One thing I see a lot with fellow students is the following mentality: "I don't need to spend a lot of time studying for X because I can figure it out when I n

One thing I see a lot with fellow students is the following mentality: "I don't need to spend a lot of time studying for X because I can figure it out when I need too" or similarly "I don't feel like learning about X right now but I know I could do it on the test when I need to" I think that sort of thinking is a classic trap smart students can fall into but often fail to correct. Often, these students can get by in High School and first two years of undergrad but often fall hard in upper division courses. I saw one of my closest friends, who I consider to be much smarter than myself, fail an entire semester of 300 and 400-division courses because he didn't put in the work needed despite having a 3.6+ GPA in our Universities physics program.