I have a midterm tomorrow (actually)[0] and instead of studying I decided to write this piece on exactly how I spend as little time as possible on school while achieving decent results (top ~5-10% on tests).
This protocol is heavily tailored to me and my background specifically. I do think some people can get a few ideas from this though.
tl;dr:
Step 0: Optimize health and mental state (sleep, nutrition, meditation).