1. Feed lecture slides, labs, homework into ChatGPT and have it generate flashcards.
2. Write these flashcards into Anki and study them using Anki.
3. Run through some practice problems
I had originally intended for this system to be used long-term, but I get irresponsible and study the day of the exam. It really depends on the material, but for the most part, it takes around 5–7 hours of studying and preparation to feel completely confident about the exam. Often times, I wake up super early on the exam day to give me some time. This is not ideal of course and is just a product of my bad habits.
It's definitely doable to ace exams with only 2–3 of studying, but usually I need to pad it with another 2–3 hours of preparation like creating high quality flash cards and stuff. I believe most people can adopt this system and perform very well, but at the same time it's a very radical departure from traditional study practices and even then I'm not even using this system in the way it's actually intended (not the day of cramming-style method).
This system is not something I made up, but rather backed from a collective community effort that has produced amazing techniques, guides, research, etc.:
https://isaak.net/mandarinmethods/ - in depth guide detailing best practices with Anki regarding language learning (THE BEST)
https://cademcniven.com/posts/20211119/ - recommended number of cards per day to study based on some grassroots research
https://github.com/open-spaced-repetition/fsrs4anki - the most modern spaced repetition algorithm which uses machine learning to optimize for each individual's learning capabilities (THE BEST)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/18jvyun/some_posts_an... - meta resource on fsrs
https://www.justinmath.com/individualized-spaced-repetition-... - a reading which i've incorporated into the way i create flash cards pertaining to more problem-solving type of learning as opposed to pure memorization like facts about history
https://thehardway.guide/ - a damn good book teaching about actionable and pragmatic advice about language learning that i've applied to all of my college courses