AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment)

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course is designed to teach you how to do well on the AWA Assessment on the GMAT.

Objective: Learn how the AWA is graded, and learn other general tips for this writing test.

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) on the GMAT has two, 30-minute sections: the analysis of an argument and the analysis of an issue. They can appear in either order on your exam.

A note of caution: ETS has published the list of essay question from the GMAT CAT exam and you can download them for free. But do not waste your time practicing a response for each one. Just review the list and consider how you would respond to a few of them.

You should be aware that your essays will probably be graded by a teaching assistant or graduate student and they will assign it a grade from 0 to 6. Then the E-Rater computer program will grade it and assign a score. If there is more than a one point difference between the computer score and the human score, another person will read your essay and you will earn the average of the two human scores.

Graders will examine your essays for evidence of several things:

1. Your critique of the argument or your analysis of the issue.
2. That your ideas are developed throughout the essay logically, persuasively and will supporting examples.
3. Organization
4. Proper grammar and syntax
   
   Your graders; however, will likely spend only two minutes on each essay. So knowing this can help your strategy for success.

The AWA is not as important as your verbal and quantitative sections of the test, so spend more time on those.

In each 30 minute section, we recommend you spend the first 3 to 5 brainstorming and creating a rough outline on your scrap paper. After crossing out any ideas you do not want to include, assign numbers of importance to the remaining ones. Then use the next 20 minutes to write the essay and leave at least 5 for proofreading. When you are proofreading check that your introduction is relevant to the body of the question and read line by line for omitted words, typos, and grammatical errors. Make sure your thoughts are clear and that transitions are included. But whatever you do, don't attempt to make huge changes to the essay. We promise this one will backfire on you in a big way.

In your 3 to 4 paragraph body, you need to express your best few ideas in an interesting way, but keep the structure very simple. Clearly state your opinions and generously use transition words to keep the reader moving.

The 4 key things we want you to work on in practice and commit to memory before the test are: 1. use specifics in your essay, 2. do not use big words, 3. watch your grammar, and 4. use sentences of different lengths.

Lastly, follow directions. In the Analysis of an Argument essay, readers will look for you to present criticisms of the argument. In Analysis of an Issues essay, they are looking for your reasoned and judicious opinion, but not a call to action.