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

Dear chineseburned

I wanted to thank you for this post. I did the GMAT a week ago, and I just received my score, and guess what! 6.0
I am a foreign student, and English is not my first language.
My strategy was to memorize your template, I started writing the template everywhere I could (office, home, etc).

My story is not a great nor good story, the truth is that I got 49 in Math, and a #$@!#@! 21 in Verbal. I am very sad, since in every practice I got more than 31... 6 mgmat tests ranging from 31 to 36, and 2 official mba.com tests 34 and 31.

but if I have to thank someone that person is you, and the people in gmatclub.
I will be taking the GMAT again, I am afraid that I lost this years application round for that @$!@$ verbal, but I'll be back!

Thanks again dude, you rule... btw the percentile was 90.
Saludos!

Thanks for the breakdown. I studied your template literally a day or two before the test and managed to get a 5.5. Not too bad. thx!

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

Hi,

Thanks a lot for this great post! Took my GMAT a few weeks ago and I got 6.0 in AWA. I only learned half a day and learning your 2 templates by heart was basically all I did for the AWA. So, your templates really work fine and are an easy way to score 6.0!
The hint to write down the template during the 5 min instruction time also helped me a lot because then, when the time was running, I didn't have to remember what I learned by heart, I could simply look on my paper and write the template down!
So thanks again, I can only recommend this templates!

(P.S.: I am not a native speaker; but you probably recognized that! :D)

Can I refer to "the author" in the essays? "The argument" gets a bit repetitive.

Is it OK, when stating ways in which the argument can be improved, to use "may" or "might" (i.e. "it might be better to do it like X")? Or should I be more forceful?

I think that would be fine. I just searched for my score report and realized that I got a 5.0 on AWA - OOPS

Method works. 6.0ed on recent exam. Thought I wouldn't pull off the assessment but the guide kept my argument well structured. Only looked at this post 1-2 days prior to exam. Use it!

Posted from my mobile device

Hello,

I took 5 practice exams but always skipped the essay part. I read your post an hour before my GMAT and scored a 6 on my AWA.

Many thanks.

-J

What could be a better feedback?
How did you do by the way? Happy or thinking about retaking?

I would like to point out that the order is correct in which you receive the essays.. Analysis of an Argument is first, Analysis of an Issue is second. The Princeton Review course and book has these flipped which can confuse someone who's memorizing them in order (happened to me practicing yesterday).

This is obviously a great template judging from all of the high scores received. I take my test for the first time in less than one week and was wondering how closely the template was followed by those who did well. My concern is that I might be penalized if a human grader recognizes that I have copied numerous phrases from this template verbatim. It may seem like a silly concern, but I just want to have all of my bases covered.

Thanks,
PWH

Well, what he outlined isn't some proprietary formula for cracking some system. It's just a thoroughly outlined structure for a sound argument/analysis. I briefly read the bullet points and loosely followed it. The pointers in this thread won't help you with grammatical errors or proper sentence structure, however it does tell you to be lengthy and support every claim you make. I was sure to restate everything and then go on to analyze/support/critique it while using relevant examples of my own. I think that thought organization counts as well as giving support for everything you say. If not this, then why. If you agree, why do you agree. If you do not agree, why not? Baseless claims are weak even if they are factual.

I would venture to guess that a lot of the critical analyses that are asked of test takers are generally blanket statements that are easy to attack and tear down. My question I had for the first one went something very similar to this:

A business manager observed that over the months of july through september inclusive, the home goods and furnishings department had higher profits than the clothing department. As a result, the business manager recommends that the store expand the home goods dept while shrinking the clothing dept.

Then it asked you to critique. Well, this is just about support-less a statement can get.

I restated, then went into specific things that are not unaddressed in this short passage that would be necessary to look into to ensure that it would be a sound move. The passage does not address the fact that both these departments have specific business cycles that could have attributed to the difference in profits. We'd need to look at longer operating cycles to ensure that this is not normal cyclical behavior. How about incentives that may have helped spur home goods sales? What about inventory costs? maybe the dept for furnishings is much more streamlined, affecting profits. How about the fact that consumer discretionary sales such as retail clothing will almost certainly spike coming into holiday season? Shrinking that dept now could likly be costly, not to mention time consuming. Perhaps a strong domestic currency allowed the store to purchase furniture at lower prices for sales in our market. On the contrary, maybe a lot of the retail is purchased in euros, which might have been very strong against the domestic currency...enough to actually hurt profits.

What I'm getting at is that it seems that in the short amount of words the GMAT will post a statement, it will not be able to sufficiently state something that you can agree with in whole. There should be many weaknesses that you can pick at. Just make sure your thoughts are organized and pay attention to grammar and redundancies and other common mistakes and you should be good.

As for the second AWA task, it said something like this:

Companies and organizations tend to overemphasize the training and importance of teamwork, when in fact, it is the drive and commitment of individuals that enable things to get done. Should companies and organizations shift to emphasize training individuals.
Agree, or disagree.

Well, this one is anyone's game, but taking both sides of the argument here will probably give you more material to work with.
Again, I restated the claim, and then immediately afterwards, put down my stance on it and went on to explain why I felt that way. On this one, I brought in work examples, both of my own industry, and that of other ones I had familiarity with. Again, just refer to the OP's structure guidelines because they work. Good luck.

Just got my official score report, another 6.0!

Thanks a ton chineseburned, I gave you a kudos as that's the best I can do online!

Let me know if you are in DC, I will get you a drink!

This guide was fantastic. I took 1-2 days of casually looking at the template and reading up on the format of the AWA.

Thanks to Chineseburned's guide I got a 5.0 on the AWA.

I think the most relevant tool at present in this category is available on gmatawa [dot] com.
The user is required to submit an essay attempt for an argument of his/her choice and trigger the evaluation by the software. In an attempt to keep it simple and for the best comprehension by the user, the result, then presents the results of evaluation classified into three broad categories of coherence of idea and expression, structure of the piece submitted and the vocabulary and language usage aspects. The user can separately visualize the ratings as determined by the software under these three parameters and thus identify the key focus areas to build upon and improve progressively.

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.

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

Aaaand the score just came in: 6.0
THANKS AGAIN!!