Here is an account of my GMAT experience...
1'st Attempt: GMAT 660 (V38, Q 42) AWA 5.5
Background: Am an Electrical Engineer working for a design firm in Kansas. I have completed my bachelor's from India and Master's from University of Missouri.
I always thought that MATH was my strong point given my engineering background but came to realize towards the end of my preparation that Verbal was my saving grace. I started preparing for GMAT back in Jan of 08' but called it off after a month of preparation. I kept postponing my plans for silly reasons. Finally in July, I told myself that I just need to sit down and give it once and for all. Took a date exactly 2 months down the line and got to studying. My first pointer to everyone:
 Consider taking a date before you start preparing. It serves as a great motivation.
The biggest mistake I did was buying all kinds of books. I have Princeton Review, Kaplan Premier, Kaplan 800 etc. Here is what i think about each book.
OG 11/Verbal Guide - No doubt this is the bible. Make sure you go through each and every problem in this book before u think about solving any other book. It is also a good idea to prepare with this book in the final month.
Princeton Review - Waste of your time unless you are really weak in MATH. Personally not a big fan of Average Joe approach as well.
Kaplan Premier - Decent book. Only solved the MATH tests in this book and CD.
Kaplan 800 - Great book once you have mastered the basic concepts. Used this mostly for MATH.
After going through all these books, I think all one would need is the OG and Kaplan 800. I personally think giving as many tests is the best way to prepare.
I also took the GMAXONLINE for Verbal section. My 2 cents on the course is … SC is pretty good. RC/CR is just ok. I definitely improved my SC skills but one needs to realize that you need to spend a lot of time on this course. On hindsight, I should have just stuck with MGMAT SC book.
Here are my scores in MOCK Tests:
Kaplan Diagnostic: 630 (My 1’st test)
MGMAT1: 650 (V36, Q43) Gave this back in Feb.
MGMAT2: Gave this end of Feb. Stopped preparation after this.
Quantitative 47
Verbal 34
Total 670 89%
MGMAT3: Gave this in July.. was my best performance in MGMAT tests.
Quantitative 47
Verbal 44
Total 740 98%
Gave some Upstart Raising tests as part of the GMAXONLINE course which i think are just a waste of your time... but for practice it's not bad. My scores on those were all over the board.
GMATPrep 1: 2 weeks before the actual test in Sept
710 (V39, Q 48) .. Not sure about the split.
GMATPrep 2: 2 weeks before the actual test in Sept
710 (V40, Q 49) .. Not sure about the split.
I was kind of confident that i will crack the 700+ mark in the actual test. However, that was not to be...
Official test: I started off well with AWA (5.5). They were relatively easy topics. Now comes the part where i goofed up. Just days before the exam i was speaking to someone and was discussing how getting the first 10 questions right, is important. I had never given any test where i had concentrated on getting the 1'st 10 questions right. I used to take it as it comes. However, somehow on the day of my test it kept playing in my head. I spent close to 30 mins for the 1'st 10 questions which just threw me off. I was scrambling all through the test to finish it. I am sure that was the primary reason for my dismal performance in MATH. There were also some very MATH intensive problems dealing with % especially. I should have just moved on....
Verbal was pretty standard stuff... not above the level of OG. There are awful lot of RC's that are no more than 1 paragraphs. It's more difficult but you at least can manage time. I had to scroll down the screen for only 2 of the RC's (of 4). My Verbal went pretty decent but because of Math on the final screen i saw the expected 660
(...
2'nd Attempt: 740 (V42, Q49) 97percentile
I am planning to do my part-time MBA and a lot of people were suggesting that this score is good enough. However, i was dejected that i could not perform at my best. After some inspiration from my wife, i decided to give it one last try. She reminded me that I had nothing to lose! I immediately took a date exactly 30 days later and went on with that. I did not do anything for a week and a half. Jump started my preparation by giving one more MGMAT test and scored a decent 680. Had done some silly mistakes in SC and RC’s and so was not too worried.
Quantitative 48
Verbal 35
Total 680 90%
For the next 2 weeks, all i did were sectional tests on MATH from 800score.com or KAPLAN etc. I was making sure i spend a few days of the week on SC as well. I did not do any RC/CR since I was doing pretty well at these.
A week before the exam, I gave GMATPrep again and scored the following:
GMATPrep1: 740 (V42,Q49) .... Got the exact same score on the main exam 
GMATPrep2: 720 (V40,Q48 or 49)
Saw just a few repeats… especially in Verbal section. I just went through OG all of last week. I had made a summary of the questions which I was having trouble with. I went through them carefully.
Exam Day: Went in with a cool head. I knew that I had everything to gain. AWA were pretty decent again (Waiting on scores). For MATH section, I had decided that I would not spend any more than 2 mins on one given question. The only time I did not stick to this rule is if I was very close to the answer. The very 2’nd question I had to just click and move on. I knew I was doing ok when right in the middle of the test I encountered 2 difficult Probability questions. I did not see any of them in my first attempt. I did not bother and just kept going on keeping in mind the time limit. I finished the section with around 2 mins to spare.
On a general note, I found GMAT Prep, OG and MGMAT (Verbal) very indicative of the real thing. Though, I should add that I found MATH a bit more difficult. I have never struggled so much in MATH as i did in the official test. It's not that they asked something way out of whack.. I personally found it a bit math intensive... multiplications etc etc.. more than anything.. I couldn't finish it on time.
Took my 10 min break and started the Verbal section. Started off with a series of SC which sort of scared me. But they were pretty ok. Saw some RC’s and CR question which were not bad either. I have never had a problem with timing when it comes to Verbal but a general rule I use is 8 mins total for RC questions. At the end of the test, I saw some 3 line long SC which were not as easy. But all in all, I was very confident and my concentration was at its best which helped me a lot especially in RC. I knew I had cracked it this time around. Was elated to see a score of 740 … all in all I am very glad that I could do well in the exam. Hope this inspires some one else as well. I have summarized my main thoughts below:
 Take a date!
 Do the OG in the last month. Make sure you go through each and every question well. It is definitely the bible.
 MGMAT tests are probably the best test around other than GMATPrep.
 Have a strategy going in the exam. DO NOT CHANGE IT DURING THE EXAM.
 Timing is very important. I personally do not think one should spend any more time than the 2 mins/question for MATH. It is equally important to do justice to all the questions in the test.
 Give as many tests as possible. Make sure you write the AWA as well when you take the mock tests. This definitely helps your stamina.
 Never really saw the paper tests published by GMAT. They may be good practice as well.
 Make sure you keep a track of your mistakes. It helps a lot on the final days to review.
 There were some good references for Probability/Combinations in the forum. It is worthwhile to go through them.
I know this experience turned out to be too long. I did not intend it to be this big. However, I hope at least someone finds this useful in their preparations. Let me know if you need to know anything else. Best of luck! Just remember, it’s just a test and you can definitely do well if you believe in yourself and put in the efforts needed.
