How to get 6.0 AWA on GMAT ....my guide

I include this in the conclusions.
5 or 6 paragraphs doesn't matter as long as the word count is there.

Great stuff chineseburned, much obliged!!!!!!
If you have any additional material that might be useful kindly post it...although your guide looks sufficient .
+1

The only addendum I would add here is that you do not necessarily need to make 3 points. I made 2 points on an essay and still got a 6. If you don't make 3 points, though, make sure you write a lot about the 2 points. Word count is important, i think.

to add to chineseburn, veritas tells you in paragraph #5 (before conclusion and after 3rd point) to add what would have made the arguement issues stronger (analyze the arguement) or to criticize your own arguement (issues question). They say to write 6 paragraphs.

Thanks mate. The structure part of your guide was very helpful.

I didn't read past section 3, and it was good enough to take me from a 4.5 in late 2003 to a 6.0 a few days ago (I'm surprised they churned out a score that fast!). Unfortunately, that is only an 87% now...

My conclusion paragraphs were very short too, and my intros weren't that long either. My three body paragraphs were very long though. Therefore, if I have anything to add to this for other test takers, it is literally restate the argument/issue and take a position and move on. Don't bother with fluff and save that for the body, as that seems to be what they are looking for. Same with the conclusion. A couple sentences seems to suffice (i.e., don't restate anything, just say for the reasons stated above).

We recommend that students write 5 paragraphs.

Here is the breakdown:

1) Intro paragraph. State succinct thesis with specific perspective. Introduce 3 independent points/ideas/examples that bolster thesis. Intro paragraph should be at least 3 sentences.

2) First body paragraph. Introduce paragraph with topic sentence. Unpack first point/idea/example bolstering thesis.

3) Second body paragraph. Introduce paragraph with topic sentence. Unpack second point/idea/example bolstering thesis.

4) Third body paragraph. Introduce paragraph with topic sentence. Unpack third point/idea/example bolstering thesis.

5) Conclusion paragraph. Restate thesis using new language. Quickly touch on three supporting points/ideas/examples. Conclusion paragraph should be at least 3 sentences.

Obviously, this is not the only template that will help improve your score. But it is the one most preferred by GMAT essay-readers—so you would be best served by running your essay through this framework.

I hope this is helpful; please let me know if you have more questions.

Best,

Josh@knewton

It is one of best guidelines ever i have seen....

I used verita for the essays, too....
In fact, I was most nervous about the AWAs then anything else.
I skipped paragraph #5 in the verita guide since the it leaves me too little time to proof read.
Anyways, just received my score today and got a 5.5, good enough.

I'd say probably the only good thing verita guide for is the AWA.....

Good questions!
Do not use & instead of and and do not use "don't" - these are not considered proper writing rules.
The safe approach is not to use any contractions on the GMAT, even such as I'm, and instead write I am.



No, AWA has its own grading scale - 0 - 6 on a 0.5 scale.
It does not affect your GMAT Score and is reported separately.

Hope this helps!

THANK YOU! got a 6.0 and didn't study very much for AWA which was key considering i needed every second to study for verbal. all thanks to your guide!

I don't think there are any issues with using the same template over and over by everyone. Why not? It does not say anywhere you can't do that.
The essays are sent to the business schools but they are used rarely and only to verify that your application essays have been written by you. Few of the schools outside of top20 review them.

writing an essay comprises of 3 things:

1. A crisp and clear template
2. A planned approach
3. lucid but good word usage.

1. Analysis of an Issue

A Template Approach to the GMAT Essay

You will be given an essay topic that ETS expects to be debatable. In other words, about half of the people will agree with one side, while the other half will agree with the other side. ETS will not give you a topic that most people agree on. For example, you will not see a topic asking you to give your opinion on the value of education for children, nor on whether or not the government should have programs to decrease the number of the drug users.

However, you might see an essay topic asking you to give your opinion on school vouchers, for example, or you might see a topic asking you to pick whether you think it is primarily the government's or the family’s responsibility to prevent drug use among children.

In general, do not take one side of the argument completely. A good rule of thumb is to argue your opinion at about 60 percent or 70 percent. I should emphasize this—even if you believe you are one hundred percent correct, you should still pretend that you are 60 or 70 percent correct.

Although the GMAT essay scorers are trained to forgive certain mistakes given the time constraints of the essay, ETS can be very picky. Pay attention to your grammar, spelling, and logical sequence, just to name a few. How can you improve your score? ETS also looks for sentence variety and ability to use language. I will show you some simple ways to do this—really, it's not that hard!

OK, here we go.

One Way

First of all, you have to figure out why they chose this as a topic. Remember—not everybody will agree, in fact it should be about 50/50. This is your hint. Try to find about five points for and against each side (ten points in total). Don't worry if you think that your points are stupid or trivial. The important thing right now is just to get some ideas down on paper, to start your brain working.

Second, figure out which side you are going to take.

Third, start writing! Don’t worry about an introduction or a conclusion right now—they are the hardest to write and everybody gets hung up on them. Just get your ideas down first.

