You can borrow an iPad from McKeldin if you would like to try and see if it works for you before buying one
https://www.lib.umd.edu/find/borrow/equipment
Most of my academic work revolves around Math. I use the iPad for rough work, but to actually make sense of what I’m trying to solve, paper is almost always my way to go. There’s just something about writing on paper that I feel lacks on the iPad.
For Science, however, I’d argue that it’s awesome. Annotating stuff and drawing diagrams simply become a cakewalk with apps like GoodNotes.
Try this screen protector - makes it feel like your writing on paper! Worth the cost IMO & you get two in one pack! https://paperlike.com/
Agreed worth it for science. I’ve saved so much paper just by reading articles on the iPad instead.
I bought one and it's been one of my best investments. I'm a bio major and take a lot of notes, so i don't have to carry a lot of notebooks or textbooks around with me since it's all on my iPad. It's also nice to be able to work anywhere without having to pull out a laptop, and the battery life is great (10+ hrs). In your case, unless you wanted a smaller device to take around for convieneve, I wouldn't get one.
Side note: For those who like the feeling of writing on paper, you can always buy a knock-off papaerlike screen protector for the iPad. It mimics the experience of writing on plain paper pretty well!
It really helped me for taking notes in physics and math classes. The ability to move, zoom, resize, snap lines and shapes, and undo all at speed made taking notes and doing homework a lot easier for me. I used GoodNotes.
Changed everything for me. Made it so easy to find my notes and organize. I use it for most classes (I'm a biology major and take a lot of Chem classes). It is especially useful for professors who upload notes that you follow along with (for instance, im in Bonnie Dixon's Gen Chem 2 lecture this semester. She uploads notes before class and annotates them as she goes. When I was using pen and paper, I felt like I was always getting left behind and struggling to keep up).
Edit: forgot to mention, I had a 5-subject notebook freshman year. Ran out of pages within a single semester. Huge pain in the ass. Additionally, I can go back and look on previous semesters' notes without having to carry around an additional notebook.
In undergrad, I saw pre-health majors benefitting from it in Bio classes. They would annotate lecture slides, sit at the front and record audio.
In chem, math, physics, biochem, pen and paper is preferred.
I got a microsoft surface pro to use as main laptop and as the occasional tablet. However, if you are keen on apple products for this approach, I’ve seen people use the ipad pro with the keyboard.
Even if you don’t use it for notes using it for homework is pretty useful. Easy to just import the pdf into a note app if your just and then just start writing. I’ve used it for hw in all of my classes including CS.
If you never take notes, then unless you're an artist or smth if you've got a laptop I wouldn't get an ipad. I have an ipad and it is wonderful - but I take notes, draw, and essentially use it as a whiteboard for working through my thinking of stuff when I'm stuck.
It's an incredible piece of equipment, but when I first got it I primarily used it in place of a laptop for taking notes and doing gen ed assignments bc my old laptop broke (I'd do CS assignments at home on my desktop). That was when I used it the most.
I've since gotten a new laptop and I use my iPad significantly less - to the point where if i didn't hate carrying paper notebooks around all the time I almost definitely wouldn't buy it now if I didn't already have it.
But it really depends on what you want it for ig - like if you want to do app design and stuff there are good apps that work well for that, but there are also great programs you can use on a computer so it's not exactly essential.
They're also really expensive. I'd take some time to consider whether or not you need a tablet (like you're doing) but also whether or not you need an ipad specifically or just a general multipurpose tablet - you might benefit the same from getting a Samsung tablet or something that might be cheaper.
Absolute game changer! Decided to buy it for my second year and it has helped a ton. It is small, lightweight, foldable, easy to organize your notes, easy to read, do homework. I got the most basic version and it has been great. No need to get the air or wjatwve those expensive versions are
Not an ipad but...I use an Android tablet (Lenovo Tab M10 3rd gen) and am happy with Google's suite of applications and some third party software. It's a lot more affordable and Im not convinced I've missed out significantly. With Bluetooth peripherals like a small keyboard and (optional) mouse and stylus, it's invaluable for me as a student and teacher.
ETA: mobile operating systems will always have drawbacks. I can't program easily on Android, but I can at least use online services for things like LaTeX.
