View chemistry not as a hurdle that you must jump successfully but as a great opportunity to become a more learned, analytical, positively critical citizen.        

Attending class is critical to your success as is taking good lecture notes. Since the material makes sense in class, students feel they need not study. They set themselves up for failure by not studying daily. Be ready to study about two to three hours for every hour you are in class (including recitation). As you study, make note of the questions you have and bring them to the next class. By all means, don’t cram the information a night or two or three before the exam!

I tell my students learning chemistry is not an event that takes place; however, it is an on-going process. You should focus on the underlying concept rather than trying to memorize the minutiae or how things are done. Each concept requires time and practice. Once you master that concept, it is important that you understand how that concept fits with the other concepts you’ve learned up to that point.  It is very much like trying to fit pieces of a puzzle. First you study each piece to see its characteristics then see how it fits with the other pieces.  Ultimately, at the end of the course, you should have a big picture.