{"id":8738,"date":"2016-02-11T22:45:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T22:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/?p=8738"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:42:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:42:45","slug":"gre-tip-hack-your-memory-with-memorable-mnemonics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/gre-tip-hack-your-memory-with-memorable-mnemonics\/","title":{"rendered":"GRE Tip: Hack Your Memory with Memorable Mnemonics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"blog-brainhack\"Can’t get enough of Neil’s GRE tips? Few can. Fortunately, you can join him twice monthly for a free hour and a half study session in Mondays with Neil<\/a>.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

In front of you sits a big stack of GRE vocab words you want to memorize. How do you get all of these words in your long-term memory as quickly and efficiently as possible? You could just try to cram things into your head through sheer force and repetition. But in my experience, that\u2019s too slow, and students often learn the word-for-word definition without actually processing what the word really means. I\u2019ve had more than one student tell me that \u201cobsequious\u201d means \u201cservile\u201d without knowing what \u201cservile\u201d means\u2026<\/p>\n

The key is this: you must<\/em>\u00a0make effective mnemonics for yourself as the first step to learning words. You\u2019ll be shocked at how quickly you can memorize 50 words if you only make the effort early in the process.<\/p>\n

Wait. What’s a mnemonic? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

By the way, a \u201cmnemonic\u201d is basically any<\/em> tool you use to help you retain and recall. You\u2019re probably familiar with several already:<\/p>\n

Rhymes:<\/strong> \u201ci before e except after c\u201d<\/p>\n

Acronyms:<\/strong> H.O.M.E.S. to remember the great lakes–Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.<\/p>\n

Visual Aids:<\/strong> Using your knuckles to determine which months have 31 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut aren\u2019t mnemonics cheating?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You ask. To which I say: 1) Who cares? And 2) No, not really. According to Barbara Oakley in her book A Mind for Numbers<\/em>, \u201cResearch has shown that students who use these types of tricks outperform those who don\u2019t. In addition, imaging research on how people become experts shows that such memory tools speed up the acquisition of both chunks and big-picture templates, helping transform novices to semiexperts much more quickly\u2014 even in a matter of weeks.\u201d\u00b9 So there.<\/p>\n

On the Quant side of the GRE, there are several effective mnemonics out there, and even more if you use your creativity. You may know these:<\/p>\n