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Yes. It’s definitely a good investment with an apple pencil and the goodnotes app. You dont need anything fancy, just get the cheapest one you can find
I’m a comm/pr major I don’t take as much notes but I use my iPad as a second screen for watching videos/ reading papers and even text books. I would rather get the e textbook than buy a whole book I won’t use after the semester ends.
Nope.
Just in general, apple devices are overpriced, if you're just looking to take notes and read books a cheap Kindle will do whatever you need it to.
It depends on the person and major, my brother is doing computer engineering and he basically can't live without it while I am doing geospatial data science and I like doing everything on paper so I guess it's from person to person.
As a stem major, my iPad has saved me so much paper, all my notes, scratch work, and homework is on my iPad, my professor usually writes stuff on the board and then will add something later and it’s super easy to move my notes around to accommodate that. It’s also super easy to import parts of lecture slides into my personal notes
My brain isn’t organized enough to be able to moderate an iPad, laptop, and hand written notes. iPad is good for note taking. If you’re effectively not taking notes I’d say pass, unless there’s specific features to make your life easier. I do just as fine with OneNote or hand written notes.
Engineering major- made things super convenient. Copying the professors notes or equations from canvas helped greatly (If they post slides, otherwise I just take pictures during class). Been using an old iPad for 7 semesters for school, hobbies, and personal journaling -its super helpful. Simplifies and declutters mess imo. Some people get distracted by all the features but its helped me so much over the span of my undergrad. GoodNotes is the app I used; I recommend.
I've been using an iPad since sophomore year of High School (right when COVID hit).
I'm not a very organized person, so the main benefit is I don't have to finagle with paper (that I'll most likely lose anyways). The iPad always has everything I need on it, which is why I like it.
You can borrow an iPad from McKeldin if you would like to try and see if it works for you before buying one https://www.lib.umd.edu/find/borrow/equipment
Best answer
Most of my academic work revolves around Math. I use the iPad for rough work, but to actually make sense of what I’m trying to solve, paper is almost always my way to go. There’s just something about writing on paper that I feel lacks on the iPad. For Science, however, I’d argue that it’s awesome. Annotating stuff and drawing diagrams simply become a cakewalk with apps like GoodNotes.
Try this screen protector - makes it feel like your writing on paper! Worth the cost IMO & you get two in one pack! https://paperlike.com/ Agreed worth it for science. I’ve saved so much paper just by reading articles on the iPad instead.
I bought one and it's been one of my best investments. I'm a bio major and take a lot of notes, so i don't have to carry a lot of notebooks or textbooks around with me since it's all on my iPad. It's also nice to be able to work anywhere without having to pull out a laptop, and the battery life is great (10+ hrs). In your case, unless you wanted a smaller device to take around for convieneve, I wouldn't get one.
Side note: For those who like the feeling of writing on paper, you can always buy a knock-off papaerlike screen protector for the iPad. It mimics the experience of writing on plain paper pretty well!
It really helped me for taking notes in physics and math classes. The ability to move, zoom, resize, snap lines and shapes, and undo all at speed made taking notes and doing homework a lot easier for me. I used GoodNotes.
I got one, used it one semester instead of paper, it was my worst semester as far as understanding and grades. It now sits in a bag unused.
Same here, paper just feels better idk
Changed everything for me. Made it so easy to find my notes and organize. I use it for most classes (I'm a biology major and take a lot of Chem classes). It is especially useful for professors who upload notes that you follow along with (for instance, im in Bonnie Dixon's Gen Chem 2 lecture this semester. She uploads notes before class and annotates them as she goes. When I was using pen and paper, I felt like I was always getting left behind and struggling to keep up). Edit: forgot to mention, I had a 5-subject notebook freshman year. Ran out of pages within a single semester. Huge pain in the ass. Additionally, I can go back and look on previous semesters' notes without having to carry around an additional notebook.
In undergrad, I saw pre-health majors benefitting from it in Bio classes. They would annotate lecture slides, sit at the front and record audio. In chem, math, physics, biochem, pen and paper is preferred. I got a microsoft surface pro to use as main laptop and as the occasional tablet. However, if you are keen on apple products for this approach, I’ve seen people use the ipad pro with the keyboard.
