Hey Ann,
Don't let the forums fool you - 550 on the GMAT is an above average score, so it's certainly nothing to laugh at or underestimate. I just read an article in Runner's World about how we should do away with the term "half-marathon" because it sort of demeans a pretty impressive accomplishment (you wouldn't call a 10-mile run a "half 20-miler"), and I think that there's a lot of that same sentiment out there about the GMAT, too. Less than half of test-takers score 550 or better - it's definitely a challenge to get to that point and certainly not something that you want to underestimate!
Since you have four months to study, I'd recommend "keeping it casual" in a way...you've already mentioned stress/anxiety (and the word Eek! - capitalized!), so it sounds like that could be a factor if you let it. So what I'd recommend most is:
Take time to learn the logic behind the rules you're learning.
There's a huge psychological difference between "I hope I can remember this" and "I know this". So while you're learning, say, exponent rules, don't just accept a flashcard that says:
x^y * x^z = x^(y+z)
Use small numbers and prove it to yourself. Math isn't Latin...math is logic. It's not true because someone says it's true. It's just TRUE. So if you prove it to yourself:
x^2 * x^3
is the same as
xx * xxx
Which is just xxxxx, which is x^5. So you have to add those exponents because all each exponent really means is how many times you multiply that number by itself. x^2 means "2 x's" and x^3 means "3 x's".
Proving rules like this to yourself has two huge benefits over just memorizing them:
1) It's a much deeper knowledge of the rule, so you're a lot less likely to forget it or to just forget which order it's supposed to go in. And maybe more importantly, the GMAT loves to test "reverse engineering" of concepts, via which you often have to take a multi-step process and work backward or start in the middle. Memorization usually only works one way, from a to z. Really knowing "why" helps you start at m and get back to a, or just get from m to z.
2) Once you've shown yourself that you can prove a rule, you can relax knowing that if you do forget it you're never more than 15-20 seconds away from "teaching it to yourself" all over again. There's no real need to panic when you KNOW the rule, or at least the logic behind it, because you're not relying on photographic-style memory...you're much more flexible with your knowledge and can always recreate it as needed.
So as you're studying, take a little time to think about "why". If you blank on a rule, try to teach it to yourself before you just look it up. The more you KNOW, and aren't just trying to remember, the easier it is to be confident and to build on top of that. And since you have some time to get to that point, I think you'll enjoy the process a little more that way, too, and shouldn't feel any need to cram or race through things.
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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