GMAT Verbal & Essays

Hi Bullzi,

Note-taking is beneficial for a number of reasons. By taking the proper notes, you won't have to reread and reread the prompt very often (except when a specific RC question requires that you go back and find a piece of information). You'll also find it easier to 'map out' the point of the prompt, what opinions (if any) are offered, the logical argument involved, etc. When done correctly, it's actually a BIG time-SAVER and it helps you to score higher.

From a big-picture standpoint, you also have to realize how having this skill will benefit you in Business School. When you're reading through a dense 'case study', you will NOT be able to memorize everything (and the questions that you're going to attempt to answer won't be multiple choice) - your notes (and note-taking skills) will be ESSENTIAL to succeeding in each of your Business School classes, group projects, etc.

Ultimately, you shouldn't be thinking about whether or not to take notes. You should be thinking about how efficiently you can go about building up those skills.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

I'm going to go against the grain a bit and contradict standard advice (including what's offered in Mprep guides): I actually think that most students shouldn't take notes, or at least shouldn't take many notes.

That doesn't mean that I think that note-taking is useless. Quite the contrary - certain types of note-taking can be very helpful in decoding and understanding the structure of a passage. However, I find that a majority of my students take notes that don't help them in any way.

The problem is that we were trained to take notes in high school and college; those notes:
- focused on details
- were designed to help us remember facts

On the GMAT, those objectives are useless. You should only take notes on the GMAT if:
- writing helps you to stay focused / organized
- you focus on the STRUCTURE of the passage, not the details

I recommend performing your own experiment: try 3 RC passages taking notes, then try 3 with no notes at all. See if there is a difference in your accuracy. If notes improve accuracy, take them. If they don't - save time by skipping them.

For CR, most questions (strengthen, weaken, assumption, flaw, evaluate) will rely in some way on what's MISSING in an argument, not on what's there. For that reason, I don't recommend transcribing what's actually stated in the passage. I do recommend jotting down a note about the logical flaw / missing piece in the argument.

Hope this helps!