GMAT Strategy

Hi all,

I took my first official GMAT last weekend and my score was 640 (Q48, V29). My target was to break at least 700, if not more. In practice tests my quant was consistent at Q48, in verbal it ranged about V30-35. Test anxiety played a factor during the test and I personally acknowledged that I won't be able to rule that out completely. I thought I would screw up quant more than verbal since I knew my pace during quant was slower than usual at the beginning. I was expecting to get at least >30 in verbal and was disappointed when I saw my verbal score. I felt the difficulty level was similar to what I'd had in practice tests. I'm guessing that I screwed up in RC and got a few questions wrong in a row. I was disheartened and am still rebounding from the bad experience, but I'm determine to retake GMAT and improve my score. I'm hoping to get some feedback and suggestions from the experts or people who have gone through the same experience here about retake study plans and strategies. Here is my background:

Goal: improve from 640 to >700

Situation:
-Non-native, background in engineering
-Self-studied for about 3 months using Veritas Prep full set and OG13, in average studied 12 hours/week
-GMAT areas from weakest to strongest: RC -> SC -> CR -> DS ->PS

My questions are:
1. How long should I study before taking my next attempt? I'm going to apply for 2015 intake, so practically speaking I have months to prepare. But ideally I don't want to spend that whole time studying for GMAT!
2. What are the realistic Q & V raw score combinations given my situation to reach 700? I'm thinking to try improving my quant from Q48 to Q49-50 and improving my verbal from Q29 to at least Q37. Thoughts?
3. Should I study an area I'm stronger or weaker at first?
4. I'm planning to prioritize improving my Verbal, but at the same time I don't want to just "forget" Quant. Any recommendations on study structure to balance both areas?
5. Any other tips?

Any feedback would be appreciated! Thank you!

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your response. I acknowledge that 640 is not a bad score, but I would like to make myself more competitive as I plan to apply to the Top 20 schools. I don't have a final list of schools I plan to apply to, but currently it includes UT Austin-McCombs (I was an undergraduate there), Berkeley-Haas, Chicago-Booth, and UNC-Kenan Flagler.

Regarding your response:
2) I heard that improving your score in the higher range (40-50) is harder than when it's in lower range (20-40), is this true?
3) I meant to ask in terms of Verbal areas exclusively. In terms of "comfort" (if that makes sense), SC is on the top of my list then followed by CR and RC. In terms of accuracy, it's CR -> SC -> RC. I guess I can't decide which area to study first.

Thanks!