Hi Paula,
It's true that I don't update statistics for a card from Quiz mode. I don't quite remember my rationale for this behavior, but that's the way it is now. Quiz is not intended to be a normal study mode.
SRS systems are generally designed to slowly introduce cards. This can be a problem if you have a quiz coming up.
One option is to switch to "short term goal" mode. This will go through all card right away, and then start delaying cards you get correct. The delay is not time based, but rather based on number of times you go through your deck. Downside is that after your exam, if you switch to SRS, you will start from scratch, as the two modes have completely different items for progress (streak vs interval).
Starting with SRS should be fine. You just have to make sure you are going to get through (see) all your cards (well) before your exam. If your exam is in 30 days, then shoot for getting through all new cards in say 20 days. (That gives you 10 days to repeat the very new cards you were just introduced.) If your deck is 600 cards, then you need to get through 30 new cards a day. The app will show you this information as you study.
Settings:
Max New cards of "10" is not that important. I like to increase this so that my short term memory doesn't kick in so easily. It won't affect your concern though, I think.
New to Active after - change this to either 1 correct or 2 correct. If "1 correct", you swipe down if you want to see it again quickly (don't know at all), or swipe left if you want to see it again in 1 day or swipe up if you want to see it again in 3 days (default settings). This is what I would do.
First interval after correct: the 20 hours is pretty conservative. For less chance of getting bombarded with "due cards" that you know, you might increase this a bit (e.g. 30 hours), but you risk forgetting more cards because of longer time between retests.
Min Interval, I like increasing this to 20 hours. Need to keep intervals up so no so many retests. You need to get through all your cards
Wrong interval factor: you might increase this to 0.7 so wrong answers not so detrimental.
Keep in mind that in my example above, it will be relatively easy to get through 30 new cards per day at the beginning, but after a while, in addition to your new cards, you'll be getting lots of "due" cards (repeats that are due to studied/refreshed again), and your time will then be split between these two modes. Depending on number of cards and timeframe, you'll need to think about this, and about how having cards repeated more often will help in long-term retention of those cards, but likely at the detriment of getting through all your new cards in time for your exam.
I strongly recommend reading details on my SRS system:
http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/AboutSR.aspxLet me know if you need more guidance.
Ernie