Help with math

[Hannibal]

I posted about this in my 6 Week Challenge thread, but I figure I might get more responses if I make a separate thread here & ask for help.

I plan on going back to school and I would like to raise my chances of doing well on the GRE. My first test is next month, but I'm only going to use it as a base to see where I'm at, so I can study my weak points and try to get a higher score next summer.

However, I am incredibly weak at math. I already know this is my weakest area, and I know going forward I'm going to have to put a large percentage of my time into it. Does anyone know someway to teach myself? Any books, podcasts, websites or anything that might be of help? I think I'd need to start by reviewing simple algebra or geometry.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

[Timmy M]

if you know what the topic are you can do a youtube search, that saved my arse a bit

[caithnard]

Youtube lecture are very helpful or you can also look at iTunes U.

Going back to the basics is definitely a good idea, though. I think what helped me most in math was taking classes where we couldn't use a calculator, because I had to re-learn how to multiply and divide, as well as estimate things like exponents and square roots in my head.

[Frod]

I enjoyed using http://www.khanacademy.org/ a while back. It has a nice tree of video supported leasons, linking a more complex math concept with it's more simple cousins.

['Roos]

Honestly, in taking the GRE, there are about 50 GRE books out on the market. I got one of the cheaper ones (It was like 18$) and reviewed out of that extensively. The math in the GRE is mostly spacial reasoning, basic algebra and a bit of geometry Lite - the hard part about it is that they're ACTIVELY trying to trick you. Get a GRE book (mine had newspaper pages and lots of them, full of problems, a bit on strategy) and try out one of their practice tests, and that should give you an idea where you are in the Math world. Now granted, I am a math person, but with the review in the book I got a 790 (or a 690? I was 10 points off the top score). If you see where you are, I'm sure you can figure out where to put your best effort. If you need any help with this don't hesitate to PM me - I went through this all relatively recently.

[Havock]

If you get stuck on something you're studying, shoot me a PM. I teach High School Algebra part of the school day (I have the most diverse teaching schedule ever lol).

[Kristen]

I wouldn't spend much time on just general math, use GRE guides. 'Roos was right about the math--there is no advanced math or difficult (read: long or complicated) problems, it's all quick tricks. There are several practice tests online that you can take to get an idea of the types of math problems.

[Hannibal]

Nice feedback! Thanks a lot. I'll definitely check out the Khan Academy later today, and I'll start looking into the GRE math books. I guess it's reassuring to hear that there's only "spacial reasoning, basic algebra and a bit of geometry Lite" on the test. I think I can handle that (with loads of practice first). Looking on Amazon Japan, the books are pretty cheap, luckily.

And 'Roos and Havock, I'll most likely take you on the offers of help at some point. I know I'll get stuck on some point or another.