Do not waste your time rewriting notes. You’re essentially preparing your future self to study later instead of studying right now! Also your prof already gives you lecture notes, so those already are your notes. You don’t need to waste time making new ones. (You realize this once you take an online class that just consists of a textbook and no lecture notes)

It completely depends on the class and professor, but for me I went from an A to A+ student when I started recording lectures. I would listen to the lectures again and realize how many mistakes I made taking notes or how many details I missed. Just hearing the lectures again kept me focused and made the material even more familiar when I studied. This was useful for classes that tested heavily on in class lectures. It’s a waste of time if they only test on the textbook or lecture slides.

Study smart. If your exam is all MC don’t waste your time memorizing things word for word or writing notes. The answer will always be there in front of you and you don’t need to recall anything. You only need to recognize and understand. Short or long answer exams on the other hand require more preparation. I would make cue cards to practice recall.

Also I nap after chunks of studying because studies have shown that it reinforces what you just learned. So if I was cramming and went for 2 hours straight, instead of taking a break and going on social media I’d take a 20 minute nap. I also sleep for 9 hours every night or else I’m tired af, and I feel that really helps with retention.