Memo App Guide
for College Students

Cornell University’s note-taking guide is a starting point. Try separating your notes into content, questions, and a summary:

• Main area: Record lecture content with keywords
• Questions and cues: Add questions and keywords later
• Summary: Summarize in 3 lines after class

Include the subject, lecture date, and topic so you can search for the same lecture later. Record the source page when a diagram or long equation needs more space.

Spread review across several days and include recall with the material closed. Here is an example schedule:

• Lecture day: Review keyword notes, check understanding
• Next day: Look only at summaries, recall content (retrieval practice)
• 1 week later: Write content without looking at notes (blank page method)
• Before exam: Read all summaries, intensively review weak points

Adjust the intervals to your exam date, workload, and what you can recall. Record the concepts you still cannot explain and the sources to check next.

When considering several employers, include the company name and date with these details so you can compare them later:

• After the interview, in a suitable place: Questions asked, your answers, interviewer reactions
• After info sessions: Company strengths/weaknesses, your interest level (1-5)
• After alumni visits: Culture, actual work, salary/overtime reality
• Before application: Company-specific customization points

After the interview, write brief bullets in a suitable place. Add details later that day as needed, and save them in your email or notes.

For seminar literature reviews, immediately note key points from papers:

• Bibliographic info: Author, title, year, pages
• Abstract: Summarize the paper's argument in 3 lines
• Quotes: Record passages you want to cite verbatim
• Your thoughts: Agree/disagree, relevance to your research

Literature notes provide material for comparing arguments and checking citations. Agree on the scope of your review with your supervisor, and use subject keywords to find related notes.

Dunlosky et al.’s 2013 review rated practice testing and distributed practice as techniques with high utility. The schedule and durations below are examples to try. Adjust them to your material, exam date, and understanding.

Check the next day (try 10 minutes)

Recall the main ideas with the material closed, then compare your explanation with your lecture notes. Check any gaps against the source and record: “Subject / Lecture 3: main points / what I still cannot explain / source page.”

Check after a week (try 15 minutes)

Write the main ideas on a blank page and check them against the source. In Experiment 1 by Karpicke and Blunt (2011), 80 undergraduates studied science texts, with benefits from retrieval practice reported on a test one week later. The experiment evaluated a learning method; it does not establish the effect of a particular notes app.

Check after a month (try 20 minutes)

Select questions from the month’s notes, explain the answers without looking, then compare with the source. Review forgotten concepts sooner and consider wider intervals for concepts you can explain. Revise the schedule based on what you recall.

Record what to check next

Use “question / my explanation / checked answer / next review date.” Consistent subject names and dates help you find review material in your email or notes. Grades and required study time depend on your understanding, the material, and how the course is assessed.

Self-assessment, company research, and interview reflection call for different information. Choose the examples below that match your current stage.

Phase 1: Self-analysis memos (before job hunting starts)

Document three things: "my strengths," "why I believe so," and "a specific episode to prove it." The stories you tell in interviews are only as strong as the raw material you have collected. Students who start memo-taking in their first or second year using Simple Memo -- recording "what I worked hard on today" -- arrive at junior year with a powerful episode bank already built and ready to draw from.

Phase 2: Company research memos (application period)

For each company, memo three items in a consistent format: "business overview," "competitive differentiation," and "what I want to achieve there." Use a unified subject line like "[Research] Company Name" so Gmail search and comparison are effortless. Information gathered at info sessions is invaluable data not found on official websites, so always memo it the same day before details fade.

Phase 3: Interview reflection memos (selection period)

Record 5 items immediately after every interview: (1) questions asked, (2) summary of your answers, (3) questions you struggled with, (4) interviewer reactions and expressions, (5) improvements for next time. Logging these consistently sharpens your responses with each successive interview. The accumulation of "questions I struggled with" is particularly valuable -- it reveals your weakness patterns so you can prepare targeted countermeasures.

Phase 4: Post-offer decision memos

When holding multiple offers, deciding on emotion alone leads to regret. Score each company out of 10 across 5 axes: "salary and benefits," "growth opportunities," "culture and relationships," "location and work-life balance," and "future prospects." Quantifying the decision enables optimal choices that balance both emotion and logic, turning an overwhelming decision into a structured, data-informed process.