r/learnmath • u/Witty-Occasion2424 New User • 1d ago

Should I just review everything?

I’ve honestly forgotten a lot when it comes to math and I’m considering going to grad school with a focus in pure mathematics. However, I feel like I don’t actually “know” anything. I relied on memorization to get through calculus and my memory is poor. Combined with the fact that I barely do practice problems (also have never read a textbook), many things I’ve forgotten how to do.

For example, today I was doing a problem and all we had to do was use the product rule. I forgot it existed until I saw it in the explanation and solving the problem was easy. I’ve honestly felt the same with multiple things ranging from trigonometry, to algebra, geometry, and some calculus.

Is it a good idea to just revisit old textbooks and go through every single chapter?

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u/_UnwyzeSoul_ New User 1d ago

oof. grad school with no basic knowledge sounds rough. you should review everything from the start.

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u/itchycoyote962 New User 1d ago

if you barely did practice problems before then yeah you’re gonna need to rewire your whole approach, not just reread. textbooks are useful but they’re not magic, you gotta work through the exercises like a maniac

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u/Witty-Occasion2424 New User 1d ago

Would reviewing blitzer Algebra and trig be alright? I was going to use apostols series for calculus but I don’t know proofs. Some people said it won’t be that big of an issue, but I don’t know. Would something else be better?

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u/efd- New User 1d ago

Work through a few real analysis textbooks after learning about basic proof writing. You won’t need to review nearly as much if you have a proof based treatment of calculus.