Check your ego at the door. You might have a shot at survival, but it probably won't...

If you find yourself on the wrong side of the academic power curve, you will need to maximize your available study time and your study effectiveness...

Don't party or hang out with folks who shoot the breeze more than study every night...but blow off some steam when you absolutely need to, like once a week. But don't waste a weekend study day on a hangover.

Don't go home on weekends. If happen to live in town, you probably need to plan on only going home to sleep.

Work out. If you're not used to studying 16-18 hours/day you will need to clear your head. I usually hit cardio machines so I can study while 'm doing it. That's a good time for flash cards and practicing flows...you won't need a paper tiger for routine flows once you have everything memorized and can visualize it all.

When you get to sim, do "full mission profile" practice sessions with your partner. This means go through start-to-finish approaches talking through ALL flows, callouts, checklists, approach briefings, approach profiles/configuration, and radio/nav setups. Common mistake is to memorize flows but then forget items like radio/FMS setup or flaps/gear so integrate ALL of the things you need to do in your practice. If you partner doesn't have the patience, then do it solo.