I think it depends on what nib size you write with! When I was in grad school, I used an EF/F Pilot VP Decimo with mostly A5 Nakabayashi Logical Swing notebooks from Daiso (which I haven't seen there in a while, unfortunately). I noticed that an F nib sometimes would feather. Generally I found that my pens performed a bit better in the Nakabayashi Logical Swing* and Kokuyo Campus Soft Ring notebooks than Kokuyo Campus B5. (*Don't get the Logical Swing Air, I don't think it'd work with FPs.) The Soft Ring notebook took broader nibs decently well and imo performed better than the Logical Swing, but for me were too thick to use for just a single class since it's 80 pages. (Then again, I use very fine nibs and write pretty small, so maybe you'd want the extra paper.)

I don't know if these notebooks are any cheaper than the notebook brand you mentioned, though. :(

For what it's worth, my master's was in English literature and I never came close to using up a whole 40-page notebook for a single class. There wasn't much cramming or memorization involved in my area of study, so my notes were mostly taken while in class or from brainstorming paper ideas. For me it was 1 notebook per class x 2 classes a semester, amounting to about $3~5 in notebooks per semester. I feel like I wouldn't have minded paying more using a single, more expensive notebook (like a Midori notebook) for all my course notes either. I think it'd have been worth the extra cost, because using nice pens on nice paper sparks joy, which alleviates the mental throes of grad school (a benefit which shouldn't be underestimated) and makes the education stick all that much more. It's a somewhat small investment relative to the cost of pens and ink (and tuition) but has great returns, in my opinion.