While the two essays on the GMAT require you to do completely different things, the approach and foundation of each essay is exactly the same. In this blog article, I want to address two questions my students often ask: \u201cHow long should I spend on planning the essay vs. writing the essay?\u201d and \u201cHow long should the essay be?\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pacing the Essay<\/strong><\/p>\n Thirty minutes isn\u2019t a great deal of time to write Shakespeare. However, you don\u2019t need to be as eloquent and esoteric in your style. What you need to be is clear, organized, and direct. The best way to accomplish those three objectives is to spend a significant amount of time planning your essay before you start typing the essay. Kaplan has specific templates and approaches that we discuss in our course; however, I\u2019m going to simplify our approach for this post:<\/p>\n Length of the Essay<\/strong><\/p>\n The length of the essay is actually the least important component. The essay is graded on four dimensions \u2013 length is not one of those dimensions. Generally, shorter is better (if you were able to clearly articulate your points with specific and clear examples). At the end of the day, the length won\u2019t matter if you are sure to include the following points:<\/p>\n If you have these three components in a well-written essay, you\u2019ll score at the top of the AWA range; no matter what the length of the essay. <\/p>\n Make sure you practice full-length CAT tests that have essays included! Before you ever see a quantitative question on test day, you will have already spent 60 minutes writing two intense essays, so it\u2019s important to make sure you practice under the same test like conditions. Good luck!<\/p>\n\n
\nIn this step, make sure you critically assess the argument and issue at hand. Keep yourself unbiased and objective as you initially understand the argument or issue presented.<\/li>\n
\nDuring the writing step, this is where you pull together the ideas you came up with during the planning stage of the essay. While you were objective during the planning stage, in the writing stage, you drop that objectivity and vociferously attack each essay appropriately. However, make sure you also mention the other side \u2013 i.e. acknowledge the dissenting point of view. Indicate that while you understand the different point of view, it is not as strong as your position.<\/li>\n
\nMost test takers fail to conduct this final step. Please! Take two minutes to review what you wrote. While you are not restructuring the argument in this case, you need to re-read the essay, correct spelling mistakes, and liberally add structural words.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n
\n