32 Chapter 2 Preparing for an Engineering Career
was applying for. Like most professors, I do not write recommendation letters for students, or
anyone, whom I do not actually know. Get to know your professors and visit them often!Take Good Notes Everyone knows that it is a good idea to take notes during lecture, but some
students may not realize that they should also take notes when reading the textbook. Try to lis-
ten carefully during the lectures so you can identify and record the important ideas and con-
cepts. If you have read ahead of time the text materials that your professor is planning to cover
in class, then you are prepared to write down notes that complement what is already in your
textbook. You don’t need to write down everything that your professor says, writes, or projects
onto a screen. The point is to listen very carefully and write down only notes regarding the
important concepts that you did not understand when you read the book.
Use wirebound notebooks for your notes. Don’t use loose papers, because it is too easy to
lose some of your notes that way. Keeping a notebook is a good habit to develop now. As an
engineer you will need to keep records of meetings, calculations, measurements, etc. with time
and date recorded so you can refer back to them if the need arises. Thus it is best that you keep
the notes in a wirebound notepad or a notebook with the pages sown into the binding so you
won’t lose any pages. Study your notes for at least an hour or two the same day you take them.
Make sure you understand all the concepts and ideas that were discussed in class before you
attempt to do your homework assignment. This approach will save you a great deal of time in
the long run! Don’t be among those students who spend as little time as possible on under-
standing the underlying concepts and try to take a shortcut by finding an example problem in
the book similar to the assigned homework problem. You may be able to do the homework
problem but you won’t develop an understanding of the material. Without a firm grasp of theGet help right away—see your professor.
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