i took the gmat last month (re-taking on monday, 5th october) and am not sure about whether it is more difficult than gmatprep.

see. the thing with gmatprep is that you are so used to these questions (they're repeated on forums and everywhere else) that after all the practice, in the real exam setting, a slightly wordy/tricky (or both) question just throws you off your chair and may even make you panick! at least that is what happened with me. i had not done enough practice tests (just the free mgmat and gmatprep) and the first question i got was not difficult but slightly wordy. i think i'll be able to do it now but at that time it sort of hit my confidence. i thought : shit this is the first question and i cant do this even! it was a sets question and the wording just confused me!

furthermore, i think i freaked on a couple of other questions on the exam. i remember spending too much time on a couple of questions and basically rushing through the last 2-3 questions.

REMEMBER two things. a) as its a CAT, you shouldn't be surprised to run into a question that you genuinely cant do! b) i think atleast 1/3 of the questions are experimental. CONCLUSION: you MUST know when to let a question go! i got a 47 on Q and i could easily have done better if a) i approached the first question with a clear mind and b) i knew when to let a question go.

i'm no gmat guru but this is what i've observed so far. you must have a strategy in mind! you must know how you will approach a question.

i've come up with this: the moment a question comes up on my screen, i will first think about how i can solve it to get the answer and then do it. before clicking confirm, i'll read the last bit of the question again to confirm if its in the right form. gmat often does this. you may calculate the % of apples that are rotten but it may have asked for the % of oranges that are rotten.

when i get a difficult question on my screen, i will again first think about how i can solve it and then start doing it. i will NOT spend 2 minutes just thinking about how to answer the question. you dont have the time to experiment and come to an answer. you either know how to do it or you dont. i'll try to spend no more than 30 seconds on thinking of the method and then start scribbling on the writing pad!

i've noted two things. a) the questions that i spend too much time on are those which i dont know how to solve and get wrong anyway! b) if i do know how to get to the answer, even if it takes 3-4 minutes it is worth because again i) gmat doesn't have a lot of questions that require that much calculation and ii) there are many questions that i manage to do in less than 2 minutes.

i hope all this rambling helps you in some way! i want to add that this is just how i am approaching things for now. if you're like me, it'll work for you. you can modify it to suit your strengths and weaknesses but i think in general these are some basic things that you must remember!

ESSENCE: KNOW WHEN TO LET A QUESTION GO!