If you were to ask the friends who are currently preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination about the most challenging subject at this stage, everyone would undoubtedly agree: mathematics for the postgraduate entrance exam. Indeed, many candidates lose the opportunity for further study precisely because they struggled with math. Especially for those switching from liberal arts to science, engineering, or economics, math becomes their biggest concern—truly a case of "success or failure hinges on math." After the major adjustment of the math exam syllabus in the late 1990s, candidates generally felt that the postgraduate entrance exam math was becoming increasingly difficult. Overcoming the urgency of the postgraduate exam boils down to mathematics.
From years of score admission lines, it can be seen that the math admission line is almost always the lowest among the three unified examination basic courses. Why does this situation arise? There are several reasons: first, there is a significant gap between the volume and difficulty of the postgraduate entrance exam math questions and the current college final exams. Many candidates thought they were good at math during their school days, so they didn’t take the postgraduate exam preparation seriously enough. They reviewed carelessly, only to find out during the exam that the math questions were extremely difficult, resulting in very low scores. Additionally, the postgraduate entrance exam math covers a wide range of content, broad knowledge areas, strong comprehensiveness, and requires high-level skills. Many candidates find it hard to deal with, even if they have a good grasp of the knowledge itself but lack the methods, leading to unsatisfactory results.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the postgraduate entrance exam math syllabus underwent some adjustments. Mathematics I, II, III, and IV were chosen by each admissions unit based on the principle of selecting talent and adapting to training requirements. This increased the autonomy of the candidates' exams, making how to review math well a key part of the entire postgraduate entrance exam review process for those applying to science, engineering, and economics programs—again proving that success or failure hinges on math.
Everyone knows that the postgraduate entrance exam math includes the following parts: calculus, linear algebra, probability theory, and mathematical statistics. It is also divided into four categories: Math I, II, III, and IV, with different categories required depending on the major being applied to. Although it seems like the postgraduate entrance exam math is divided into many categories, fundamentally speaking, the review methods are similar. With the right method, the review process becomes twice as effective with half the effort.
It is not hard to see from China's education system that math is a fundamental foundation. The first subject students come into contact with is definitely math. If one wants to excel, it’s a process of accumulation. Don’t expect to be amazing from the start, thinking that once you get your hands on real exam questions, you can solve everything. That’s impossible. It’s a step-by-step process, gradually accumulating knowledge, gradually learning, until eventually reaching the level where upon seeing a problem, you immediately know how to approach it.
At the same time, reviewing math cannot be done blindly, like a headless fly bumping around aimlessly. Formulating a plan is the most crucial preparatory work for the review. With a plan in place, the review process will proceed smoothly.
Firstly, become familiar with the syllabus. Based on this, systematically review the essential basic knowledge required for the exam, understanding the basic content, focus points, difficulties, and characteristics of the postgraduate entrance exam math.
Next, do a certain number of problems, focusing on solving issues related to problem-solving approaches. After this training, the goal should be that when encountering a question later, you know from which angle and in how many steps to solve it, having a clear train of thought. Real exam questions must be practiced. Through practicing real exam questions, grasp the characteristics of the postgraduate entrance exam math question types, problem-solving approaches, and operational steps.
Then comes the intensive training phase. In the period close to the exam, candidates need to make a final梳理of the knowledge points, memorize formulas thoroughly, and systematically complete a few sets of simulation papers, conducting practical training and self-testing the review outcomes. Before doing the simulation questions, first systematically memorize and master the basic formulas. Doing questions should emphasize quality, meaning both speed and strict steps, formats, and calculation accuracy are important.
Finally, it’s the sprint phase. At this time, the requirement is to identify and fill gaps, without needing to do too many new questions. What is needed now is to review the previous training exercises, identifying which areas had more frequent errors, which are the key and difficult points, and mastering the basic knowledge points well, entering the exam with the best possible mindset.