Sakura Pigma Micron

The pen for notes that have to survive a semester. Micron uses pigment-based ink that Sakura says is waterproof, fade and chemical resistant, and will not smear or feather once dry, which is exactly what you want under a highlighter: give a line a moment to dry and you can run a highlighter over it without dragging the writing. Sakura also says it does not bleed through most papers, a real advantage on the thin pages of big reference textbooks. The wide range of point sizes lets you pick a fine tip for dense diagrams and a broader one for headings, and a set of two or three sizes covers most note-taking.