Prep:
I studied for 2 weeks, mostly for the speaking and writing:
1. Instead of reading the official guides - I watched these (official) videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/TOEFLtv - and saved valuble time!
2. For speaking I learned from notefull videos esp. for q 3,5,6 (available on youtube).
3. for writing I used notefull's template (available on youtube).
4. for Speaking 1,2,4 I used these videos (he is great!):
https://www.english-itutor.com/TOEFL_iBT.htmlI bought 1 official test and took it under timed conditions and then practiced from the official questions provided with the
OG.
On test day, I couldn't find the test centre and was late, and really nervous, so I drank an entire bottle of water to stop crying - BIG mistake.
I eventually arrived at the test centre 15 minutes late, only to see a huge line at the entrance - it was them that I realised that I'm not really late. I actually waited for more than 30 minutes and started the test well over the scheduled time.
The reading was long (4 passages - 80 minutes) and when I was done, I really really needed to go to the bathroom. The lady who was watching us said that for the lack of a break, this time will be deducted from my Listening section time. I thought about sitting through the entire listening section, suffering and realised I couldn't take it. I ran to the bathroom, as fast as I could.
When I returned, half of the 1st listening conversation was already over. I wrote down everything I could, and guessed about half of the questions from the 1st section.
I was certain that I bummed it - but had a nice surprise when I opened the my score letter: 116 (Reading 30, Listening 28, Speaking 29, Writing 29).
I learned that even if one has a rough beginning, one can still make it!
On with retaking the GMAT!
Best of luck!
Maria