There's definitely some things that are real hard to remember for a long period of time and that is where last minute comes in. You leave those till last minute and then as soon as you are in the exam hall, you still remember them.
I tried to do it the other way last time, studying throughout a few weeks before exam. During exam, some info sipped away already. Especially parts where you need lots of memorization. The other parts like concepts and techniques are OK, because once you understand you don't need to remember anything else. But the memorization part, if you memorize 1 week before exam, during exam, can you retain 100% ? If not, 50% ? Well, most people, just 30%. That's why I often leave the memorization part till last minute.
When I say last minute, I literally mean it. I still have the list of things to memorize with me, and am still reading them JUST BEFORE going into the exam. Then when I go in, I will retain 98%. Then during exam, the first thing I do when allowed to write, is to scan the whole paper to see if the memorization part is tested. If yes, I jot down what I JUST REMEMBERED . And there you have it. I get full marks. For almost every exam, I've done that in the past. From my previous colleges and high school exams. The results? From my previous college, the lowest grade I got was Distinction. The highest was High Distinction. Not even 1 credit. How's that? Last Minute Rocks!