I’ll give you my experience with this:

I don’t quite have a photographic memory but I’d say it’s reasonably close in terms of written text. If I pick up a textbook and read it, I can re-read the pages in my head at any point during that test to try to figure out the answer. For tests where all I have to do is recall and write down info, this works really well. For tests where the information needs to be applied to a problem, it helps but doesn’t always work perfectly, and here’s where I need to use my brain to try to “translate” the book knowledge to apply to the specific question.

I usually studied for 2-3 hours, did a handful of practice questions, then went and got 85%+ on all my Uni final exams. I did sit through lectures, because they were mandatory, but I rarely paid attention, and my verbal recall is terrible compared to what I see written down. I didn’t take a single note in university though, because usually between the textbook and the slides I had everything I needed.