Build your Exam Mode study plan

Building your plan is the second thing you do in Exam Mode, right after creating your account. If you haven't set up an account yet, start with getting started — this guide picks up at the wizard and goes deeper on every option. StudyRise (Plan today. Rise tomorrow.) is a study-planning app at studyrise.app, and Exam Mode is the version tuned for the AMC MCQ, PLAB 1, and USMLE.

Pick your exam type

When you choose Exam Prep on Mode Select, Step 1 of the wizard asks which exam you're preparing for. Your choice sets which subjects, phases, and task templates StudyRise starts you with — so pick the closest match. There are four options, and only your exam's own content page carries the exam facts (subject counts, pass marks); this guide just names them.

1. Choose AMC MCQ, PLAB 1, USMLE Step 1, or Custom Exam. The first three come with a ready-made subject list and task recipes tuned to that exam.
2. Pick Custom Exam if you're sitting something StudyRise doesn't template yet. It's a blank slate — you'll build your subjects and tasks yourself in Settings afterward.
3. For the exam itself — its format and the score you need — read the dedicated exam content, such as our AMC MCQ study plan. Keeping exam facts in one place is deliberate.

Set your dates

Still on Step 1, you enter two dates that anchor everything: your exam date and your study start date. StudyRise uses the gap between them to work out how many weeks it has and how to pace your tasks. Set them honestly — a real exam date makes every projection later trustworthy.

1. Enter your exam date — the actual date you're sitting the exam.
2. Enter your study start date — today, or whenever you're genuinely beginning.
3. Don't have a booked exam date yet? Set a target date you're working toward. You can update it later in Settings → Exam Setup, and your plan re-paces around it.

Set your study load

Step 2 asks how much you can study, with two sliders. This is the single biggest lever on how your plan feels day to day, so set a load you can actually keep — a sustainable number you hit beats an ambitious one you miss. A live summary line shows your weekly hours as you drag.

1. Set daily study hours — the slider runs 1 to 10, and defaults to 4.
2. Set study days per week — 3 to 7, defaulting to 6. The day you leave out becomes room for rest.
3. Watch the summary line update ("X hours a week") so you can sanity-check the commitment before you continue.

Review and generate

Step 3 is a summary before you commit. It shows three stat tiles — your exam name, days until the exam, and your daily pace — and a one-line note that your plan splits into three phases. Tap Generate my plan and a short build animation runs while StudyRise assembles everything, then drops you on the Plan screen.

1. Check the summary tiles: exam name, days remaining, and your daily pace (hours × days).
2. Tap Generate my plan.
3. Watch the build animation tick through Mapping your subjects → Pacing your study days → Scheduling your reviews → Finishing your dashboard.
4. You land on the Plan screen with your full task list already built. From here, shape your subjects and tasks if you want to adjust anything.

The three phases

Every generated plan is organised into three phases, and StudyRise weights your time across them based on how long you have. Knowing the shape helps you read your plan: early on you're covering ground, in the middle you're deepening and reviewing, and near the end you're rehearsing under exam conditions.

1. Phase 1 — Foundation. First-pass coverage of each subject. The goal is breadth: touch everything once.
2. Phase 2 — Consolidation. System depth plus spaced repetition — reviews timed to land just before you'd forget. This is where retention is built. See spaced repetition for how those reviews work.
3. Phase 3 — Mocks. Full-length practice exams as your date nears, so you walk in rehearsed. See mock exams for logging them.

Rebuild your plan later

Your plan isn't set in stone. If your exam date moves, your available hours change, or you just want to start over, you can rerun the whole wizard without losing your track record. StudyRise archives the old plan and keeps your study history and analytics intact.

1. Open Settings → Exam Setup.
2. Choose Start a new plan. This archives your current plan and reruns the three-step onboarding wizard.
3. Your study history and analytics are preserved — a rebuild changes the road ahead, not the record of what you've already done.
4. For smaller changes — a single task's due date, or adding one subject — you don't need a full rebuild. Edit directly in subjects and tasks.