A 710 on the 3rd attempt.

I consider a 710 a success, so I'm sharing and hopefully can provide some insight, hope, and tips to those looking for a 700+.

Demographic: 38 years old, male, 20 years of experience in IT, currently work full time in a leadership role, USA born, English is my primary language.

Study materials:
Prior to test #1: OG12/13, Magoosh, private tutor
Prior to test #2: OG13, MGMAT guides
Prior to test #3: OG13, EmpowerGMAT, MGMAT guides, Powescore CR Bible, beatthegmat/gmatclub.

Practice CATS:
During 3 study periods I used GMATPrep, MGMAT, 800Score and 1 free Veritas CAT. I found the MGMAT quant side to be difficult, more so than the others. This would sometimes shake my confidence, especially after a long period of studying. My first CAT was GMATPrep with a score of 580. Prior to test#3, my highest score on MGMAT was 690, GMATPrep 750, 800Score 720, Veritas 710.

The timeline:
When I started "studying" for my GMAT, I used OG12 and OG13, Magoosh online program, and a tutor from a local program. While these tools can be sufficient for any future test taker, I severely underestimated this exam which is why I wrote studying in quotes. On some days I would study, on others I would not. There was no consistency, no set plan of attack, no error logs; all of the things I now find to be an obvious necessity in preparing for the test. Magoosh has a nice bank of questions and some good instructional videos, and my tutor was utilized for review of concepts and questions I had trouble with. However, all of this was still passive and not active studying, which led to my first attempt.

November 25, 2013: 620 (34Q / 41V)
I recall that during this test, I was so concerned with the clock in the quant section that I would quickly guess on questions that felt like they were taking a bit of time. I finished all the questions on time, however, the result clearly shows I didn't use the proper focus and time where it was needed. In regards to verbal, the preparation prior to the test minimally influenced this score. I always felt confident and comfortable when it came to the verbal questions.
I was not happy with the score, and felt such a low quant would reflect poorly on applications. I immediately decided I would take the test again, and promptly scheduled it for just a little over a month later. In hindsight, this was a mistake. One month, while working full time, is simply not enough time to revisit the drawing board and develop a working strategy. I basically used the same resources, adding some of the MGMAT guides (Numbers, Word Problems, & Advanced Quant). I did spend more time studying than prior to the first test, but this was probably due to the aggressive time constraints I put on myself. Second attempt:

January 6, 2012: 630 (43Q/34V)
Well, the prior month studying was focused on quant without much verbal practice, however, that was not the excuse for the 34V. I was simply exhausted. In the verbal section, I'd keep looking at the clock and visualizing the finish line being so close. Well, this is not recommended when you have to read passages and answer CR questions. Once again, I was disappointed.

I took 2 months off of thinking about the GMAT and decided in April that I would take it again in July, this time with a proper approach and strategy.

A couple of new resources this time around: EmpowerGMAT online course and PowerScore's CR Bible, as well as beatthegmat.com and gmatclub.com.

I can't review EmpowerGMAT's verbal as I really didn't use it much, however, the Quant side was phenomenal. A very BIG thanks to Rich @ Empower. Also, the CR Bible is a great resource for tackling CR. After reading through it, I improved my strategy for CR, and with practice, was able to predict the answer before reading the choices.

I studied every night after work for 2-3 hours, taking only one night off each week. I studied 4-6 hours each weekend day as well, which is when I would take one full CAT (full meaning with AWA and IR).

I kept an error log which categorized the question type and reason I answered each question incorrectly, and I would revisit this several times throughout the week.

On any topics that would surface often, I would use beatthegmat and gmatclub to find questions on those topics using the labels/tags and in addition to attempting them, I would read all the responses and try to find the solution that I found most comfortable for me. Big thanks to Rich C, Brent, and Mitch on beatthegmat, always such nicely detailed solutions. Also, Bunuel on gmatclub, although I found Bunuel more often answers questions using complex approaches, which is still good to review.

I would focus on the topic and practice questions of that type over and over until the concept came naturally.

I continued to use the OG for practice, timing every question, and would use Empower, beathegmat, and gmatclub to review solutions.

TEST DAY
Test day arrives, and my nerves are killing me. I wasn't nearly as nervous the last two times as I was for this test. My appointment was 8am and I am in a major city, so even though I arrived 20 minutes early the center was already filled with 8-10 people in the waiting room. This did not help my nerves. I started writing the AWA and this comforted me a bit because I always felt good writing these. I used a template from user Chineseburns (gmatclub) with my own touches on it. Went through IR, and at the break stretched and had half of a sandwich. I get hungry very quickly, so I didn't want that as a distraction and brought plenty of food/snacks for the breaks.
Quant begins, and I went into a panic mode through the first 5 questions. I was all over the place, my scratch pad wasn't organized, I was missing facts in the questions. It was TERRIBLE. It wasn't until the 7th or 8th question when I finally calmed down. I feel without this breakdown, I certainly would have scored even higher than what I did. In quant, I looked at the clock after the 10th, 20th and 30th questions, which is something I did in practice CATs as well. Quant was over, and I felt like I needed to destroy verbal to get an improvement over my last two tests. I took the break and had the other half sandwich, then proceeded with verbal. During my practice and review, I typically found that I had some extra time after verbal in the practice CATs, so my strategy for reading comprehension included taking a fair amount of notes. This keeps my reading actively involved. (Note I also read Economist and WSJ daily, which helps with actively reading passages). My notes provided plenty of information on my pad when done reading. I had very complex passages and this method helped me, but, I couldn't afford to use that time if I didn't have extra time after each CAT. With CR questions, the Powerscore book helped quite a bit. With SC, I didn't focus too much idioms and usually found another reason for eliminating choices.

I took the GMAT for the third time, and scored a 710!

July 16, 2014: 710 (46Q/40V)
Without the panic stricken beginning of quant, I think I could have scored 48 or higher. It is an example of how much the mental and emotional aspect of the exam can affect results.

To conclude, I feel that there are substantial choices for upcoming GMAT takers. I see many times on the forum students ask "what is the best book for..." or "which program would work for..." Prior to those questions, you need to set a study strategy that is organized. It should provide a diligent review process and show progress of correcting your weaknesses. It should include taking FULL CAT exams, mirroring test day. With that said, as far as programs go, I am a big proponent of EmpowerGMAT. I found the style of videos, the strategies taught, and the review of questions to be extremely helpful to my studies.

Finally, work at it. The feeling of seeing that score on the screen that meets your personal goal is well worth the sweat and tears leading to that moment. Many times I didn't think I could do it, that I just didn't "think" the way the GMAT required, that I was too focused on trying to answer quant questions strictly with formulas, that my timing sucked (it did), or that I was not attentive enough to detail when reading RC and CR. Putting in the work changes this, and with the proper commitment and strategy, anything is possible!

This topic has expert replies