GRE Essays - Word Length

[blaisec]

Hi,

There are 2 GRE essays - Issue essay (45 min) and Argument essay (30 min). Given the time limitations, what would you think would be the minimum and maximum word lengths for each essay? My goal is to get at least a 5.5 on this section of the exam.

thanks

[barilicious]

Hi,

There are 2 GRE essays - Issue essay (45 min) and Argument essay (30 min). Given the time limitations, what would you think would be the minimum and maximum word lengths for each essay? My goal is to get at least a 5.5 on this section of the exam.

thanks

In my study materials it said about 700 words for the Issue Essay & 400 words for the Argument. I got a 5 out of 6 but don't really know how long each was. Both were 5 paragraphs, but my Argument essay paragraphs were a little shorter.

[Eigen]

Pretty sure it isn't graded significantly based on length.

If you have sufficiently approached the issue from all readily available angles in a logical and reasonably concise fashion, it's long enough.

[balderdash]

Yeah, there's no hard and fast rule (and certainly no word counter).

What you have to understand is the average grading time is 1 minute per essay... so obviously they're not reading them closely. What you have to do is make sure someone who skims it would think it's insightful even if it isn't a good essay. This entails good topic sentences, good conclusions, tight transitions, 5 paragraphs with 3-6 sentences per, and good vocabulary words that jump out to the reader. Whether or not you actually write a convincing argument doesn't matter as much as making it look like you did.

[augustquail]

Yeah, there's no hard and fast rule (and certainly no word counter).

What you have to understand is the average grading time is 1 minute per essay... so obviously they're not reading them closely. What you have to do is make sure someone who skims it would think it's insightful even if it isn't a good essay. This entails good topic sentences, good conclusions, tight transitions, 5 paragraphs with 3-6 sentences per, and good vocabulary words that jump out to the reader. Whether or not you actually write a convincing argument doesn't matter as much as making it look like you did.

The princeton review for 2010 says that essays are graded mostly on length...which seems crazy to me. I mean, if it's long and you don't answer the question, then you won't get a 6, but if you answer the question AND it's long, then I guess you might do very well? I don't know. It seems weird.

[Palatial]

The princeton review for 2010 says that essays are graded mostly on length...which seems crazy to me. I mean, if it's long and you don't answer the question, then you won't get a 6, but if you answer the question AND it's long, then I guess you might do very well? I don't know. It seems weird.

I'm pretty sure it's not 'graded' mostly on length, merely a correlation between length and better grades. I read the Princeton Review 2010 and I remember them saying something similar. I'm sure it's because if you're better prepared, you're going to be capable of writing much more. So in that sense, length = better score. I wouldn't worry at all about length, maybe focus more on amount of paragraphs, which should be about 5.

[augustquail]

I'm pretty sure it's not 'graded' mostly on length, merely a correlation between length and better grades. I read the Princeton Review 2010 and I remember them saying something similar. I'm sure it's because if you're better prepared, you're going to be capable of writing much more. So in that sense, length = better score. I wouldn't worry at all about length, maybe focus more on amount of paragraphs, which should be about 5.

I'm now not worried about length at all...I got the same score for my issue essay as my argument essay, and the former was twice as long as the latter, but the grader comments were "overall length is good." I'm mostly worried about having enough time on the argument essay to proofread and organize. I wonder why the don't give you 45 minutes for both essays?

[Jackmc1047]

This website had taken the entire pool of GRE essay topics, removed all duplicate topics, and sorted them by how likely they are to appear on your test. Check it out. It's pretty helpful.

simplygre.weebly.com

[toby42]

1) The updated GRE has both essay questions at only 30 minutes each. No longer 45 and 30. Bummer.

2) It is NOT about word count, it's about structure and ability to write a cogent, organized essay. The reason people prop up length is because it's a common factor in high scores... but that's only because logical, well written, organized essays end up being longer. Above all, make sure you have a coherent Intro that states your thesis and structure, 2-3 body paragraphs exploring what you said you would in your opening, and then a concluding paragraph summing it all up in a nice, tidy package. There's more good, in-depth advice out there, but this is the very basics. If you want to boil it down to something, it's not about length, it's about structure.

[toby42]

3) I just saw that this was revived from 2010, when it WAS 45/30 min. Fail.