# My exam is starting
**URL:** https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/my-exam-is-starting/44934
**Category:** FSRS
**Created:** [May 17, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/my-exam-is-starting/44934 "2024-05-17T13:03:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MBAA](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/MBAA)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/my-exam-is-starting/44934/1 "2024-05-17T13:03:10Z")
My exams are very close, next ‘‘30 days’’ start is it necessary I study a **filtered deck** or change the number of **desired retention** to 0.95 or 0.98 ?
---
### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/my-exam-is-starting/44934/2 "2024-05-18T05:13:21Z")
You don’t need to change any of your FSRS settings. Using Filtered Decks will be plenty as you get closer to the exam. [Settings for using Anki to prepare for a large exam - Frequently Asked Questions](https://faqs.ankiweb.net/settings-for-using-anki-to-prepare-for-a-large-exam.html)
---
### Author:  [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/my-exam-is-starting/44934/3 "2024-05-27T08:32:52Z")
I hope you’re still there. I meant to respond to this earlier but only now noticed I had a saved draft of my reply that I didn’t send.
I sorta disagree with Danika’s advice. In my view changing your `desired retention` to a higher value _just before the exam_ might help you. One thing to keep in mind here is, `desired retention` will always be lower than `average retrievability`, thus it is quite possible you’re reviewing your cards when R falls to .94 but you remember around 98% of the cards in your deck, quite a satisfactory percentage.
If you use a `filtered deck`, I believe searches like `prop:r<.95` `prop:d>.9` might be useful so that is something you might want to keep in mind.