Tips for the Issue Essay?

[tom718]

Some background: I'm taking the GRE general test in 3 weeks. I finished undergrad 2 years ago and have decided to pursue grad school since that seems to be the only avenue to getting a real job these days. My degree is in civil engineering.

Now, I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I'm well read, and have a large vocabulary. I've aced pretty much all the practice tests for the math and verbal sections. But every time I sit down and try to practice for the Issue essay, I just completely freeze up. The topics are so banal and vague, I find it absolutely impossible to organize my thoughts. I can think of a million different arguments for both sides. I try to just pick a side and go with it, but when I start to write a paragraph that considers the other side of the argument, I find that I can't do it without completely undermining my original argument. So then I start over writing for the other side of the argument, but the same thing happens again and I'm back to my original position. I've tried to practice under timed conditions 3 or 4 times now, and each time I end up storming away in frustration after 15 minutes of typing, deleting, typing, deleting.

I'm kind of like this in real life, too. I can never pick a side in a debate because I can clearly see the pros and cons of each side. This goes for almost all the standard divisive political issues like abortion, death penalty, etc. I tend to be suspicious of people with strong opinions, since to me it usually seems like it has more to do with the person's ego than with the actual issue at hand.

But getting back to the main point, the test is approaching fast and I'm really starting to worry that I'm totally screwed on this. I have the Princeton Review book and have tried their strategy of listing out examples and using a basic template with introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, but I've found that such a rigid system makes it even more difficult. I know I'm totally overthinking this and just need to relax, but any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[chrismagoosh]

Hi Tom,

I know exactly what you mean: the issue prompts are so open-ended and vague, and there are so many different interpretations, that forming a coherent position can be difficult (or, as you mentioned, you just freeze up).

One thing you could do is think of a way to make this easy on yourself. Meaning choose just one position and a couple of examples with some analysis thrown in to back you up. Now you may instinctually balk at such a proposal, thinking that is going to lead to a substandard essay. Doing so is especially difficult for those who are either perfectionists are simply want to do justice to the torrent of thoughts they have whirling through their heads upon reading an Issue Statement. But that's the thing--the meager 30 minutes hardly allows for an excellent essay, and the GRE essay graders know this. Putting together a decent essay in 30 minutes is actually pretty amazing. And you will be duly awarded.

Not that my take on the Issue is significantly different from Princeton Review's but check out this post I wrote on Magoosh today (perfect timing, right . Also click on the previous post in which I take apart the issue and brainstorm positions and relevant supporting examples:

http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/mock-awa-issue-essay/

Hope that helps .

[tom718]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the reply and for your advice. I read your blog and you make some very good points. After giving it some more thought, it seems like a methodical approach is best. Your technique of listing three examples along with three matching counter-examples seems logical. I think I need to read more essay samples to get a feel for peoples' various approaches. I tried to write another essay today and was at least able to finish the task, although the essay is certainly far from perfect (and the prompt happened to be much easier than other ones I attempted). I will be sure to keep practicing. Thanks again!

[sareth]

Another thing to bear in mind is that programs in science and engineering are probably going to give much less weight to the essays than, say, composition & rhetoric programs. A few programs I applied to in chemistry stated that they wouldn't even look at my AW score. Good luck!

[TakeruK]

I've heard that a 4 to 4.5 (out of 6) is "good enough" for most science & engineering programs. For all the General GRE sections, usually we just need to meet some cutoff -- once we're past the bar, then it doesn't matter what your score is. That is, scores between ~4.5 to 6 is probably all worth the same. Same with the verbal section -- the cutoff is probably really low here.

I get the feeling that the GRE essays are marked more for style and form than actual content. They want to see that you can form an argument and defend it the way they want you to!

[asleepawake]

Use your uncertainly about the prompt to your advantage. Come up with a thesis statement that is complex and provides room for both sides. If your prompt is "beauty is more important than truth," for example, you could write about how beauty and truth are not mutually exclusive, providing examples for how they rely on each other. You'll need a counter-argument even if you go with a more straightforward response, so you can use your ability to see both sides for that. Organization is important. It is the hardest part for me in 30 minutes. Like you, I want to keep going and complicating my argument. This isn't a good idea. You've got to just shut it down after a few solid examples and explanations.

The writing section of the GRE isn't especially useful for schools unless you score very low. In engineering, I doubt the writing score will be making of breaking anybody.