[WalterBright]

I'm glad you found what worked for you! Everybody's different.

I've counselled students headed off to college, and I'd give them my recommendations (these days, I included taking notes by hand as that seems to be far more effective, and leave the laptop at the dorm). None followed it at first, and got poor results, then did, and things improved dramatically.

One thing I wish I had done was get a cheap cassette recorder and record the lectures. My notes were effective at exam time because they'd evoke the lecture memories, but are gibberish today because they completely lack context. I'd also have something special today to donate to the Caltech archives. All those lectures are lost to time.

P.S. with your username, you had to be a techer!