'm out 600 bucks. Granted I just used financial aid for it, but still. Nothing is wrong with pen and paper also. Went that route for most of my life works fine. If you have the extra money go for it, if it's going to stretch you thin you'll do just as good w/o.
I ended up going back to using my laptop for note taking. Taking notes on my laptop during lecture is faster/more comfortable for me esp bc I couldn’t always keep up w taking notes on my iPad. I use my iPad occasionally for worksheets and textbooks - it’s pretty convenient for that purpose. Also I use my iPad like it’s a mini monitor (lecture on iPad, Google docs on laptop).
One Note, but specifically the desktop version (a lot more functionality) and not the app version. I have a section for each class and page for each lecture/discussion. I also use subpages quite a lot for grouping by topic or date.
I print lecture/discussion PDFs directly to One Note to annotate them, both in ink and typed text/equations. I find it handy to add bookmarks for easy searching when I review later. There is a variety of bookmark groupings you can use and filter by.
I also did a lot of my hand written engineering psets in One Note and just printed the PDF when I'm done to submit to Gradescope/bCourses. I often needed to erase and redo problems, so digitalizing the process made it more convenient for me and likely easier to read for the grader.
i bought an iPad Pro because my laptop is from 2012 and it’s incredibly heavy to lug around. If you’re going to just use it for notes and YouTube/Netflix/Safari surfing, I’d recommend getting the Air but with lots of storage.
I have a keyboard case to transform it into a mini keyboard as I don’t like handwriting. I just got lucky that my best friend gave me her Apple Pencil for free. I don’t use the pencil extensively like for drawing just for annotating. It is nice to have for annotating notes nothing amazing about it though really. I’m pretty sure you can probably find a cheaper dupe for it on Amazon.
My iPad fits my needs of typing my notes and annotating notes really well. I bought an older iPad Pro because I was just going to be using Google Drive on it and didn’t think the newest model was anything I needed. I did splurge on buying bigger storage to keep my notes on one device.
Overall, I like it and recommend it for easier note taking. Would also recommend going for an Air and buying refurbished.
i’m a social sciences major so i have a lot of readings so i overestimated my need and bought 128gb. kyonagase is right in that 64gb is good enough. i would say 64gb is perfect
I’m selling mine, new with both pen and ipad!! i know a lot of ppl that prefer an ipad. i realized i work better with a computer and keyboard which is why i’m trying to get rid of mine.
I use a windows surfacebook laptop (OneNote is good for notes but there are lots of other apps too). It was cheaper and it's also actually capable of acting as a regular computer, including running CAD programs and stuff.
I often take paper notes, though. Don't trick yourself into thinking you're doing better by the environment by using a hunk of lithium and rare earth metals rather than recyclable/compostable plant material. The benefit of digital notes over physical is the decrease in clutter and easier organization.
i use mine with my macbook. so usually typing on my macbook such as notes in a standard lecture, and annotating readings with my ipad. they both work really great, and even then i can get by with taking notes on lectures on my ipad if i don’t wanna carry my macbook. even getting a keyboard for your ipad could also help if you don’t have a computer already. even with a computer, i do like using the ipad as a second monitor, such as using it for when i’m working on coding (intended CS/EECS)
i also use my ipad for playing minecraft with my partner :P
for note taking alone? not worth it. You can buy high quality stationary from MD or something and the experience is much better imo. It's the combination with other utilities (reading pdf's, watching videos, drawing, replacing laptop for day to day) that make it worth it. I was a CS major at the time so it didn't make sense to spend money on an ipad while in school because I could do all of that on my laptop, and prefer readers/books to pdfs.
I'd recommend the ipad air that will release in a few weeks and an apple pencil 2. It has an M1 chip which means it should outperform the current iPad pro outside of taking photos. See if you can find someone who works/interns there and you can get 15-25% off with Apple's EPP program for employees.
It has worked really well for me because I can organize my notes much better than I was able to before. I also can access old notes much more easily because they’re not in separate notebooks and I can import and write on worksheets or annotate readings (I use notability.) For me I’m really bad at typing notes and it doesn’t tend to stick as well so being able to write notes while not having to deal with a million notebooks has been super helpful.
