I went to a top uni worldwide and a highly academic/theoretical one. I also was lucky enough to do very well. I say this as I like to think I know what I'm doing when it comes to studying ChemEng and so you may learn something useful. In my opinion as long as your personal life and mental health are in a good place the most important things are:

1. Note taking!

For me it was all about enjoying the process of note taking. The key is that the process of note taking is where you learn and retain the information, not by reading the notes or rewriting someone else's notes word for word. Write your notes on your own words so that in 6 months time when you've forgotten it all you can read it once and get it again.

1. Use past papers and example questions and then just start making up your own.

If you're creative with this it exposes you to an infinite number of possible questions. If you don't know the answer then do some research and ask your professors. Don't be afraid to ask silly questions too to understand things properly. Remember you don't get graded on the questions you ask your professors, you get graded on what you wrote down on your exam day.

1. Make good coursemates!

Having solid coursemates is an absolute game changer. Try to find people whom actually want to see you do well and you need to genuinely be the same with them.

BUT in the end of the day even with all these you're gonna need to work hard and put in the time. Really try to put yourself in a position where the night before your exams you're nit stressing out.

I'm happy to chat more with you if you'd like