Does AWA score of 3 requires retaking GMAT?

Question

Hey All,
I am looking for expert opinion or people who may have experienced similar situation. I was satisfied with my GMAT score of 710 and IR 7 until got official score with AWA 3. Having researced online, I found this score limited and below the range of acceptable. This leaves me with 2 options
1) Re-take the exam
2) Apply with this score (My target colleges ISB, NTU,Rotman,Shulich, Sauders)

Also, can I compensate the low AWA score with something else such as good score in Ielts or Toefl, rather than retaking GMAT? As I am not prepared to take the exam again and will take some external force to leave my state of Inertia.

bb · Answer

Sorry about the score. It’s almost inexcusable to receive such a low score for anyone based on how easy it is to get a perfect or almost perfect score. It takes one day and one topic to nail AWA. Chineseburnt’s Guide. Imagine you show up to a job interview with a blackeye. Do you think wearing a nicer tie will make it less visible or make it go away? I think you’re low score will attract some attention but not quite as much as a blackeye

The main question is why you got such a low score. The admissions team does get a copy of your essay that you wrote and if it is just a fluke, you can always use an optional essay to explain it. Usually they don’t really care about the score but they do use it to compare writing style and make sure that the I see you wrote on the test pairs with the essays you wrote for applications to discourage people from hiring others to write their essays or using fake essays. So my suggestion would be to use the optional essay to explain why you got such a low grade. It is a bit of a red flag on your application but I don’t think it warrants retaking the GMAT especially if you don’t think you can perform as well. But you need to make sure you come off well on your interview. Mixed performance in the interview combined with poor AWA score will cast some doubts on your app essays. PS. It would better to have AWA 5 and IR 3. Posted from my mobile device

hsingh3031 · Answer

bb  
But AWA is excluded from GMAT Online. How the adcom will evaluate the AWA in this case ?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Good point - They can’t. Similarly on GRE, there are 2 essays instead of 1 so how will they evaluate that? 😱 what about Sloan who made the GMAT optional? Would you apply with a 660 or not submit that score at all?

Sometimes nothing is better than something.

A score of 3 is low. They could ignore it.... maybe. You can hope for that but I would write 2-3 sentences explaining the reason for it. Very factual because a good admissions person will dig in if things are not lining up.

siddhant183 · Answer

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bb  thanks for the reply ;it is really helpful.
I have few follow up questions based on your answer
But before that I would like to share the reason 
I was planning to give online GMAT, but 2 days before I booked a slot at the exam center due to personal reason. And because of this I was not prepared for AWA (not part of online GMAT). Still this doesn't justify the low score-but I think the reason for this was I was expecting a topic in AWA for which I will write an essay just as in school, but i faced a CR question as a topic for essay. I was not sure how to approach this and might have seemed irrelevant to the evaluator.
Now as to my questions
1) You mentioned that "if it is just a fluke, you can always use an optional essay to explain it."
a)Can I categorise the above reason as a fluke?
b)If the application process does not ask for an optional essay should I still try to communicate the reason for the low score?
2) According to you they use the AWA score to compare writing style to prevent hiring others to write your essays, does this now mean I should keep my essay standard lower so as not be rejected on the grounds of malpractice. This is really tough situation to be in as either ways you are reducing your chances of selection.
3)You also mentioned that it would better to have AWA 5 and IR 3.
By this are you trying to convey that AWA is more important than IR?
4)Just to be sure, I wanted to confirm by mixed performance in the interview you mean poor performance. This question may seem to you un-necessary but now I have little scope of mistakes so wanted to be 100% sure.
5) And the last one, can I get my AWA score re-evaluated?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Siddhant, you might just be lucky to be applying to these colleges in a year when many people are opting for  online GMAT , in which AWA is not tested.

Hence, I believe that schools will not be taking AWA scores into consideration this year.

p.s. I worked with a candidate on his ISB application in R1. He had a similar AWA score, and was called for interview (final results are not out yet).

bb · Answer

That’s good to know... this year is indeed weird and strange. Frankly, the question of AWA scoring and evaluation never came up in the last six months or the two MBA fairs we have conducted. I don’t think anyone knows for sure except the admissions team. If there is no optional essay provision, it would make sense to reach out to them. It is always good to have a dialogue with admissions to establish a relationship. They appreciate good questions and usually happy to address them.

EI, Thank you for sharing this. It would be helpful to know their exact score. The overall exact score. Was it a 690 with AWA 4? Or was it 750 with AWA 3? My concern is making the assumption without knowing what “similar” was Since different people have different standards for the word similar. Don’t mean to cast any shadow on this 😎 but would be helpful to know at least the AWA score.

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi! 690 with AWA 3 (have PMed you this candidate's ISB Application).

siddhant183 · Answer

Hi Sir,

Thanks for providing facts directly correlated to my case, your reply has boosted my confidence, and i'll be able to apply with some reassurance. Thanks a lot...

bb · Answer

I second that! Thank you for providing more color - really appreciate it!

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Does AWA score of 3 requires retaking GMAT?

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