GMAT Strategy

Most courses run at least 2 months. In fact, even when prepping on their own, people usually prep for 2-4 months - so, yes, 5 weeks was probably not enough time.

You'll have to factor in your timing when deciding whether to continue studying on your own or taking a course, but if you are applying this fall for next year, you might not have time to first try studying on your own and then take a course.

FYI: for our online classes, we ask students (in a survey at the end of the course) whether they found the online format more effective, as effective, or less effective than an in-person course. It's rare that anyone says it's less effective. In fact, I just finished a course recently, and about 1/3 of the people said it was more effective than an in-person class; the other 2/3 said it was as effective. Nobody said it was less effective.

One reason students actually like it more: every online class has two instructors simultaneously. While one teaches, the other answers questions in the direct messaging window, so students don't have to interrupt class to ask questions. That means more gets taught and students get to ask more questions than they would in an in-person classroom.