I've just started my second semester, I started college last fall. I'm majoring in Psychology, currently. I'll need to focus that to a more specific area of Psychology later on in my studies, but right now it's broad.
My best piece of advice would be to never miss class unless you absolutely have to. If the weather is so dangerous that you'd be risking your life/your car by driving there, or if you're absolutely too sick to go, then don't (and email your professor to ask what was covered in that day's class and what pages in the book you can read to help make up for it. And actually do the reading). Otherwise,
go to class. And pay attention while you're there. I see so many people who spend every lecture checking facebook on their laptops or texting under the desk, not paying an ounce of attention and not taking notes, and then they wonder why they do so badly on the exams. Your professor isn't going to cover much that isn't in the textbook, that's true. But hearing it in the lecture makes it stick with you a lot better than skimming past it in your textbook while cramming the night before the exam. You're paying for the class, so go to it, pay attention, and take thorough notes. Don't just copy down what's on the powerpoint, put your notes in language you understand and add helpful bits from the lecture itself. Facebook and texting are not more important than that and you're just throwing your tuition money down the drain if you're not getting the most from your lectures. Studying a part of the textbook that you've already heard in lecture is so much easier than studying a part you tuned out. Instead of squinting at the text like "wat dis mean?" you can see the things you already know, and find some useful bits about it that wasn't in the lecture.
For dealing with stress, I'd say don't put anything off to the last minute. Here's a place where I don't take my own advice because almost everything I've ever turned in was done the night before it was due, but I really hate that and I'm trying to work on it. When you're putting something off, you still feel kind of anxious, and you probably won't commit to doing anything long-form that's relaxing. You'll likely just check facebook over and over for hours or something short like that because you keep thinking "well I can't watch a movie because I need to work on that paper... just not right now." Do your work, and do it during the day when you're more awake and have plenty of time (because your assignments will pretty much always take longer than you expect them to). When your work is
done, your relaxation time is so much nicer. And if you get to a point where you're completely frustrated and overwhelmed with the work and you just cannot do it anymore, you can walk away from it for a couple of hours and come back to it once you've calmed down, a luxury you're not afforded when working last minute.
Someone in the thread mentioned reading your syllabus because your professors won't always remind you of due dates. Likewise, immediately write down anything your professor says is due because some professors don't put everything in the syllabus. Get a planner and keep it with you in class. A planner with multiple lines for each day works best - the kind with only one line are no good when you have multiple things due the same day. When your professor says such and such needs to be done by the 3rd, flip open to that page and write down that that thing is due then. Put EVERYTHING that's due in there. There will usually be some free moments for you between classes, so you can transfer stuff from your syllabi and handouts to your planner then if you don't think you'll do it at home. Check your planner regularly to see what's coming up.
This website is very good to put on in the background while you're studying. I recommend the brown at a medium or low oscillation. It really helps block out distracting thoughts and little background noises.
Another studying tip: If you read for an hour straight, you're going to lose a lot of what you read in the middle. My psych teacher told us that. I believe she said the optimum time for retention was somewhere around 10 minutes. Of course, the breaks you take in between those 10 minute periods shouldn't be long. But read for ten minutes, check facebook, read for ten minutes, go to the bathroom, read for ten minutes, get a drink, read for ten minutes, etc. Just a quick break to chop the reading up into little pieces. Or if you don't want to time it, just take a short break every time you get to that point where you feel like the words aren't sinking in anymore. Trying to work through that just wastes time. If nothing's getting in anymore, just walk away for two minutes.
Don't say it's a good idea, but it is possible. But I don't do verbal languages, just the visual ones here. 
