TLDR; How long (hours per day)/effective is the I’m Overwhelmed plan compared to the 1 Month Plan? Is it feasible to increase score 16 points? Thanks so much!
Hello! I plan to begin studying for the GRE on December 12th, so that is coming up. I’ll be studying over winter break for my university, so I’ll have almost exactly one month (school starts on January 12th). I will not be working during this time so I can dedicate a good amount of time to studying, but I am also involved in research ~10-20 hours per week. I am trying to decide between the I’m Overwhelmed Plan and the 1 Month Plan. I’ve heard the 1 Month plan is very intense (~8-10 hours per day) so I was wondering how the I’m Overwhelmed plan would compare? I worry that I would not be able to complete the 1 Month Plan within one month, since I also want to have time to spend time with family over the holiday. I’m also curious how effective the I’m Overwhelmed Plan is, if anyone can weigh in. I started at a 314 with no practice (162V/152Q) and want to increase to >330. I appreciate any feedback!
You don’t need to strictly follow one plan or the other, and can instead opt for a combination of the plans. Since your verbal score is close to where you would need it for your goal score, it would make sense to dedicate more of your time to studying quant.
Regarding quant, the main difference between the I’m Overwhelmed (IO) and One Month (1M) plans is that IO has all the concepts broken into smaller snippets. This works well for some people, but I find that the longer lectures found in 1M and 2M are better suited for people who haven’t done math in a while, since the longer lectures bridge concepts together more explicitly and have more examples of the concepts in use. You can start off with IO for quant, then decide if it’s working for you. If you require additional instruction, you can either switch completely to the longer lectures, or use the longer lectures to supplement your comprehension of specific topics you’re struggling with (if you choose this route, the 2M plan organizes quant by specific topic, I’d recommend using 2M for “spot checks” over 1M).
For verbal, you can use your practice test to inform where to spend your time–is your vocab the weakest, or do you need to work on TC strategy the most, etc. Review your test (and make sure it’s an official ETS practice test) to determine your weak spots, and work on targeting those. You may be able to get away with building your own plan (see recorded classes), or you can just follow along with IO if that’s too much.
Regardless of what route you take, make sure to watch the Must See Recordings so you can structure your studying correctly.