Safety Margin and Practice for GMAT (700 to 750)

So, I finally got done with the second attempt of GMAT as was relieved to see a satisfactory 750 (Q50, V41). My journey/story for this is detailed below.

I started toying with the idea of GMAT in my final year of college education, when I learned about the deferred MBA programs offered by several universities. But the deadline was close (3 months) and I couldn't make it. However, given how important GMAT is in application to the any university, I wanted to get done with it asap. So, after reading a lot of debriefs on GMAT Club and talking to a close friend, I took the EGMAT Verbal course. It was suited to me for primarily 2 reasons:
1. It allowed me to study at my own pace and in my own style, and
2. It was reasonably priced, given the USD/INR conversion and my not so strong financial background

After studying for the verbal section for about 5-6 months, I took my first GMAT Prep Mock Test confident (more like overconfident) about my Quant abilities and wanting to know my standing in Verbal. The score was obviously very poor, and I realized that I can't take Quant for granted.

Needing guidance with Quant, I decided to stick with EGMAT because I had gotten familiar with their teaching style, and it suited me. After spending another 20-25 days on EGMAT Quant, I wrote the second GMAT Prep Mock Test. This time my score (700) was consoling and I thought I can now build on this and eventually achieve my target score (760).

After practicing problems for another 10 days, I again took the GMAT Prep Mock Tests (3&4) and scored consistent 750. Thinking at this point about all debriefs where test takers scored more in real tests as compared to mocks, I booked my GMAT slot for May 4, 2019 (2 days after my 4th mock test). I scored a dismal 700 (V35, Q49) in this test and was extremely disappointed.

Having taken a blow, I analysed what went wrong and came up with the following points:
1. I had not practiced enough number of questions (750 made me overconfident that I'll sail through)
2. I did not keep a safety margin in the expectation of GMAT score (thought 750 could be made 760 but not that 750 can also become 700)
3. Did not take enough mocks (I took only 2 proper mocks)

Learning from my mistakes, I decided to prepare again, and did the following things differently this time:
1. I practiced a lot of questions (500-600 questions of Verbal and 300-400 questions of Quant)
2. Took MGMAT's mock test pack
3. Aimed for 770/780 in mocks

After hitting all the above targets, I booked the date for GMAT again, and scored a 750 (Q50, V41) in my second attempt. Although I could have scored better had I managed my time better in Verbal section (had 2 minutes for last 4 questions), I was satisfied with the score and with the fact that I wouldn't be rejected because of my GMAT score by any university.

Key takeaways that I believe would/should come my journeys are;
1. Always have a safety margin of 10-20 point between mock and real test score
2. Practice lots of questions - it helps you understand how GMAC thinks and hence fastens your problem solving
3. Do a lot of mock tests (at least 5-6 in my opinion) - it helps in managing time better
4. Never be overconfident about your abilities

Materials referred & recommended:
1. EGMAT Verbal (especially for non-native speakers who are not grammer nazis)
2. EGMAT Quant (explains the theory really well; you may however choose any other course as well)
3. GMAT Mock Tests
4. MGMAT Mock Tests. One could also use EGMAT's SigmaX mock tests but I didn't do it.
5. GMAT Prep question banks - https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmatprep-questions-quant-verbal-187679.html

Cheers!