4 Reasons Why I Decided to write GMAT again

After a lot of introspection, I decided to write GMAT again. I have registered for the test and have given myself 2.5 months for preparation. I feel that should be sufficient given that I have already written GMAT once. Since I HAVE to do an MBA this year, I do not want to leave any stone unturned and want to be well prepared.

It is not that I have a very low GMAT score for now that I have decided to take a shot again. I had scored a decent 710, well above average of many top schools. There a couple of reasons for doing so:

1. Too old GMAT score. My current GMAT score is more than 3 years old. Many friends have told me that if it is still valid (GMAT score is valid for 5 years), why do I need to write it again. My argument is, GMAT is indicative of an applicant's academic abilities. A decent score 3 years ago does not indicate the person's current abilities. So this might turn off B-schools. A fresh score would be an accurate reflection.

2. Compensate for average acads. My undergraduate acads are nice but not the kind I would boast of. To compensate for that I need a good enough GMAT score that I won't have to explain.

3. Skewed score. My previous score is a little, ok ok, a lot skewed where I score 51 in quant and early thirties in verbal. I'm not sure how B-school adcoms perceive it. But I personally am not happy with it. So this is an attempt to level the scores.

4. Want to be above the average, all things being equal. I am, from a not-so-typical IT background (read Indian/IT/male). I have a lot of things to differentiate myself, but on the GMAT front, I am well below my sample space. Most of the candidates whom I'll be compared to would have scored more than me. I want to be in the upper half. In the worst case, if they have to choose between person X and me, all other things being equal (I know, I know...), they should choose me based on a higher GMAT score.

Am I over confident? I don't think so, I just explained the reasons for me to take another shot at GMAT.

Where do I start
1. The first test of GMAT Prep, the software provided by www.mba.com, to assess my current standing. I heard quant has become tougher after Pearson has taken over GMAT administration. Let's see.
2. Book, to start with, I'll go with Princeton Review's Grammar Smart. I really liked that book, that it helped me clear my concepts and was an immense help in the Sentence Correction Section. Basically, the approach that was followed in that book, made Sentence Correcction feel like mathematics. there are pre-defined rules, you just have to follow those.
3. Then I'll think of picking other books, like Prince Review, Kaplan or OG - The Official Guide to GMAT.

A note for my readers:
I am very keen on buying the OG for GMAT Verbal. I am looking for reviews on htat book if someone has used it. Is it worth spending money on? Or if there is any other recommendation for verbal specifically, please do recommend, I'll be grateful.