Nope.
Science says no — an all-nighter is definitely not worth it.
According to a sleep deprivation experiment in college students, “sleep loss depletes effort.” In short, the less sleep a student gets, the less effort they put into tasks the next day (i.e. the exam you’ve been cramming for and losing sleep over). The study concluded that students’ “goals were shifted downward and effort was reduced” after being deprived of sleep.
The study also determined that students who were sleep-deprived preferred to do simpler tasks if they were available, as opposed to tasks that were more complex. The brain would choose to regret these more complicated tasks, and were more likely to give up easily.
The study also found that “participants seemed to be unaware of their reduction in effortful behavior,” so not only will you do worse on that exam, you’ll also think you’re doing a lot better than you really are.
It’s hardly the only study to look at the effects of sleep on academic performance. While most data suggests not getting enough sleep is bad for your grades, much of it relies on self-reporting and, as always, more research is required.
You think you aced it? Hate to break it to you, but you probably didn’t.