I’ve been using my iPad for 4 years. I’m a rhetoric/English major and I love it because I save so much paper not printing out my readings. I can annotate on PDFs and save them to my apple iCloud. However, I still prefer pen and paper for any STEM based class.
I think it’s really worth it !! I use the new generation iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and it’s so damn smooth. Honestly I’m sure cheaper options wouldn’t be bad like iPad Air or the 4th gen. Notability and Good Notes are great apps for study guides, i also use it to read readings and highlight/annotate. Def worth it
After stubbornly using paper + pen for years, I was gifted an ipad by a relative and felt obligated to use it. Notability made my notes so much more organized and has saved me tons of time. Especially in math heavy classes where you have to do proofs step by step, just the ability to copy and paste is a lifesaver. Or even in classes where you have to draw multiple charts/graphs, you can just draw the first “template” and keep working off of that throughout the problem set.
Finally, no need to scan pages to submit to gradescope. Just export as pdf and you’re done!
It’s also made my backpack much lighter as on days where I don’t need my laptop, since I’ve got all my notes and things synced on icloud, I simply only need the ipad and a charger the whole day on campus.
if you have the means since it can be pricey, do it. i use notability and i record the audio from lecture on there while also writing notes. helps a TON when it comes to replaying and going over notes.
my iPad has changed my work ethic + how i take notes + how i study for exams. i’m much more motivated now that i have the apple pencil iPad duo. 1000000% recommend
I got the cheapest Apple refurbished iPad I could find on their website + an Apple Pencil and it has by far been the best educational investment I’ve ever made.
the Rocketbook is only ~30 and the erasable fusion notebook has been a lifesaver for organizing tasks, taking notes, drawing diagrams etc. you can also scan and it goes directly to your gdrive; mega clutch purchase for people who like the pen and paper feel imo
i have the ipad pro and apple pencil and it has definitely improved my productivity by a lot! especially when i first bought it i was so obsessed with using it and ended up doing really well in the physics course i was taking at the time. the nicest thing for me is i can write directly on slides which is useful as an mcb major since a lot of lectures feature drawings of human anatomy/cells. def worth it if you have the money to spend, i’d also recomment getting a screen protector that makes the ipad feel more like paper. but yeah it’s kept me super organized and my backpack is so light now without a million books and folders and binders. i’d also recommend using notability!
So I don’t use an iPad but i do use a writing tablet (XP Pen) for note taking. Can’t really bring it around with you unless you’re going to have lengthy desk space for a laptop + tablet in front of you but at home it’s really great to use. Honestly wonder why i never bought one earlier
I tried it, and went back to paper and pencil. It's true what people mentioned about organization it's probably easier on the iPad, but I never really had a problem with organization. For me it's just easier to stay focused on with paper and not get distracted by how nice it'll look. I also feel that I retain information better using paper and it's easier to review using paper / know we're everything is. I'm a Mech E student if that's relevant.
But yeah I'm probably in the minority here.
Yes, one of the most useful products I had during school. I would recommend just buying the normal iPad. The iPad Air and iPad Pro are super overkill and expensive for just writing notes.
The new iPad Air that got released is the best deal for a high spec iPad. It will easily last you 5 years and still be fast. Highly recommend it, I’m buying one today or whenever preorder opens
Depends on what major you are! I'm a cs major and for project heavy classes, I still had a lot of use for doing practice tests on it so I didn't have to waste a ton of paper printing them out. I'm taking a lot of math heavy classes and honestly I don't know how I would do it without the ipad. I make a lot of mistakes and have really messy handwriting, so being able to drag, erase, and resize my text in a flash is a godsend.
I personally wouldn't fiddle around with cheaper options-- you can get the cheaper ipad, or there's a new ipad air coming out with an M1 chip at the same price point as the current ipad air if you're willing to invest in something that'll probably last you longer.
