Strategy for b&m nl tourney? $45 = 1000 chips + one $40 rebuy = 1500

[mit]

I have a general question about the best strategy for this structure. The tourney is nl and the entry is $45. you start with 1000 and there is one optional rebuy for $40 more which you can get anytime before the 4th round giving you an additional 1500. The blinds start at 25/25 and go up every 15 min. (25/25 25/50 50/100 75/150 100/200 and its about here that the ante kicks in starting at 25. there are usually about 115 entrants. There are alot of loose ags and it isn't uncommon to hear a chorus of "Rebuy," in the first few minutes of the event. I see a lot of the same players make the final table or get close to it frequently. I would like to too. The first time I played in it I took second but I feel like I was lucky. Really I had just played nl once before and I raised with any two over ten and didn,t get called for a few hours. Since then I've tried to educate myself and with knowledge has come fear. When I've tightened up I usually get blinded to death wait for an ace, go all in and lose. Once I went out on the bubble with AK another time in 13th with AK. Anyway any thoughts or advice is appreciaited. BTW this tourney is At Lucky Chances In Colma, CA

Thanks,