First off, I'd have to say I'm a very skilled test taker and very good at studying. I've studied for so many exams in my life, and I've gotten so used to it that I'm almost like a study-machine when I get down to it, lol.

I study by making notes. I type them out. For one exam, I will typically type out around 30 pages of single-spaced notes in 10 point font (yes, lots of detail). I also organize the information into tables. Then I read and highlight my notes. If the stuff is all route memorization, I will sometimes make flashcards. I find I retain information by writing it out. In the last day before an exam, my mind becomes extremely sharp, and I am able to retain info just by reading and highlighting my textbooks. But that's just the last 24 hours or so before an exam that I'm able to retain simply by reading.

other stuff:
- I need complete quiet to study. No music, no noise, no talking.

- I need to be comfortable. I have a desk set up in front of my bed. I sit on the bed, lean against a backrest, and I have my laptap on the desk. I can't study well sitting on a chair. It has to be a bed, generally, with my legs crossed.

- I try not to take breaks. When I take breaks, I find I have trouble getting back into the material. I know this goes against all the recommendations, but really I do much better without breaks.

- I feed myself a steady diet of energy drinks and chocolate. My brain needs the caffeine and sugar to work.

- I never sleep the night before an exam. I find I forget everything I studied if I sleep before an exam. Yes, again this goes against all the recommendations, but it's what works for me.

- I love textbooks. I study from textbooks (summarize by taking notes).

- If possible, I study whatever I'm in the mood for studying. If I'm feeling in the mood for math, I study math. If I'm feeling in the mood for microbiology, I study that. I go with my mood. Sometimes I just feel like memorizing things. Other times I feel up to deep thinking, so I use that mood to study a new complicated theory. Use your moods. Studying something you are not in the mood for studying is typically unproductive. Obviously, this doesn't always work, but generally, if you are taking multiple classes, it works. When I was studying for the MCATs, for example, some days I really felt like studying physics, other days I really felt like studying bio, then other days I was in the mood for verbal.

- If I'm just really not in the mood for studying, period, I don't study. It's pointless. I'll get something else done instead (like chores). I don't stick to a 'study schedule'. I hate schedules.

- To make studying more fun, if I find something in the materal particularly intriguing, I'll look it up on wikipedia, and then do the whole jumping from link-to-link thing in wiki. Sometimes I will look up youtube videos on the subject (like once I was studying rabies and I looked up youtube videos on rabies). When you read for interest, you retain the material amazingly well!

- If I really need motivation, I go to the library/study room. It's quiet, and seeing other people study gets me in the mood for studying as well. It's nice to have quiet company, sometimes.

- I almost never go to class. I find classes useless, generally speaking.