How to CRAM for an Exam in 24 Hours

We know life happens and sometimes you need to cram for your exam. Let’s not point fingers at how you ended up here, but it’s game time and your exam is in less than 24 hours. Cramming is tough, but it doesn't need to be (too) stressful if you have a process. So here’s our 3-step framework for how to cram for an exam if you absolutely have to. But promise you’ll be more prepared next time.

🙏 Thanks for watching!
- Mike and Matty

[TChoppyable]

When i was in college in asia, i often skipped classes or slept during lectures. I ended up failing the test and had to retake one. I procrastinated until the last 3 days and able to stuff the whole semester worth of text books in my head, passed the test with high score. While other buddies cheered me on, one of my classmate asked me with :”so you had to do it anyway, why didn’t you just do it right from the beginning?”. It’s like a slap of reality and a total wake up call for me.

[harsez]

Love how this video came out just as I was about to cram my calculus finals in three days 😭😭

[drewtree]

Summary:

Focus on high yield concepts. 80/20 rule, 80 percent of test questions are on 20 percent of core concepts.

Use high return strategies - avoid passive studying, mindless note taking. Do not brute force cram info. Utilize practice tests, flash cards etc. find patterns and connections.

Get sleep. Eat enough, drink enough water.

[kpipijq]

CRAMMING
⭐ do not need to go through EVERY DETAIL
1. focus on 20% —— the core concepts
2. learn those knowledge you can understand quickly
⭐ high return study
1. practice problems (understand concept)
2. make connections (patterns, similarities and differences)
⭐ take strategic breaks
1. Pomodoro technique (study 45mins, rest 10mins)
2. SLEEP
3. snack through the day (fruit, chocolate...)

one week before my IB finals good luck

[alkxo]

This is pretty much the way to actually study anything, excluding time pressure and lesser exposure to theories. We just need consistency. A couple of hours a day for 3 - 4 months of this strategy, can take your far ahead.

[aldrama]

Man I use to get so stressed before exams. Dmv Nerds hook it up like I'm on Xanax 😂😂

[sumaiabapary]

my exam is tomorrow morning im watching this now meanwhile having a mental

[candy-xsev]

I did everything you said, I exactly had 4 hours to study for an exam. it wasnt a big one but still an exam.. i was stressing so i decided to trust you, your video and applied what you said. i focused on high yiel concepts got my sleep ( i mean 4 and half hour but it's more than usual..). and i did well ( i hope so, i will update the result when i get it)

Update : I got 74% which is really great for me ! Especially when you study for only 4 hours

[stufftimdoes]

What I do when I have 3 days for a test ( and not revised) is simply get a whiteboard and blurt out the highest priority topics/areas. I do this until I can do it from memory. Then, the morning before the exam, I will blurt and be confident. Confidence is really important. If you convince yourself you understand something, you are more likely to get it.

[hammyhamham]

I saved this to my ‘watch later’ so i can actually watch it within 24 hours of my exam

[isha]

literally cramming my exam as I'm watching this lol

[sara_xueluvxvlue]

These are the notes I took throughout the video! I hope this helps:

**Step 1: Focus on the high-yield concepts**
- Figure out what's most important to study
- Not all information is created equal

Criteria 1: Is this concept high-yield
💡 Ask the teacher what to focus on
→ If given vague answers, use the 80/20 rule
80% of classes are tested on 20% of the core concepts
Ask yourself:
- What was the main point of the lecture?
- How does it relate to the main point of other lectures?

Criteria 2: Can I easily learn this concept?
If the concept is unfamiliar:
💡Read the summary or wrap up
- Can I learn this concept without spending the entire day?
No? Teach back the main idea from the chapter summary in your own words


**Step 2: Use High Return Strategies**

💡 Avoid passive studying
"Mere Exposure Effect”: where we tend to develop preferences for things that are familiar to us.

1. Use practice problems (Be strategic)
2. Learn the thought process
💡 See if you can think about how to change the wording of the question so that another answer choice is correct.
3. Use strategic memorization
Make connections between the concepts
- Patterns
- Similarities
- Differences
Differentiate > Understand their relationship

4. Take strategic breaks
💡 Use HIIT (high-intensity interval training)
- Study goal → Break (Pomodoro)


**Step 3: Maintain high energy studying**

How to keep up your energy:
1. Don't pull an all-nighter!
💡 Go to bed for 6 hours, wake up early and study
2. It's okay to skip meals, but don't skip food altogether.
- Snack throughout the day (Pick those that are nutrient-dense)
- Stay hydrated
3. Be careful with your caffeine intake
- Call it quits after 4 pm

[brandoutmusic]

Amazing and great way to cover "Cramming" in a video! I love how you tied this back to "regular" studying to show that if we can be efficient in this "Cram" phase, what's stopping us from always doing the most efficient practices?

We must evolve 😈😤

[nasreensarah]

This was so helpful, thank you!!! Your channel is underrated. God bless

[nabDoesYoutube]

feel confident since i found this video before i went to bed and ive been doing everything he said all day! exam at 9am tomorrow, its 3am, im gonna sleep for 3 hours get up have some food, do last minute recall of stuff from last night, and smash it! Good luck everyone

[robertasc.]

Thank you. You motivated me and gave me a sense of control that I lost because of anxiety. ❤

[trakra]

Thank you so much dude. I passed the exam to my dream school, and on the last day i just rested and it surprizingly worked!

[beegbeeg]

Thanks for this video, depression and anxiety made me develop very bad study habits and now I have an exam with 10 chapters in 5 days and I haven't studied anything.

[mostafazaghlool]

A massive thank you, I really Love your channel And I desperately needed this video ❤❤

[soflou]

Damn, this video was recommended to me at the right moment. I have two unit tests tomorrow and I have not prepared for any of the two. Will be applying these and see how my results went.