Do IR and AWA affect your candidacy?

Question

Hey,

Without going into specifics about my particular case, I would like to ask if you guys think that IR and AWA affect one's candidacy. No school that I know reports an incoming class' IR and AWA scores, leading me to infer that less importance is attributed to these scores.

In your opinion, how much importance do schools place on these sections? Is there a particular threshold that must be respected to avoid compromising one's score? Ultimately, do IR and AWA matter at all?

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

I would suggest you to focus more on Verbal and Quant section as they are much more important than AWA and IR.
Business schools definitely pay more attention on your Verbal and Quant score.
After achieving your desired score you can focus on AWA and IR.

akela · Answer

Hi Neo94 , IR has some questions that are very similar to the ones in quant and CR. So, it is not a separate section. You should be fine as soon as you practice the IR questions before the exam in order to get used to the wording in question stems. You can read more here: https://gmatclub.com/blog/2017/05/does- ... -matter-3/ Avoid low AWA score. AWA prep will not take too much time either. Check out this post: https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6 ... ml?fl=menu Hope this helps!

bb · Answer

You should be able to master AWA easily. Both the machine and the person use a template to evaluate and can be almost gamed and tricked without much prep.

Note that schools get a copy of your awa report and your essay. They will read to compare the style with your applications essays.

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Neo94 · Answer

Would you retake the GMAT if you received a 6 in IR and a 4 in AWA?

Plot twist: I scored in the 99th percentile.

I'm just worried that the IR and AWA scores could impact my candidacy...

I'd really appreciate your input.

bb · Answer

Probably not. your 4.0 will draw some attention as a surprise but the V45 should address that concern as well as your interview.

I can only imagine how annoying the 4.0 is. If you want some peace of mind, You can ask AdCom for the schools you are applying if this is a concern and whether it will be an issue and if they recommend retaking. They are usually pretty open about this one and i anticipate it would be OK.

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bb · Answer

There is a Tuck Live chat coming up and starting now. Perhaps you can ask there to get a data point from them. (If time allows)

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Neo94,

With a 760/Q49, you have a Score that's above the 99th percentile, so can comfortably apply to ANY Business Schools that interest you. Both your IR6 or AWA4 are fine - and it's unlike that either of those sub-scores will impact your applications at all.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

AjiteshArun · Answer

As  bb  pointed out, you should get in touch with your target schools, although I really don't think anyone will have a problem with a score of 4 on the AWA with the kind of main GMAT score that you have.

All the best for your applications!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Neo94,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. So, although IR and AWA are scored separately from and considered less important than quant and verbal, schools still do care about your IR and AWA scores in the sense that if you score very low in those sections, it’d probably be a red flag on your application.

The good news is that you can master AWA without a significant amount to prep. Furthermore, IR contains components of both verbal and quant, so if you can master those sections first, you should be able to prep for IR fairly easily.

Feel free to reach out with further questions.

Good luck!

Neo94 · Answer

Hey everyone,

So I've decided to retake. Not a joke. Here is my current score with percentiles:

Total: 760 (99th); Q49 (74th) V45 (99) IR 6 (70th) AWA 4 (18th).

Until now, I've never practiced IR or AWA. 95% of studying went into Quant.

Please let me know your opinion on how I should proceed if I am aiming for a Q50/51 V49/51 IR8 AWA 6 type score. I consistently score a Q49 and would like to at least start hitting a Q50.

Any advice or experience shared would be greatly valued.

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