Just wanted to share my experience. I took the GMAT in July after studying with Kaplan (took the course, but wasn't very impressed) and PR book for 7 months. I am an analyst at a bulge bracket I-bank, so had only been planning to apply to the top tier schools.

July 9-650 (42M, 37V). :oops: Math was weak as usual for me, but verbal gave out on me bigtime.

Aug 30- 720 (44M, 45V). :shock: Verbal came back to me, and I upped the math a little bit. I discovered this site after I took it the first time and was desparate for help, pored over OG (something I didn't do the first time, just focused on PR and Kaplan) and worked on my speed. I had taken a week off from work the first time and didn't have that much time to study the second time, but I felt much more confident this time. It clearly worked out.

Lessons learned:
1) Kaplan was worthless for me
2) OG is the key to life
3) Timing yourself with a stopwatch (go out and buy one if you don't have one) is critical
4) Studying more than 6 weeks is unnecessary if you are preparing properly (ie if you are reading this, then you are at the right site, so you are likely going to do well)
5) Swing at practice with a heavy bat, so it feels light during the game (Stolyar and AkamaiBrah's practice problems will make the prob/combination problems on the test look like a joke)