Pool of Issue and Argument Topics

[obesemuffins]

Hey All,

New here. I was browsing ETS's pool of topics for their Issue and Argument Prompts. They say that, "This page contains the Issue topics for the Analytical Writing section of the GRE® revised General Test. When you take the test, you will be presented with one Issue topic from this pool."

Can anybody verify this to be true? Thanks.

Here are the links to this page...

http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool

http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

[Physwimic]

I could only remember my argument topic, and I can confirm that my argument topic was on the list. However, I don't know how much this helps. If you have enough time to go through and prepare essays for all of those topics . . .

[obesemuffins]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, there's no way I could get through all of those topics. Nonetheless, it is helpful to have a general idea.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

muffins,

A few weeks before I took the test I wrote one argument task, one issue task essay each day (taken from the ets website pool), for ten total practice essays in a week and was 100% prepared for the writing section. Just figured I'd share that.

[unforth]

Both my topics are on those lists. I hadn't looked at them before taking the exam but it's worth noticing that a lot of the issue topics fall in to specific categories - do if you think about (for example) your views on education, you'll be well prepared for a LOT of the different topics for agree/disagree. Reading the arguments ones and just noting how ludicrous the logic in them is would also be good practice....

[affguy]

I took the test a couple of weeks ago and both of my topics are on that list. Having been out of school for decades, I was nervous about the quantitative part and subscribed to a prep service to bone up on rusty skills. I write a lot for work, so I wasn't too worried about the analytical portion. Still, I figured it wouldn't hurt to work through a couple, just to make sure my responses are of the nature they'll be looking for; however the prep evaluators never responded. On test day I got 82nd percentile math, 96th verbal, and just found out I got 48th percentile (4.5) writing. I'm pretty disappointed with that, as it was the section I was most comfortable with. I guess I should have prepared more carefully after all. Anyhow, I believe my problem was likely a failure to stick very specifically to the instructions. Still, my app goes in tomorrow, I'm just going to cross my fingers that my resume and SoP will speak more loudly than my GRE.

[TakeruK]

Yes, both of my topics were all from those lists and the wording on the website makes it 100% clear that that pool of topics is indeed inclusive. That is, if you manage to write all 50+ essays from each list really well, and memorize them, then you can just recall it from memory on the test! If you can do that though, you probably deserve that 6.

But realistically, as others suggested, going through that list and writing a few practice essays here or there would be a good way to prepare. In addition, if you can think of one or two ideas for each topic as you scan through the list, then it could save you a little bit of brainstorming time on the GRE itself.

[chrismagoosh]

I've had a number of Magoosh users report back telling me that their essay topics were directly from the pool. Some even got the exact same topic that I dissect, brainstorm, and write an entire essay on in one of our modules. Many thought I was psychic... though I disabused them of any such notion .