Low score on the AWA

Question

Hey folks!

Just got my Official GMAT Score Report. Scored a poor 4 on the AWA. My GMAT score is 750 (Q49, V42)

I'm applying to some of the top 10 schools. Will this score reflect poorly in my applications? I am told that writing compelling essays makes up for a low AWA score, and also that a decent TOEFL score somewhat compensates for a low AWA score too.

Would appreciate some inputs on this.

Thanks!

u1983 · Answer

Congratulations on achieving the great score. Could you please share some tips on the Verbal part...... It will surely help a lot of people.

GMATNinja · Answer

Congratulations on the great score,  bachmanity91 !

Just my two cents, but I really don't think that schools care all that much about AWA. Sure, it sends a bad message if you get a truly putrid score, but a 4 isn't all that bad. If you were to get, say, a 2 -- and then write ludicrously perfect admissions essays -- then a smart reader might wonder if somebody else wrote the essays for you. But I'd be shocked if anybody has ever been rejected from any MBA program for getting a 4 on the AWA. It's a very minor part of the evaluation process.

Good luck with your applications!

bachmanity91 · Answer

Thank you for your response  GMATNinja . I am inclined to think that focusing on my applications and indicating my writing ability through the essays, is a better use of my time. On the day of the GMAT, I had a sleep-deprivation induced headache, and what seemed like a migraine attack (I've suffered from migraine attacks for a while now), which affected me throughout the test. Somehow, I pulled through quant, verbal and did okay on IR (scored a 6). I popped some aspirin during the breaks but alas, as I got around to the AWA, I just wanted the test to end :/ I typed out just a single paragraph and the conclusion and ended the test. Do you think I should mention this in my optional essays (just in case)?

Hello  u1983

I see that you're an Indian. I too, am from India. I get that verbal can get challenging for Indians. Fortunately, I've had a decent command over English for most of my life (although my poor AWA score does not attest to this :D)

For what it's worth, here is some advice for navigating the verbal section -

1) CR - CR does not measure your command over English. It is plain logic. I studied from the Manhattan guide for CR. For practice, I used questions included in the Manhattan guide and also questions from the OG.

2) SC - The Manhattan guide for sentence correction is very comprehensive. Don't entangle yourself in a myriad grammatical terms and definitions. Observe patterns that keep coming up in questions. Most questions tend to test some sort of parallelism, and the parallelism error is usually obscured in the sentence. Don't study from too many resources. You're likely to end up confused, if you do. Focus on one strategy guide, answer questions from that guide and rely heavily on the questions in the OG. Do not go by the explanations the OG provides for a correct answer. They are usually inadequate. Once you've studied from a strategy guide such as the one by Manhattan, you will be able to identify why an answer to an OG question is what it is.

3) RC - The challenge for non-native speakers is that we tend to spend a lot of time trying to understand every word (and a lot of them are unfamiliar words) and sentence in a passage. Usually, we've already spent a good 3.5 - 5 minutes reading the passage before we even attempt the first question on it. The good news is - we don't need to understand every word in a passage. Do you create passage markers and do you summarise the passage in a few lines using some nifty abbreviations? If not, please start doing these things. As you answer a question, you are not required to know every detail included in the passage, but you must know where to look for a specific piece of information! As non-native speakers, we tend to get stuck thinking about a few words/word. "Debilitating"? What does that mean? What could it mean? Usually the intended meaning shines through in the rest of the sentence or the lines just after the word.

Hope this helps! Would be happy to answer specific questions, should you have any.

Kelen · Answer

For what its worth, I'm in exactly the same position as you. Indian with a 750 GMAT and really high verbal with a low AWA score. I'm not mentioning it at all in my optional essay since anything I write will look like an excuse. It may just be better to not draw attention to it. Test day variance is a thing. Your verbal score is high and your essays will probably be well-written. You will also score well in the TOEFL/IELTS if you decide to take it. It would truly be ridiculous if a college decides to reject you because of a 4.0 AWA. Again, I'm in the same position and applying right now, so that's my logic. I could be wrong, but I really hope not.

SRIKANTSUROLIA · Answer

Hi everyone. I also got a very low score on AWA. My score is V42 Q50 Overall 760, IR 8. But AWA is 3.5. I'm fearing this will be seriously detrimental and may lead to rejection.

Posted from my mobile device

Arro44 · Answer

While 3.5 is not a great score, I highly doubt that it will seriously impact your admission.
Especially as the rest of your GMAT is truely great!

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