Using and iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to take notes

[JavariPharmD23]

I’m a pre-pharmacy student I’m contemplating getting a iPad Pro to take my notes on. I’ve heard good things about it. I’m the type of person that likes to write my notes out I can’t explain it but it helps me retain the information better. Is there anyone out there that’s the same way? If you have you used the iPad to take notes and is it better than having paper notes.

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[NextStepTutor_4]

Hi @JavariPharmD23! Certainly. I think this is up to your preference. I know many of my classmates used electronic devices such as an iPad to take notes. It's a great way to organize your notes and have it synced with all your devices. Just make sure you do constantly save and make a backup copy of your notes just in case something fails.

 

[HipHopHippo]

I’ve been using my iPad Pro for note taking for a year now (in pre req classes). Notability is really good for taking notes, PDF expert is good for writing on lecture slides.

Notability lets you record lectures and play them back in sync w/ the notes if that’s something you like, will let you search them and can transcribe what you have written into text.

 

[postcolor]

Hi!

I just recently purchased an iPad Pro with the hopes that it would become my new device to use for pharmacy school. I haven’t had the chance to get the pencil yet but I’m going to before school starts. On PowerPoint and Word that is on my iPad there are pen options that would be very useful. The only issue I had as I was using the iPad to finish up my last semester of undergrad was the compatibility with my school’s BlackBoard service. I’ve had issues downloading docs and taking online quizzes. Thankfully, I have an old Mac that I can use just in case I face these issues. I love the iPad because it is small and it’s more like carrying a book than a computer.

 

[HipHopHippo]

Hi!

I just recently purchased an iPad Pro with the hopes that it would become my new device to use for pharmacy school.

Just as a word of warning, you’ll still need a laptop. Pharmacy Schools administer exams via Examsoft on laptops for all exams. You agree to have a laptop as part of the PharmCAS application. Examsoft does have an iPad version, but it’s up to a school whether they want to allow it. Furthermore, some schools have specific requirements for what laptop you own (i.e. I think I’ve seen on here that Creighton requires a laptop that supports digital signatures which is limited to certain models of Windows 10 laptops only).

I’m not sure if your old Mac is a laptop, but you can check the Examsoft website to see if it meets the required specs.

Also, I’m not sure how important this would be in pharmacy school classes as I’m just a P1 starting this fall, but iOS excel lacks features that have been important for undergraduate classes I’ve taken (i.e. it won’t display the equation or r2 of a regression line for a set of data). This has been the only downside to the iPad Pro that I own.

Generally speaking tablets will pay for themselves if you rent ebooks, find ways to procure them for free on the internet and use less printer ink/paper but laptops will remain crucial for pharmacy school for the foreseeable future if only for taking exams.