Next, make sure you have about three or four paragraphs. You should be thinking about adding some examples now. Try to make one personal, maybe from your country and another one either international or American (the idea is that most educated Americans will have heard about the topic before). Don’t make your examples too personal! Imagine your prospective boss is reading this.

Now, go back and spice up your language—add something witty, an illustrative anecdote, a rhetorical question, even sarcasm or irony. Also, try changing the order of some of your sentences, i.e., put the subordinate clause first.

Almost done! Write your intro and conclusion!

Last, check grammar and spelling. Voila! A perfect essay!

Template

Okay, let’s try the essay now.

First Paragraph: Introduction

The issue/belief/idea/opinion that ______________________________________ is an interesting/controversial one. This issue is increasingly important in this age of ___________________________. Many people believe _________________________, but these people overlook _________________________________________________. Furthermore, _____________________________________. In this essay, I will argue that __________________________________________________ _______________.

Second Paragraph: Support

There are many good reasons for ____________________________. However, it cannot be ignored/overlooked that ___________________________. A classic example of this is ___________________________________________ . Try to add something interesting in this paragraph. Make sure you use a few complicated structures—try putting a subordinate clause first. Like this: While many type of professional promote the notion that _____________________________, I believe the opposite should be argued given the current situation/status/ of ____________________________________.

Conclusion

I have argued _______________________. This view will become increasingly dominant in the coming century given ________________________________. Many of these issues can never be resolved to everybody’s satisfaction, but in the long run, promoting ________________________________ will lead to the betterment of all involved. Finally, _____________________________ increased something like global cooperation, cultural understanding, blah, blah, blah can only result from this, resulting in ______________________________ for everybody.

This AWA template still works. I was able to score 5.5 in AWA by developing by essay based on this template. Just go through this template a week before exam and make sure u make a sincere attempt to write essays on all your mocks. That should suffice for getting 5.5 or 6 in AWA.

Thanks!

Can someone use the exact words of the example above, or a little modification must be made?
In other words, if 100 people put the same templates, is there some kind of constraint from GMAT to do this? Will the scores be low? Or at least If I create my own template, can I use it over and over the same if I retake the test? Will the later scores be low? How the raters see that?
Are my essays send to business schools? Or just the score?

Thanks for best Post on this topic;
I guess have more simplified format to remember while writing the essay;

A) Introduction ;
1. Restate the argument summary- topic and scope of Argument
2. State the argument flawed because of ;
Flaw 1- Data / Evidence missing;
Flaw 2- Only single factor considered; other factors needs to be considered, etc.

B) Para 1;
1. State the flaw 1
2. Why it is flaw
3. What Data / evidence missing with ex.
4. What would have made the Flaw more convincing

C) Para 2;
1. State the Flaw 2
2. Why it is Flaw
3. What Other Factors will effect and need to be considered with ex.
4. What would have made the flaw more convincing

D) Conclusion;
State why the conclusion was Flawed
The final verdict- Yours conclusion and why you support that.


let me know your comments

https://tips00.blogspot.in/2012/08/how-t ... -gmat.html


The argument that <restate argument> omits some very important considerations that are necessary to get a full 360-degree view of the described scenario. The argument does not provide substantive evidence to be able to prove or even support the main conclusion from the given premises.

First, the argument readily assumes that…

Second, the argument claims that…

Lastly, the argument fails to account for the fact that…

In summary, the argument is extremely flawed because of the above-mentioned reasons and hence comes across as weak and unconvincing to the reader. If the author had mentioned all the relevant facts that are essential to objectively assess the situation under consideration, the argument would have been much stronger. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.


 Now that you’ve typed out your template, take 3-4 mins to read the question and JOT DOWN 3 loopholes. Write them down on your scratchpad, do not memorize.
 Fill in the <restate argument> part in the introduction.



The argument claims <restate argument> omits some very important considerations that are essential to get a full 360-degree view of the described scenario. The argument does not provide substantial evidence to be able to prove or even support the main conclusion from the given premises.

First, the argument readily assumes that…<The assumed cause-effect relationship>
There could be multiple reasons for...<The assumed blah blah...>. For example..... <for loophole 1> Another example..... <for loophole 2>. Hence, the argument fails to convince the reader that… <The assumed cause-effect relationship>

Second, the argument claims that… <Any secondary assumed cause-effect relationship>. <Discuss it again as loophole 3. Give example as well.> This is again a very weak and flimsy assertion as it does not portray any correlation between <cause> and <effect>

Lastly, the argument fails to account for…<negative effect of cause> Without backing evidences and examples from <any related area>, one is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence. As a consequence, this conclusion has no legs to stand on.

In a nutshell, the argument is extremely flawed because of the above-mentioned reasons and hence appear as fragile and questionable to the reader. If the author had come up with relevant facts necessary to objectively assess the situation under consideration, the argument would have been much credible. Without this information, the argument remains sceptical and open to debate.

You mentioned to type at least 500 words per text. On the test it is shown the number of words or characters I typed or do I have to estimate that?