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osbornecox
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Right amount of effort on AWA 05 Dec 2009, 06:50
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Hi everyone,

I don't find the AWA hard, but I'm aware that expending 50 minutes of intellectual energy is not something to take lightly, considering that it's followed by 150 minutes of CAT mayhem.

What are people's views of tanking the AWA or just doing enough to get by on it? I honestly struggle to see its overall significance, in the context of the overall application (surely adcom is going to care more about your essays, and how you write them, than what a piece of software thought of your essay writing).
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Right amount of effort on AWA 05 Dec 2009, 15:09
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I had the exact same thought yesterday and I even went to the extent of thinking of writing a letter to the GMAC about AWA. Line of reasoning .- approx 250,000 take GMAT every year, devote 1 hr to AWA on test day, i.e. 250,000 hours approx. 10,000 days , approx 25 years - this is not counting any additional hour spent in preparation.....you get the drift.....and after all that time spent on AWA , it does not have a significant impact on the application. ... Endurance has been a big problem for me since Day 1 and I rather showcase a competent Q score or V score than a competent AWA score if it comes to choosing which can give more bang for the time.

Any thoughts from experienced test takers would be appreciated.
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Right amount of effort on AWA 05 Dec 2009, 21:33
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Glad to see I'm not the only one asking this question!

Certainly whatever we plan on doing on test day, we should do during the practice tests to replicate the same sense of exhaustion, but I think I might only spend 15 min each on the AWA this second time around. The stamina really caught me off guard the first time, along with several other things.
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Right amount of effort on AWA 06 Dec 2009, 00:53
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I just got my official GMAT score and managed to get a 6.0 in AWA. This is my view on it:

- Make sure you practice AWA as part of your practice tests for the weeks leading up to you. It will help you build your mental stamina.
- Having said that, I found AWA can be used as a positive on test day. It eases you in after your AWA you will be comfortable in the test environment, your computer, your surroundings etc.
- I was a little worried about it but anyone who has written an essay in college can easily get a 6. Just follow the AWA guide posted on this forum.

In terms of significance, yes it has little to no bearing if your application is solid. I read that adcoms only look at it in rare cases. Nevertheless, until the GMAT is revamped we have to live with it and it's really not that hard so just read the guide and follow it and you should be fine.
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Right amount of effort on AWA 30 Aug 2011, 01:34
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Too much effort on AWA may consume lots of mental energy. I think we should target about 5 in AWA instead of 6.
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Right amount of effort on AWA 10 Sep 2011, 03:58
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I think AWA needs no much effort if your grammar is sound, your thought pattern is sequential and you can translate it into black and white with little effort.

But the argument part of AWA may require some effort and I combined the techniques in CR with this one. The strategy paid off. You'd need to have the thought process of the kids of flaws GMAT can place in its argument essays and that should see you through.

I barely wrote a couple of essays on the d-day, even as I was busy in a function at home.

See my port in the GMAT experience folder, if you know what exactly transpired with me on AWA.

Regards
Rahul
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