Personally I was able to skill up parry quite fast couple days ago after I got RUN to 99 took me couple of hours to get it from 372 to 424, used skill up earring & ring + Maringna.

And as far as other skills go... nobody forces you to stay in abyssea for 69 levels, people who have played the game, the non-abyssea way, they know you would cap your skills before leveling up (well 99% of the time), so yeah fast exp equalls low combat/magic skills.