Hi,
Just wanted to share my experience.
Exam Day -
* Started on a bad note. Only passport was allowed as a proof. I reached 30 mins early. But had to call my neighbor and ask him to drive 25 miles to get my passport to the exam center. I pleaded the exam center folks to allow me more time and after much pleading they allowed me to sit for the exam. I started 45-50 mins late.
* The center was quite and peaceful for most of the times. However, it was a little nightmare after speaking section started for everybody while I was still at the reading and listening sections. Fortunately, I had read about a suggestion of getting ear plugs and it worked amazingly well. I suggest the same too.
Preparation -
* Follow the notes given in the sticky posts here
* Thoroughly go through the materials provided by ETS.
OG is the most useful book according to me.
Reading - 28 out of 30 * I dreaded the question where we have to match the tables. I almost always got this wrong in my preparations. Fortunately, I did not get a single case of this question.
* Because of my goof up at the start, I may have done a silly mistake here. My reading is otherwise strong.
Listening - 30 out of 30 * Got myself to focus more after the panic start. Absolutely worked hard to concentrate on taking the right notes.
Speaking - 27 out 30 * Practice. Practice. Practice
* This is where I spent majority of my prep time. There are hundreds of example question. Your confidence will rise to a great extent when you are practicing constantly.
* I read this somewhere - first thing about speaking section is that you should know exactly what each question is about and what is it that you are expected to say in each question. If you know this, you will not spend a single second "thinking" about what to say.
Writing - 30 out 30 * Watch this video on YouTube - TOEFL Independent Writing Task - Live Essay Demonstration 1
* Amazing tips. Hard wire it in your brain. I followed the format and it worked well. I must have written about 450 words.
* Spent last 5 mins reviewing and replacing words with synonyms to increase vocabulary point.
Hope this helps. Cheers.