>This would be less true if the exam was further from the creation of the cards, though. It was within a month.
Anki is basically meant for longer term studying. The criteria for when a card matures in Anki is when the interval becomes 21+ days.
In the end, I got a lot more out of doing the research to create the cards than I did from the actually looking at the cards. I might even go so far as to say that after creating the cards, they were practically worthless.
This would be less true if the exam was further from the creation of the cards, though. It was within a month.
Someone else's cards might have helped a little, but not nearly as much.