I just graduated summa cum laude and as the valedictorian at my college. I truly believe that my study method works, and please let me know if you'd like further clarification on anything. 🙂
I will admit up front that I had some days where I slipped up and just couldn't really get much motivation to study. However, by and large, I studied a little bit EVERY SINGLE DAY for all of my hard (namely, bio and chem) classes.
Here's what I'd do: After the first day of notes in a class, I'd go home and memorize them. Then, after our next class of notes, I'd go home, review the notes I had learned for the previous class(es)--which was fast because they were already memorized--and then memorize the new notes along with them. This process would continue. By the time I would get to the "end" of my notes before a final, all of the previous stuff would be thoroughly lodged in my brain AND really easy to study because I had been memorizing it for so long. Though it seems like it would be a lot to study ALL of your notes every single day for each of your hard classes, it actually goes by very quickly because they are so firmly memorized. For example, I easily had 25-30 typed pages of biochem notes for each of my tests last semester (we had 3 during the semester and then a final), but by the time test time rolled around, I could usually get through all 30 pages in less than an hour and a half. I knew them cold, and my grades showed it.
I typed my notes during class, which basically enabled me to get down EVERYTHING my teachers said. I would supplement my notes with my textbook if I *had* to, but in my biology classes, that usually wasn't the case because my notes were so thorough. Of course, in chem and physics, I needed the book to do example problems and whatnot.
To study and memorize things, I would open two Word documents. One would have my notes in it, the other would be blank. On the blank one, I would basically try to type my notes from memory as best as I could, and then refer back to my actual notes to fill in any gaps I had. After I looked at a set of notes a few solid times, there usually weren't many gaps.
I do not have a photographic memory, but keeping it in small chunks each day and then reviewing what I had already learned made things much more manageable.
Some classes require more effort than others, and I think this is usually pretty easy to figure out. You'll want to study every day for most of your biology and chemistry classes. However, for my easier classes (such as those in the humanities), I might not start studying for a test until a week beforehand. Those classes wouldn't get the "little bit every day" routine because, well, it was overkill.
I did not cram a single time in college. That is the honest to goodness truth. I never pulled an all-nighter (I never even came relatively close). I typically studied 2-3 hours a day (this would ramp up if closer to test time, but I'd say the daily average was usually much closer to 2), but I'd break that up so it wasn't just one long marathon of studying. I'd tackle one subject at a time. It takes a bit of resolve, but seriously, if you study a little bit every day, things are SO much easier in the long term. It will also keep your stress level down.
This, by the way, also applies to DAT studying. I studied about 4.5 hours a day for 3 months, instead of the marathon 10 hours a day for one month that others sometimes utilize. I didn't cram; I took it all in reasonable chunks and reviewed along and along. I studied in the morning and had my afternoons to myself. Granted, it's certainly true that different things work for different people, but I think my method worked. I made a 26AA/30TS/23PAT.
Oh, and something else that kept me sane was studying very little (if at all) on Fridays and Saturdays. I'd occasionally put in a few hours on Sunday night. Sure, I'd study if a test was on Monday and reviewing things was absolutely necessary, I'd do it... for the most part, though, I just busted my butt during the week so I could have the weekends to myself. It was nice, and it gave me some time to breathe.
I hope this helps!! 🙂