also , what is the best way of tackling these topics?

Personally I would say if you can't understand, then avoid them. Since the probablility of questions in Permutations & Combinations and Probablities is more close to zero.

It is worth spending that time effectively on other topics like Number peroperties, Word problems.

And yes this is what I am doing too..............

andy2009 wrote:Guys, Which topic among GMAT quantitatives seems the most difficult to you?. I personally find probability , permutaions , combinations the most difficult, sometimes it is hard to digest the explanations too. what about you all?.

Personally,

From my experience while doing CATs i encountered only few permutations and combination problems. The most important thing is to remember what do they ( permutation, and Combination) stand for. How to attack each type. While solving this types of questions, i do not use those complicated formulas , instead, I use the logic of: P- paintings ( if I see the painting on the wall and shuffle them around, that will give me different set- so the order Matters, I will only have to multiply everything that is the boxes , oh yes, i do draw the boxes and fill it up by the given number from the question), Combination stands for Committee. ( C for Committee) It doesn't matter who came first or who sits where ( unless specifically specified, then it will be a Permutation problem) . So, Order doe not matter! The step is the same as in permutation, except of dividing the it by factorial.

Well, apart from that, don't waste your time on going into this type of problems. Usually, it's very basic permutation and combination problems.
Probability , can be sometimes tricky, The only advise is to read careful what is given. Treat each case differently and combine them at the end . The only problem, it is time consuming. ut once again. do not sweat over these type of questions.

I hope it helps.