What percentile was the 43 quant?

the 43 was a 68% percentile. The verbal was 99th percentile with overall being 95%. I have seen various different posts suggesting a balanced 80-80 score is a must (which clearly i do not have) or that a 40-40 is a must (although i imagine that would be around a 650 score). any advice is certainly useful here.

the advice i have been given so far from a number of sources is to apply on the 720 as it is unlikely that the quant score would be what would stop me getting a place if the other elements of my application were up-to-scratch. It is possible if I do well in the application that I would receive a conditional offer on re-taking and improving the GMAT score.

would you agree with this approach?

I would agree that your quant score would not necessarily keep you out of top b-schools, and your profile certainly fits the classic "poet" profile. (have you read "Snapshots from Hell" ?--the author may question why you even want to do b-school with such a high verbal penchant and a less-than-stellar quant aptitude). Having said that, from a purely strategic approach, you should simply try to "make up for" your quant score by demonstrating aptitude for numbers in other ways--taking a statistics course and getting an A or B would suffice--keep in mind that most b-schools will want to see at least one calculus course under your belt as well. Accounting courses would not be a bad idea either. All they really want to know is whether you will sink or swim when flooded by the provebial fire hose of quantitative-heavy courseload. If you can convince them you will be fine, your battle is won. Whether or not you enjoy it is another matter entirely. Hope this helps.