Raving mad and somewhat slightly dazed

5. Read your textbooks carefully, and take notes as you do. I don't recommend highlighting--students have a tendency to highlight too much--but I do recommend having a pen and underlining what you think is the pertinent info. You can also take notes in the margins, or if you find yourself really stuck on a chapter, write out your notes. If your prof posts the notes before class, even better. Bring those notes to the lecture. That way, you don't have to write down the main notes, and you can concentrate on the lecture. You can make notations about the points that the prof emphasizes, write down the little asides (the little asides are huge in helping student comprehension, because they're usually examples), and write down questions that you have, which you can then bring to office hours/study group/tutoring meeting.

And this is getting ridiculously long so I'll stop now.