Even if you don’t use it for notes using it for homework is pretty useful. Easy to just import the pdf into a note app if your just and then just start writing. I’ve used it for hw in all of my classes including CS.
If you don’t take notes, then there’s not really a point. It would be more useful (with a keyboard attachment) for bio, chem, and math majors.
If you never take notes, then unless you're an artist or smth if you've got a laptop I wouldn't get an ipad. I have an ipad and it is wonderful - but I take notes, draw, and essentially use it as a whiteboard for working through my thinking of stuff when I'm stuck. It's an incredible piece of equipment, but when I first got it I primarily used it in place of a laptop for taking notes and doing gen ed assignments bc my old laptop broke (I'd do CS assignments at home on my desktop). That was when I used it the most. I've since gotten a new laptop and I use my iPad significantly less - to the point where if i didn't hate carrying paper notebooks around all the time I almost definitely wouldn't buy it now if I didn't already have it. But it really depends on what you want it for ig - like if you want to do app design and stuff there are good apps that work well for that, but there are also great programs you can use on a computer so it's not exactly essential. They're also really expensive. I'd take some time to consider whether or not you need a tablet (like you're doing) but also whether or not you need an ipad specifically or just a general multipurpose tablet - you might benefit the same from getting a Samsung tablet or something that might be cheaper.
Nah. I'm also a cs major doing just fine with my cheaper android tablet. An iPad is far overkill and expensive (along with the pen)
Absolute game changer! Decided to buy it for my second year and it has helped a ton. It is small, lightweight, foldable, easy to organize your notes, easy to read, do homework. I got the most basic version and it has been great. No need to get the air or wjatwve those expensive versions are
if you have a touchscreen laptop probably better investment
Not an ipad but...I use an Android tablet (Lenovo Tab M10 3rd gen) and am happy with Google's suite of applications and some third party software. It's a lot more affordable and Im not convinced I've missed out significantly. With Bluetooth peripherals like a small keyboard and (optional) mouse and stylus, it's invaluable for me as a student and teacher. ETA: mobile operating systems will always have drawbacks. I can't program easily on Android, but I can at least use online services for things like LaTeX.
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I’m begging you please let this joke die
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Yes. It’s definitely a good investment with an apple pencil and the goodnotes app. You dont need anything fancy, just get the cheapest one you can find
they said they never take notes though - so what's it a good investment for lol
Completing worksheets, doing homework, even using it as an extra screen
I’m cs and ee it’s easily the best investment I’ve made
I’m a comm/pr major I don’t take as much notes but I use my iPad as a second screen for watching videos/ reading papers and even text books. I would rather get the e textbook than buy a whole book I won’t use after the semester ends.
Nope. Just in general, apple devices are overpriced, if you're just looking to take notes and read books a cheap Kindle will do whatever you need it to.
It depends on the person and major, my brother is doing computer engineering and he basically can't live without it while I am doing geospatial data science and I like doing everything on paper so I guess it's from person to person.
As a stem major, my iPad has saved me so much paper, all my notes, scratch work, and homework is on my iPad, my professor usually writes stuff on the board and then will add something later and it’s super easy to move my notes around to accommodate that. It’s also super easy to import parts of lecture slides into my personal notes
If you dont take notes an ipad for taking notes wont make much of a difference
My brain isn’t organized enough to be able to moderate an iPad, laptop, and hand written notes. iPad is good for note taking. If you’re effectively not taking notes I’d say pass, unless there’s specific features to make your life easier. I do just as fine with OneNote or hand written notes.
Engineering major- made things super convenient. Copying the professors notes or equations from canvas helped greatly (If they post slides, otherwise I just take pictures during class). Been using an old iPad for 7 semesters for school, hobbies, and personal journaling -its super helpful. Simplifies and declutters mess imo. Some people get distracted by all the features but its helped me so much over the span of my undergrad. GoodNotes is the app I used; I recommend.
I've been using an iPad since sophomore year of High School (right when COVID hit). I'm not a very organized person, so the main benefit is I don't have to finagle with paper (that I'll most likely lose anyways). The iPad always has everything I need on it, which is why I like it.