90 Days with Anki: My Spaced Repetition Experiment (With Actual Stats)

Pre-med is a lot of memorization. Anatomy, pharmacology, biochemistry — there's a reason medical students are famous for using flashcard apps. I'd heard about Anki for years before I finally committed to using it properly. Here's my honest account of 90 days with the app.

What Makes Anki Different From Quizlet

Before I get into my experience, it's worth explaining why Anki is different from other flashcard apps. Most flashcard apps show you cards in a fixed order or randomly. Anki uses a spaced repetition algorithm — it tracks how well you know each card and schedules reviews at the optimal time to prevent forgetting.

The science behind this is solid: memories fade over time, but reviewing a memory just before it fades strengthens it more than reviewing it when it's still fresh. Anki automates this timing. Instead of you deciding when to review something, the algorithm decides — and it's better at it than you are.

The First Two Weeks: Chaos

I made every beginner mistake. I created cards that were too long ("Explain the entire complement cascade"). I made cards for things I already knew. I let my review pile build up and then had 400 cards due in one day, which was demoralizing.

The turning point was finding a Reddit thread on r/medicalschool about Anki best practices. The key insight: one fact per card. Instead of "Describe the function of the mitochondria," make separate cards for each function. It feels like more work upfront, but the reviews are much faster and more effective.

Another early mistake: I was grading myself too generously. Anki asks you to rate each card: Again, Hard, Good, or Easy. I was pressing "Good" on things I kind of knew but wasn't sure about. This meant those cards got scheduled too far out and I'd forget them before the next review. The fix: be honest. If you're not confident, press "Hard" or "Again."

Months 2 and 3: Finding a Rhythm

Once I fixed my card-making habits, things got much better. I settled into a routine: 20–30 minutes of reviews every morning before class, and new cards in the evening after lectures. I tracked my stats obsessively (Anki has a built-in stats page).

By the end of month 3, I had reviewed over 3,000 cards and my retention rate was sitting at around 87%. More importantly, I was spending less time studying overall — because I wasn't re-learning things I'd already learned. The spaced repetition was doing its job.

The Numbers

Here's what my Anki stats looked like at the end of 90 days:

That last number surprised me. Once you know a card well, you can fly through reviews. The time investment front-loads into making good cards; the payoff is fast, efficient reviews later.

What Makes a Good Anki Card

After 90 days, here's what I've learned about card quality:

Good cards are atomic. One fact, one question. "What is the function of the mitochondria?" is too broad. "What is the primary product of the electron transport chain?" is atomic.

Good cards have context. Instead of "What is ATP?" try "In cellular respiration, what molecule stores chemical energy for use by the cell?" The context helps you understand why the fact matters.

Good cards use images when possible. For anatomy especially, a card with an image and a label is much more effective than a text-only card. Anki supports images natively.

Good cards are written in your own words. If you copy text directly from a textbook, you're memorizing the textbook's phrasing, not the concept. Rewrite in your own words.

What I Got Wrong

I underestimated how important it is to make your own cards. I tried using pre-made decks for anatomy and found that I didn't retain things as well — probably because I hadn't done the cognitive work of deciding what was important enough to put on a card.

I also learned the hard way not to skip review days. Missing two days in a row creates a pile-up that takes a week to clear. Daily reviews, even 10 minutes on a busy day, are much better than big catch-up sessions.

The third mistake: adding too many new cards at once. I'd sometimes add 100 new cards in one day, which meant I'd have 100 cards coming due for review in a few days on top of my existing reviews. I now cap new cards at 20 per day, which keeps the review load manageable.

Would I Do It Again?

Absolutely. My anatomy practical exam was the best exam I've had in college. I'm not saying Anki is the only reason, but I went into that exam knowing I'd reviewed every structure at least 5 times, and that confidence made a real difference.

If you're considering Anki, start small. Make 20 cards on one topic, do your reviews for a week, and see how it feels. Don't try to build a 1,000-card deck on day one.

The learning curve is real — Anki's interface is not intuitive and the card-making process takes practice to get right. But the results are worth it. After 90 days, I'm convinced it's the most effective study tool I've used.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Anki free?

Anki is free on desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux) and on Android. The iOS app costs $24.99 — a one-time purchase that funds the development of the free versions. If you're on iOS and don't want to pay, AnkiWeb (the browser version) is free.

Q: How many cards should I review per day?

For most students, 100–200 reviews per day is manageable. This sounds like a lot, but at 8 seconds per card, 200 reviews takes about 27 minutes. If your review pile is growing faster than you can handle, reduce the number of new cards you add each day.

Q: Should I use pre-made decks or make my own?

Make your own, at least at first. The process of creating cards is itself a form of learning — you're deciding what's important and encoding it in your own words. Pre-made decks can supplement your own cards, but they shouldn't replace them.

Q: What subjects is Anki best for?

Anki is best for subjects with a lot of discrete facts to memorize: anatomy, pharmacology, foreign language vocabulary, history dates, legal cases, chemistry formulas. It's less useful for subjects that require understanding and application rather than memorization — though you can still use it to memorize key concepts and definitions.