Look. I'm not going to lecture you about how you should have started studying earlier. You know that. I know that. It's not helpful right now. Let's deal with the situation as it is.
You have limited time and a lot of material. Here's how to get the maximum result from the hours you have left.
Step 1: Triage (30 minutes)
Not everything is equally important. Spend the first 30 minutes figuring out what to focus on.
- Look at the exam format. Multiple choice? Essays? Problem sets? This determines your strategy.
- Check if the professor gave a study guide or review sheet. If yes, that's your bible now. Ignore everything not on it.
- Look at past exams if available. Professors reuse patterns.
- Identify the 3-5 biggest topics. These will cover maybe 60-70% of the exam.
Your goal isn't to learn everything. It's to learn enough of the high-value material to pass well.
Step 2: Active study, not passive reading (bulk of your time)
Do NOT sit down and read the textbook from beginning to end. You don't have time, and passive reading barely works anyway.
Instead:
- Practice problems first. If the exam has problem-solving, work through practice problems immediately. Don't read the theory and hope you'll figure out the problems later. Work backwards — attempt the problem, get stuck, then learn the specific concept you need.
- Use the 80/20 rule. Focus on understanding the core concepts deeply rather than trying to cover every detail superficially.
- Explain things out loud. If you can explain a concept clearly to someone (or an AI tutor), you know it. If you can't, that's where you need to focus.
Step 3: Use every shortcut available
This is not the time for purism. Use every tool you've got.
- Upload your lecture slides or notes to an AI tutor and ask it to quiz you on the material
- Ask the AI to explain concepts you don't understand — it's faster than re-reading the textbook
- Watch YouTube video summaries for complex topics (at 1.5x speed)
- Study with classmates who understand topics you don't — and help them with topics you know
Step 4: Sleep
I'm serious. If your exam is at 9 AM, stop studying by midnight. Sleep consolidates memories — an all-nighter literally makes your brain worse at recalling information. Six hours of sleep after studying beats two more hours of studying plus four hours of sleep every single time.
Your brain does critical memory processing during sleep. Pulling an all-nighter is like cooking a meal and then throwing it in the trash before eating it.
Step 5: Morning review (30 minutes)
Wake up and do a quick review of the key concepts. Don't learn anything new — just refresh what you studied yesterday. Look at your summary notes, glance at formulas, and mentally walk through the main topics.
Then eat breakfast, drink water, and go take that exam. You've done what you could with the time you had.
After the exam
Learn from this. Set up a study schedule for the next exam — even a loose one — starting at least a week out. Use an AI study planner if you need help sticking to it. Future you will be grateful.
But for now? Go do your best. You've got this.