GMAT 720 on first attempt

I have not been on this website for a very long time but the few hours I have spent on here have been really helpful. All the inspiring debriefs in this forum have been... well... inspiring. Taking bits and pieces from each of those posts helped me mould a strategy that I could be comfortable with.

I took the actual GMAT on May 17th, 2011. Although I would have loved to give a debrief to help others, I do not think my methods are worth emulating..lol.

Like many other before me, I too had believed that the verbal section would be a cinch. Thankfully, I realized that I was wrong before it was too late.

Mock Test Scores

MGMAT 1 : 610 (44,31)
GMAT PT 1: 610 (44,31)
MGMAT 2 : 660 (42,38)
MGMAT 3 : 650 (43,36)
MGMAT 4 : 730 (48,41)
MGMAT 5 : 680 (47,36)
MGMAT 6 : 670 (47,34)
GMAT PT 2: 650 (47,33) (It was 33 or 34... not sure. This was a day before the actual test. I got the verbal questions from 32 to 41 wrong and I had a full bladder to blame for my lack of concentration. I was distraught but took heart from knowing that out I had got 27 questions right out of the first 31 verbal questions. I did not study anything for the rest of the day and decided to just relax and give my eyes some rest.)

GMAT : 720 (48,41)

(From the advice I received from all the debriefs, I understood that answering all questions correctly is not what was required. That gave me the courage to use the choose-an-answer-and-move-on approach on certain questions that took long to solve. I had 3 minutes to answer the last 5 verbal questions. I knew CR questions would take longer for me to answer and hence I chose to use the above mentioned approach to move through 3 CR questions. This gave me ample time to answer the last 2 SC questions. Also, don't forget to refresh yourself during the 2 optional 8 minute breaks. I had an energy drink in between the quant and verbal sections and that helped me concentrate and go through the RC passages relatively quicker)

Resources Used

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review
Fourth Ed. - Critical Reasoning GMAT Prep Guide
"Quantum Cat", by Sarvesh Kumar Verma (You could even learn common SC errors from this book - *coughsarcasticcough*)
GmatClub Flash Cards (120 pages)

In the Quant section, I concentrated on Combinatorics, Probability and Modulus-Inequality sections. Since I was comfortable with SC, I tried to give more attention to CR and RC. I found the Manhattan CR guide very helpful and it indirectly helped me improve on the RC scores as well

I'd like to thank all those members who took their time to give their debriefs listed in the "best-gmat-stories-period" thread. There were a lot of points I could pick and use from those debriefs.

Thanks to 'Entwistle' who personally trained and guided me. He introduced me to GMATClub and also to the gmat prep resources. Wouldn't have crossed 700 without his help.

One thing that I am feeling guilty about is the AWA. I did not give it the attention it required. I haven't got my AWA scores yet but if I get more than 4.0, it should be only due to the tips from 'Chineseburned'.