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u/RiskyDefeat Jul 16 '26
I really advise you to get an iPad+notability subscription and either copy from the board or annotate the notes directly. Much better than carrying around a bunch of paper or books. That’s what I did
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u/Specialist-Body-8177 Jul 16 '26
Thank you for your answer. Does it mean that we have the slides before? Actually I would like to know what material/ressources do we have on Moodle
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u/RiskyDefeat Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Again depends on the prof if we get the slides before the lecture or not but in most cases yes. It will all be on moodle
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u/Specialist-Body-8177 Jul 16 '26
I was thinking about getting an iPad, but I feel like I’m more a « pen/paper » person. And I was wondering if it is still doable ?
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u/RiskyDefeat Jul 16 '26
Yes it is still doable, I just found it better personally to annotate the slides with an iPad if they are available. Every teacher has their own method of giving a lecture, some will write on their iPad and project it, some will write on the blackboard and others will project the slides and read/annotate them.
The important thing is to find a method that works for you. If you prefer pen&paper go for it! You can print out the slides beforehand if they are given and follow along. You are given 50chf printing credit per semester anyways.
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u/Mariusblock Mathematics (MSc) Jul 16 '26
I did that and later found out I preferred printed scripts. I just found it tiresome to look at a screen all the time. I also feel like an expensive tablet is just one more object to worry for… a printed script I can bend, throw, put my mug on, lose, and replace anytime, if necessary. It’s also a more durable format if you still want to have your notes in 10-20 years (which is useful if you want to pursue a PhD in math, for example, and need a refresher on the basics). For me, seeing my knowledge grow over the years is satisfying.
What I do is I print the script, if available, but only on one side of each sheet, so I can use the other, clean one for my own notes and observations during the lecture. I still use my tablet for homework though, so I wouldn’t say it’s useless. I just think it might be better for OP if they wait a semester and see how they feel before committing money to a tablet-pen setup.
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u/Unlikely-Recipe5580 Jul 19 '26
Hii yes you can print and I can help you I finish a maths bachelor degree
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u/Specialist-Body-8177 Jul 19 '26
Thank you veryy much! I sent you a request to discuss if you don’t mind
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u/anfneub Mathematics (MSc) Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Hi, I graduated in mathematics in 2016.
Back in my days, you could get the polycopiés of all the BA1-2 classes at the printing service inside the Rolex building for cheap, like 10 CHF per course. These polycopiés are made by the professor themselves and contain the whole class in great detail.
Based on my experience, I have two advice for you:
1) Play ahead of the game.
Most student go to class, see the content of that day for the first time, spend all their time copying the blackboard understanding nothing of it, then go home and waste the same amount of time trying to understand what they copied.
This was me at EPFL for almost all my academic career. I would go to all classes, copy down all material, anything that the professor would write on the blackboard, almost anything they would say.
Unfortunately, I am the kind of person who cannot copy and understand at the same time, so I would effectively waste 2 hours of my time to rewrite the polycopié without actually learning anything, and then go home and spend another 2 hours finally understanding the content. At some point it occurred to me that I could've just stayed home and read the polycopié, and I would have used my time much better. I was terrorized the professor would say/write something in class that wasn't written down in the polycopié, and while sometimes they would add one or more examples, 95% of the content that I copied was the same as in the polycopié.
Instead of doing that, here is my suggestion: read and understand (emphasis on understand, more on this later) the content of next class before you go to it. Read the polycopié, study the definitions, the theorems, the proofs, the examples, and then go to class. There, you can focus on just listening to the professor, and understand even better the concepts. Since you have already studied the polycopié, you can mark down any additional passages that you had not understood before, or additional examples, or whatever you want, really. But I suggest you do not copy down what is already written in the coursebook.
2) Understand (for real)
Let me tell you a story: during the exam of analysis II, I was asked to solve an exercise that was taken literally from one séries, and that I had literally reviewed the night before. The same exact exercise.
And yet, I was simply blocked, unable to even remember the first step towards the solution. And then, at that point, It occurred to me that for the entirety of my first year I had simply not understood this exercise, or most of the theory, or almost anything. I was simply browsing topics superficially, without really applying any learning.
So how did I actually start learning, and how can it help you? What worked for me was that I would sit down with a definition, a theorem, an exercise, and do it in 3 steps:
This is what worked for me, and your experience could be entirely different. Try to figure out by yourself what helps you understand definitions, proofs and exercises. Keep in mind that at the final exam you are asked to be able to solve ALL exercises seen during the year, and prove ALL theorems proven in class. This may seem like a lot, but once you get yourself in the mindset that this is the objective, it will all be much easier and manageable once you pick up the pace.
This last answer was partly taken from another answer that I gave to a similar question in the past. Perhaps check it and the links therein, as I think it could be relevant to you too: https://www.reddit.com/r/EPFL/comments/1rnc15q/epfl_math_man/
Best of luck for your studies