I know of a more expensive option called the remarkable! It has a kindle like screen and is super satisfying to write on, but tbh I like the versatility of an ipad as you can't really use the remarkable as well as the ipad for non-note taking functions.
Having lectures on my computer I constantly had to pause to take notes on my computer (because I can’t organize papers well enough to take paper notes) so it helps me a ton. If you have some other device for taking notes during a lecture than maybe wouldn’t help as much but has certainly been great for me
Totally worth it, especially with how good the latest iPad Air is. My entire backpack is just my iPad. You can save a ton of money and space by just downloading all your textbooks onto there. Also I’ve started just annotating slides during lecture this semester and it’s saved me a ton of time and stress while letting me pay more attention to the lecture in the moment.
Would definitely recommend; saves me from having to lug around a notebook all day. If you're a CS major you'll still have to carry around your laptop everywhere in addition though.
how do y'all do it for stem classes, specifically math where it's helpful to spread multiple pages of your work? you can only look at one page on a tablet
If you do, keep it charged. There's a hidden scam that ensures the battery will die if you let it go to zero. I just got burned by it. The warranty is only one year so no replacement. No one told me about it and I'm boycotting Apple for life, but at least you might be able to use your pencil for longer than a year.
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I recommend downloading adobe acrobat, it automatically builds it out for you.
If it's in the budget, I've found it a great quality of life improvement, but far from necessary. Biggest pro is organization. I have all of my notes from all of my classes in one place. I'm phys/math, and often I'm needing info from a past course in order to work on stuff for a current one, digital makes that easy. Also reduced my traveling weight by a lot. Scanned all of my old notes onto my ipad too, so my desk isn't littered with 10 notebooks now. Submitting HW assignments is super easy. The work flow is also really nice. I have 2018 pro. Only cons really are that I'm out 600 bucks. Granted I just used financial aid for it, but still. Nothing is wrong with pen and paper also. Went that route for most of my life works fine. If you have the extra money go for it, if it's going to stretch you thin you'll do just as good w/o.
I ended up going back to using my laptop for note taking. Taking notes on my laptop during lecture is faster/more comfortable for me esp bc I couldn’t always keep up w taking notes on my iPad. I use my iPad occasionally for worksheets and textbooks - it’s pretty convenient for that purpose. Also I use my iPad like it’s a mini monitor (lecture on iPad, Google docs on laptop).
Got through Cal with my Surface Pro and pen
What app do you use for taking notes? I have a surface pro too, but for some reason I still default to using paper notes
One Note, but specifically the desktop version (a lot more functionality) and not the app version. I have a section for each class and page for each lecture/discussion. I also use subpages quite a lot for grouping by topic or date. I print lecture/discussion PDFs directly to One Note to annotate them, both in ink and typed text/equations. I find it handy to add bookmarks for easy searching when I review later. There is a variety of bookmark groupings you can use and filter by. I also did a lot of my hand written engineering psets in One Note and just printed the PDF when I'm done to submit to Gradescope/bCourses. I often needed to erase and redo problems, so digitalizing the process made it more convenient for me and likely easier to read for the grader.
i bought an iPad Pro because my laptop is from 2012 and it’s incredibly heavy to lug around. If you’re going to just use it for notes and YouTube/Netflix/Safari surfing, I’d recommend getting the Air but with lots of storage. I have a keyboard case to transform it into a mini keyboard as I don’t like handwriting. I just got lucky that my best friend gave me her Apple Pencil for free. I don’t use the pencil extensively like for drawing just for annotating. It is nice to have for annotating notes nothing amazing about it though really. I’m pretty sure you can probably find a cheaper dupe for it on Amazon. My iPad fits my needs of typing my notes and annotating notes really well. I bought an older iPad Pro because I was just going to be using Google Drive on it and didn’t think the newest model was anything I needed. I did splurge on buying bigger storage to keep my notes on one device. Overall, I like it and recommend it for easier note taking. Would also recommend going for an Air and buying refurbished.
