Just reading this for the first time, and wanted to say that YES it is possible to be a successful compressed-time student.
I did my PPL in 4 weeks, start to finish. I flew twice a day, 4 days a weeks for the 4 weeks. Soloed somewhere late in the 2nd week, and did the written the beginning of the 2nd week (I think...). I studying my @SS off every night, constantly reviewing the days material, pre-reading for the next day. It was right after 9/11, so business was very slow. I was my instructor's only student. I was happy to have him full-time, he was happy to have someone to pay his rent and put food on his table.
The wx on checkride day was VERY heavy fog, and my heart sank when I looked out the window that morning. But by 11am it had lifted enough to make it a go, so I got the plane out and went on my way. I came back to my home airport with a temp certificate in hand!
So it can be done. The instructor and student need to be able to spend lots of time together without getting on each other's nerves. The student must be willing to study and be very pro-active in doing/studying what they are told to.