Everything has become digitalized, but not everyone has the same likes. Some people prefer good old paper and pen for taking their notes. There are many benefits to taking notes traditionally. For starters, your brain remembers much more when you write on paper with a pen or pencil. If you make a mistake you can quickly erase them without the need to choose a digital eraser.
Our Top 7 Notebooks for University Students
We have given you a lot of choices for a college-ruled composition notebook. They are all great for handwritten notes and are quality products.
Let’s jump into the reviews so you can see why this is our favorite notebook list.
1. Five Star Advanced Spiral Notebook
Five star notebooks are known for quality. They make the perfect notebooks for college students, and they have not one pocket folder – but many. They come in the perfect size and offer plenty of options for students who need a lot of dividers.
The twin-wire binding is covered in a cloth and it has not 80 college-ruled sheets, but 200! It’s a durable notebook for school that is water-resistant on the top. It’s not got the lowest price on this list – but its durable plastic cover and self-adhesive tabs make it well worth the money.
Don’t like white? No problem! The five star spiral notebooks come in assorted colors like blue, pink, and even maroon! The sheets make the perfect writing space at 11″ x 8-1/2 and it has tear-out sheets of paper.
The only downfall of this notebook is that the pastel color cute school notebooks might not be the style for you. So, let’s check out another.
2. Luxury Lined Journal Notebooks
This is way better than the mead spiral notebooks you get at Wal-Mart. This is the best-rated notebook for class students. This is a great deal because it is not a single notebook, you get two for the price you see! You get 130 pages of quality paper – so this is one of the best 1-subject notebooks you can buy.
If you like taking handwritten class notes and want a smooth writing experience, you cannot go wrong with these. Taking lots of notes and maintaining legible writing is a breeze. It’s smaller than a standard size notebook, but the durable binding makes up for it.
The smaller size makes it a compact size that’s easy to carry. Also, you get beautiful leather! The beautiful cover makes this the perfect paper notebook experience for any college student.
The only thing that might make this a no-go is a lack of color options. These aren’t colored notebooks, so they are only available in black.
3. Oxford Stone Paper Notebook
Ever spill some pop on your notebook? No need to worry about that with this notebook. You can easily clean it with a damp cloth because of the plastic cover. A digital notebook is no longer welcome. Why would you need it with notebooks for school of this quality?
The fact that the top isn’t a cardboard cover makes it a waterproof notebook. If you thought you could not get better than a 5-star notebook, think again. In the package, you get one notebook plus an additional notebook. These colored notebooks are beautiful and a must for any college-bound student.
This is a quality notebook with an official name of TOPS/Oxford 1-subject notebooks, and it’s easy to see why. The drawback of this notebook is that it only has 60 pages per book. However, they measure 8-1/2″ x 11″. If you’re looking for a softcover notebook – this isn’t it.
So, keep reading. We have you covered.
4. Paperage Lined Journal
Are you wanting one of the best types of notebooks for college? Well, this one is great to complete your everyday to-do list. Out of a dozen notebooks reviewed, only this one has vegan leather. It’s also a fantastic notebook for fountain pens.
The paperage notebook can easily become a 5-subject notebook because you get 160 pages for your school notes. So, what exactly can you achieve with this notebook?
- Make Grocery lists (important for college students to stay in a budget)
- Create a tasks list and never miss a deadline
- Improvise an ideas list for projects
Since you can achieve so much, it makes this one of the best notebooks for students. Lined notebooks generally have wide rules paper, which isn’t ideal for the university. But, this one has dots for making lists. Don’t miss out on this – it’s a great deal.
5. Oxford Spiral Notebooks
Popular cloud services like Evernote are great for digital journals. But, using office supplies for notes means you don’t need an internet connection. A smart notebook definitely has its downfalls. A spiral notebooks journal will allow you to access your notes without the internet. So, it’s a fantastic option!
These Oxford notebooks can withstand a drop of water or a full downpour due to the plastic cover. They’re college ruled lined paper so you can fit all the notes you need on them for your classes. This notebook is on many people’s top-ranked list and it’s easy to see why. The only negative is that the wired spirals aren’t covered – so they could bend. However, they’re pretty sturdy.
6. Five Star Traditional notebook
School and college supplies should be of great quality and withstand light water damage. The five star notebooks meet those standards. It has a space for 5 different subjects so you can use it for a whole semester and not need anything more. The paper size is standard at 8-1/2×11 inches, making them perfect for taking field notes if you’re a lab student.
Five star is a leader in field notebooks and many professionals use them daily. There are a few shipping options that you can choose from. If you live in an area where finding quality office & school supplies are difficult, you can’t go wrong purchasing these from amazon. Two divided sections will be a bit more than 70 3-hole punched college ruled sheets – you get 80. In total, you get 200 pages!
The only drawback is that this notebook doesn’t come with moveable pocket dividers. But, you can tear out the pages and easily place them into any section of your binder. It’s got loads of neat features like the wide perforation and strong wired spiral. Get these while you can!
7. Lemome College Ruled Notebooks
Do you want an elegant and waterproof journal? The Lemome notebook has additional features like an exquisite interior pocket. The paper is thick and high quality and can be one hundred percent recycled. The colors are beautiful and boast a floral pattern perfect for an art student. The notebook is compact so it doesn’t have standard 8x 10-1/2 inch pages – but the lines are wide.
There is an elastic strap to keep your notes organized in one space and sports a durable cover. You don’t need to worry about the notebook opening and pages getting torn out. This means your notes will be safe and easy to access. The color might not be for everyone and if these aren’t your style there are still more to choose from on our list.
Final thoughts about our list
We took into account all of the factors that we mentioned in this article to give you the best list of notebooks to use at college. All of the notebooks above are stylish and very functional. People might think that traditional writing methods are dying because of technology. Many people are starting to use iPad instead of writing with pen and paper.
The benefits of a traditional method outweigh using digital options, and some of the reasons aren’t completely recognizable. For example, an experiment on memory for words showed that people remember information better when they handwrite their notes.
When compared to using technology for notes, you can retain a lot more information with note-taking because all of your senses are being used. So, instead of a digital option choose one of these cool notebooks.