captiv8ed Posted October 27, 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 I am having no trouble getting the vocab down. Instead, I am struggling to memorize and keep straight 42 million different math formulas! Any tips?
misterpat Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 I am having no trouble getting the vocab down. Instead, I am struggling to memorize and keep straight 42 million different math formulas! Any tips? Sit in on a high school geometry class? I do think you're exaggerating, but make flashcards for math if it really troubles you that much. Make them for the common quadratics that you'll run into, geometry formulas that consistently elude you, and special triangles.
natofone Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 I second the flashcards suggestion. Worked out well for me (but i did miss one thing from my cards - the exact perpendicular of a slope).
dzk Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 There's really not that much to memorize... you may be doing it wrong if you're drilling formulas. Aside from geometry (area, volume, special triangles, etc.) what is there?
natofone Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 I also memorized how to do all of the word problems (substance combination, money combination, distance - all variations), coordinate (slope, distance, midpoint), and probability (probability, multiple times in a row, once in n attempts, combination, permutation, permutation with selection). The geometry also has a great deal to memorize (area, surface area, perimeter, angle measurement and leg lengths for triangles). Most of these problems can be worked out on their own, but you risk a mistake and it sure helps for speed. I've become much faster after taking this approach. I spent 15 minutes of the math section on the one problem that I hadn't memorized a solution to and couldn't figure out on my own. I still finished everything else with a few minutes to spare.
zilch Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 GRE quant is really not something you memorize things for. Learning the reasoning behind solutions will help you much more than memorizing formulas. Most of the word problems boil down to an algebraic expression, you just have to interpret the words into math. The best thing is practice and becoming familiar with the types of questions that are given. Also, read up on the tricks that ETS uses to try to divert you from the correct answer.
glasses Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 GRE quant is really not something you memorize things for. Learning the reasoning behind solutions will help you much more than memorizing formulas. Most of the word problems boil down to an algebraic expression, you just have to interpret the words into math. The best thing is practice and becoming familiar with the types of questions that are given. Also, read up on the tricks that ETS uses to try to divert you from the correct answer. This is the approach I took.
natofone Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 If you don't know the formulas you'll get it wrong or spend 5 minutes trying to figure out some sloppy workaround.
glasses Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 If you don't know the formulas you'll get it wrong or spend 5 minutes trying to figure out some sloppy workaround. This entirely depends on what kind of learner/worker you are. I didn't know any formulas. I have no inherent math skills. I got a 750 with the "familiarize myself and learn how to figure it out" approach.
captiv8ed Posted October 29, 2009 Author Posted October 29, 2009 Thanks for the advice! I have made some flash cards and have Barron's also. This time around I am trying to learn the reasoning behind the math steps, and it is helping me some, but I still need to know the formula to plug in.
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