That is a major part of college – finding out what works for you.

I found that if a class is so intense that I need to record it then the fastest way is just transcribe the tape word for word. I can break it down from there if I need to.

Formal published methods have helped a lot of people. For me I got a lot better at it when I quit worrying so much about following a particular format and just get it down. I can organize the info later when I study for a test.

Now the thing that absolutely helped the most was reading the chapters before the lecture. I took much better notes when I have an idea where the instructor is going with the material. Having a lecture as your first exposure to the material is the worst plan ever. Once I got in the habit of reading ahead I found it to be the single biggest time saver of my academic career.