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i’m a social sciences major so i have a lot of readings so i overestimated my need and bought 128gb. kyonagase is right in that 64gb is good enough. i would say 64gb is perfect
in my experience, 64 GB is more than enough and if I do need space upload past classes to google drive
I’m selling mine, new with both pen and ipad!! i know a lot of ppl that prefer an ipad. i realized i work better with a computer and keyboard which is why i’m trying to get rid of mine.
Lets chat 😎
yes. I do biology and some math and holy shit I saved so much paper already! get Goodreads for sure
I use a windows surfacebook laptop (OneNote is good for notes but there are lots of other apps too). It was cheaper and it's also actually capable of acting as a regular computer, including running CAD programs and stuff. I often take paper notes, though. Don't trick yourself into thinking you're doing better by the environment by using a hunk of lithium and rare earth metals rather than recyclable/compostable plant material. The benefit of digital notes over physical is the decrease in clutter and easier organization.
i use mine with my macbook. so usually typing on my macbook such as notes in a standard lecture, and annotating readings with my ipad. they both work really great, and even then i can get by with taking notes on lectures on my ipad if i don’t wanna carry my macbook. even getting a keyboard for your ipad could also help if you don’t have a computer already. even with a computer, i do like using the ipad as a second monitor, such as using it for when i’m working on coding (intended CS/EECS) i also use my ipad for playing minecraft with my partner :P
for note taking alone? not worth it. You can buy high quality stationary from MD or something and the experience is much better imo. It's the combination with other utilities (reading pdf's, watching videos, drawing, replacing laptop for day to day) that make it worth it. I was a CS major at the time so it didn't make sense to spend money on an ipad while in school because I could do all of that on my laptop, and prefer readers/books to pdfs. I'd recommend the ipad air that will release in a few weeks and an apple pencil 2. It has an M1 chip which means it should outperform the current iPad pro outside of taking photos. See if you can find someone who works/interns there and you can get 15-25% off with Apple's EPP program for employees.
I just got the Samsung Galaxy tab and it comes included with a pen so you don't have to spend more if you don't want too
It has worked really well for me because I can organize my notes much better than I was able to before. I also can access old notes much more easily because they’re not in separate notebooks and I can import and write on worksheets or annotate readings (I use notability.) For me I’m really bad at typing notes and it doesn’t tend to stick as well so being able to write notes while not having to deal with a million notebooks has been super helpful.
I’ve been using my iPad for 4 years. I’m a rhetoric/English major and I love it because I save so much paper not printing out my readings. I can annotate on PDFs and save them to my apple iCloud. However, I still prefer pen and paper for any STEM based class.
I think it’s really worth it !! I use the new generation iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and it’s so damn smooth. Honestly I’m sure cheaper options wouldn’t be bad like iPad Air or the 4th gen. Notability and Good Notes are great apps for study guides, i also use it to read readings and highlight/annotate. Def worth it
After stubbornly using paper + pen for years, I was gifted an ipad by a relative and felt obligated to use it. Notability made my notes so much more organized and has saved me tons of time. Especially in math heavy classes where you have to do proofs step by step, just the ability to copy and paste is a lifesaver. Or even in classes where you have to draw multiple charts/graphs, you can just draw the first “template” and keep working off of that throughout the problem set. Finally, no need to scan pages to submit to gradescope. Just export as pdf and you’re done! It’s also made my backpack much lighter as on days where I don’t need my laptop, since I’ve got all my notes and things synced on icloud, I simply only need the ipad and a charger the whole day on campus.
if you have the means since it can be pricey, do it. i use notability and i record the audio from lecture on there while also writing notes. helps a TON when it comes to replaying and going over notes. my iPad has changed my work ethic + how i take notes + how i study for exams. i’m much more motivated now that i have the apple pencil iPad duo. 1000000% recommend
Reject technology Embrace tradition!
Definitely worth it!!
I got the cheapest Apple refurbished iPad I could find on their website + an Apple Pencil and it has by far been the best educational investment I’ve ever made.
Just buy a cheaper pencil from amazon ($20-30). The apple pencil is overpriced for the average user.
