This question is extremely important to me because it will determine my entire vocabulary study plan for the next five months.
I have about five months to prepare, I work 45–50 hours per week, and my current English level is approximately IELTS Band 6. My target is 150–155 in GRE Verbal. Realistically, I can only master about 400–500 words.
If GregMat already has a vocabulary list ranked by how frequently words have appeared on previous GRE exams, my intuition is that studying those words first should give me the highest probability of recognizing vocabulary on the real test.
However, your recommendation is to study Groups 1–18 instead.
Could you please explain why Groups 1–18 are a better investment than the frequency-ranked lists for someone with my English level, limited study time, and target score?
Is there evidence or experience showing that the group-based approach leads to better results, even though the frequency-ranked words have appeared more often on previous GRE exams?
This is the most important question I have because the answer will determine how I spend the next five months preparing for the GRE. I would really appreciate a detailed explanation.