It’s great that you have created a schedule that will give you ample time to study. Now you want to think about HOW you will study. If you are like most students, you are likely using ineffective study strategies that feel very comfortable and effective to you. For example, when I was in school I was convinced that rereading the textbook a million times (and highlighting nearly every word!) would ensure that I knew everything. I was a pretty good student and oftentimes I would do very well on a test despite my terrible study techniques, which reinforced my belief that rereading was the best way to study. Of course, in addition to being ineffective, my strategy took an enormous amount of time! If you ask any student, he or she is likely to have some variation of “looking over notes, rereading, highlighting, retyping notes, etc.” and each will say that they have developed the best way to study for themselves because they typically did well in high school using that technique.
Cognitive psychologists have spent their careers experimentally testing various study techniques and have a very good idea about which techniques are useful and which aren’t. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t taught how to study and often end up relying on ineffective techniques. Check out this Scientific American article, which identifies scientifically supported study techniques and those that are not so great: https://teachingacademy.wisc.edu/what-are-the-best-ways-to-study-read-this-review-from-scientific-american/ (pdf available on this page) Sometimes people claim that they are different and that rereading really works for them (even if the research fails to back up that technique). I would counter that there are BETTER and MORE EFFICIENT ways to study–why not use those techniques rather than techniques that can let you down or take too much time?
I would bet that you went into your first year like most first year students–relying on the studying techniques you used in high school. When you got your first bad grade, you likely did even more of what you typically did (e.g., more time rereading/ “going over your notes”). However, using an ineffective technique for more hours will not lead to mastery. Take a chance and give these proven techniques a try and I am sure you will see a dramatic increase in your grades.
Here are more studying resources:
http://www.learningscientists.org/blog?category=For+Students (A blog with lots of helpful studying advice)
Video series: http://www.samford.edu/departments/academic-success-center/how-to-study
Good luck!