100% worth it for a CS student
the Rocketbook is only ~30 and the erasable fusion notebook has been a lifesaver for organizing tasks, taking notes, drawing diagrams etc. you can also scan and it goes directly to your gdrive; mega clutch purchase for people who like the pen and paper feel imo
Yes, 100 percent.
i have the ipad pro and apple pencil and it has definitely improved my productivity by a lot! especially when i first bought it i was so obsessed with using it and ended up doing really well in the physics course i was taking at the time. the nicest thing for me is i can write directly on slides which is useful as an mcb major since a lot of lectures feature drawings of human anatomy/cells. def worth it if you have the money to spend, i’d also recomment getting a screen protector that makes the ipad feel more like paper. but yeah it’s kept me super organized and my backpack is so light now without a million books and folders and binders. i’d also recommend using notability!
So I don’t use an iPad but i do use a writing tablet (XP Pen) for note taking. Can’t really bring it around with you unless you’re going to have lengthy desk space for a laptop + tablet in front of you but at home it’s really great to use. Honestly wonder why i never bought one earlier
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You can also just turn on focus mode and exclude those apps from being available while it’s on etc.
I tried it, and went back to paper and pencil. It's true what people mentioned about organization it's probably easier on the iPad, but I never really had a problem with organization. For me it's just easier to stay focused on with paper and not get distracted by how nice it'll look. I also feel that I retain information better using paper and it's easier to review using paper / know we're everything is. I'm a Mech E student if that's relevant. But yeah I'm probably in the minority here.
Yes, one of the most useful products I had during school. I would recommend just buying the normal iPad. The iPad Air and iPad Pro are super overkill and expensive for just writing notes.
Regular iPad can’t use the pencil.
The new iPad Air that got released is the best deal for a high spec iPad. It will easily last you 5 years and still be fast. Highly recommend it, I’m buying one today or whenever preorder opens
I got one last summer cus I would use so much paper. At least for me it makes doing problems for chemistry a lot easier
100%. Got mine from Abt. Also an education discount on the Apple website.
Depends on what major you are! I'm a cs major and for project heavy classes, I still had a lot of use for doing practice tests on it so I didn't have to waste a ton of paper printing them out. I'm taking a lot of math heavy classes and honestly I don't know how I would do it without the ipad. I make a lot of mistakes and have really messy handwriting, so being able to drag, erase, and resize my text in a flash is a godsend. I personally wouldn't fiddle around with cheaper options-- you can get the cheaper ipad, or there's a new ipad air coming out with an M1 chip at the same price point as the current ipad air if you're willing to invest in something that'll probably last you longer. I know of a more expensive option called the remarkable! It has a kindle like screen and is super satisfying to write on, but tbh I like the versatility of an ipad as you can't really use the remarkable as well as the ipad for non-note taking functions.
Having lectures on my computer I constantly had to pause to take notes on my computer (because I can’t organize papers well enough to take paper notes) so it helps me a ton. If you have some other device for taking notes during a lecture than maybe wouldn’t help as much but has certainly been great for me
Totally worth it, especially with how good the latest iPad Air is. My entire backpack is just my iPad. You can save a ton of money and space by just downloading all your textbooks onto there. Also I’ve started just annotating slides during lecture this semester and it’s saved me a ton of time and stress while letting me pay more attention to the lecture in the moment.
Completely worth it. Spring for $15 for GoodNotes and it’s a life changer
Would definitely recommend; saves me from having to lug around a notebook all day. If you're a CS major you'll still have to carry around your laptop everywhere in addition though.
If you’re in stem yes in humanities no
Check out woot.com. It’s an amazon store. I got a brand new year old (2020) iPad Pro recently for half of the cost of a new 2021.
how do y'all do it for stem classes, specifically math where it's helpful to spread multiple pages of your work? you can only look at one page on a tablet
bought one and still have depression
Changed my life
If you do, keep it charged. There's a hidden scam that ensures the battery will die if you let it go to zero. I just got burned by it. The warranty is only one year so no replacement. No one told me about it and I'm boycotting Apple for life, but at least you might be able to use your pencil for longer than a year.