The GMAT just got owned 720!!!!!! :-D

Hi,
i cracked the gmat on 11/12/12 and scored 720(q47,v42). a few details about me: indian/IT/engg. from chennai. contrary to the popular opinion about indians i am not good at math, english has been my forte.i have four years experience in IT.i wrote my first gmat to see how it is.i scored 650(Q46,V34). for those of you who think that is not a bad score to have i would like to remind you this was before quants became insanely hard. at that time all you needed was to remember formulas and find the simple traps that were present.
That score was a big boost for me. i reasoned that if i got 650 without much studying i could easily crack the 700 barrier. i quit my job for personal reasons and simultaneously prepared for gmat. i studied from the mgmat guides for quants and SC and CR bible for CR. the one thing that i could not find any good material was RC. But i thought i might not require all that much help in that department. after all its RC right?as it turned out i was wrong. i read an article by a kaplan rep. in which she discussed rookie mistakes and realized i had made one in RC. the RC passages were long and uninteresting and in trying to find every single detail i zoned out in the middle of the passage. it was like i was staring at the screen and nothing registered. i lost valuable time and got the answer wrong. i made a mental note to correct that.but how? i got the answer in the mgmat RC guide. i just read the first chapter and it was like a bulb suddenly went off. i was able to understand exactly what the book was saying and applied it. the result was there to see. a huge jump in verbal practice score from 33ish to 38.But, since i didn't have much time left i neglected doing the Advanced portion of the mgmat guides for SC, word translations and basic VICs. i thought it was a waste of time since the GMAT i knew (from my first attempt) was easy.i couldn't have been more wrong. i came with a nervous mind set and the GMAT just tore me apart(i could even hear the testmakers laughing ). result 670(Q43,V38).Though i have managed the verbal part, quant let me down.
After a lot of soul-searching i decided to give it one more try. All i did this time was rectify the mistakes i did earlier. i am writing it down point by point so people can easily benefit from my knowledge.
1)Prep:
for quants:i used the 4th edition of mgmat guides. it is better than the fifth in my opinion.it is much more elaborate and covers lot of content areas especially the number properties,word translations and vic guides.i practiced all the advanced sections in them. once you finish that test your stuff with Bunuel’s tricky sets.but don’t worry if you can't crack them all. i got only 40% correct in timed conditions. but scored 47 in the actual test.so if you master bunuel's your quant score will be hovering around 50.
for verbal:
a)SC: i used mgmat sc and practiced in the 12th edition of OG. the 13th edition is a waste of money. half the questions are in the 12th edition itself.i didn't read the advanced part of mgmat but i recommend that you do.Sc has always been my strong point so i can't help you with much.But i used to play a little game to help remember sc. once i finished one chapter in sc i tried to find errors pertaining to that chapter in the newspaper every day. when i finished the next chapter i incorporated the rules from that chapter too. seemed to work for me. you can do this on your morning commute or in your office.
b)CR: there is a reason the cr bible is called that. use it and see the difference. the techniques were effective and i learned a lot. this book was instrumental in lifting my score. it ensured that no matter how badly i did on rc and sc i never got more than 2 wrong cr questions. what’s more you can never forget what you have learned in this book because it will make you look at cr questions in a different way. in fact for my third attempt i did not touch cr at all and still managed to score in the 96th percentile.
c)RC:all i did was read the first chapter of mgmat rc. follow their method and you should be fine. in fact RC is the key to your verbal score. crack that and verbal is in the bag.in the exam i cracked my first rc and got a boldface cr as early as the 9th question. from then on it was a matter of just keeping your score at that level.
practice test:
i used the mgmat cat and gmatprep new edition.
Mgmat cat: the newest cats with IRs are much more easier than the old ones.the verbal part is convoluted and scores generously. however the math part is fairly accurate. your actual quant score may be 3 points of your mgmat score.
gmatprep:best reflection of your verbal score. but math score is overly exaggerated.
try to do well in mgmat quant and gmatprep verbal.

2)Verbalhaters beware: your verbal is the key to a good gmat score. if you can push it past 40 or atleast close to it you can rest assure your overall score is in 700 range.infact most of the 700+ scorers would have got a good verbal score close to 40.Also it is easier to raise your verbal from 34 to 39 than raise your quant score from 46 to 48.

3)Its all in the mindset: The GMAT is a beast,it transforms according to your mindset. Go in with a nervous and unsure, you will find a dragon awaiting you. Prepare well and go in confidently you will see a cute little puppy which you feed treats to. Why? because every question is designed to play on your doubts, your fears and your insecurities. if you know all the concepts and go in confidently the test cannot push you around.

4)Bunuel's problem:a word of caution about bunuel's problems. don’t attempt these at the learning stage. you should be thorough with your concepts first, otherwise you will be thoroughly demoralized.

5) exercise:if you haven't started working out start now. if you smoke or drink, quit now, atleast until the test. a quick mind needs a healthy body.

that my debrief.
please feel free to ask questions about the problems you face. i'll try to answer them to the best of my knowledge.