My advice for AWA

[clandry]

I took my first attempt at the GRE last Monday and received a 168Q/164V/5.5AWA. I feel my advice on Q&V would not be anything insightful, but I have some strategies for the AWA that I think would benefit most people if you're not aware of them already.

 

Here they are:

1) If you can't come up with examples, just BS. Make crap up. That's what I did. Personal BS anecdotes, supposedly "famous quotes" by people (hell, make up the person's name too), supposed historical events that never happened, and so on....

Unless you got some moral objections with using this method, I'd seriously suggest giving this strategy a go as it worked for me. 

However, it's probably not a good idea to BS common knowledge. For example, you don't want to say something like the "U.S. joined the Nazis during WWII." 

Be crafty with the BSing. 

2) Use several GRE words you feel comfortable using.

3) Write long essays as many have suggested.

4) Don't stop writing to look for that perfect word. On more important writing (e.g., writing journal papers, statements of purpose), I have the perfect word syndrome. You absolutely cannot do this on the GRE as it will drain your time dramatically. 

5) Seriously, just use the format of intro, body, conclusion. Don't try to be creative unless you're comfortable doing so.

6) Use first, second, last to start body paragraphs if you can't think of anything else. Don't spend too much time on this. Forget wtf your creative writing or w/e teachers have taught you as it is irrelevant to the GRE. 

 

Note: The above were things I made sure to employ, although I am not sure which contributed the most, if at all, to my score.

 

 

Both of my essays were close to 1000 words (I had a ballpark idea of what 500, 750, 1000 word essays are) for what it's worth. If it was a formal essay where I had unlimited time, I could probably cut the word count in half easily. In other words, I had a bunch of sentences that could have been worded in a much more concise manner and quite pathetically, i think the redundancy may have improved my score. 

 

In conclusion, the GRE test sucks and the graders are idiots. 

Edited November 5, 2013 by doubled

[HermoineG]

Thanks for the tips. Especially the first one

[Brent@GreenlightGRE]

Great advice, doubled.

 

Your first tip is HUGE - feel free to make up anecdotal evidence that supports your position. 

I'll also add that it's important to go into the test with two pre-designed essay templates in mind. This will save you a ton of time. 

 

If anyone is interested, we have a free set of videos that cover this everything else you need to know to ace the Analytical Writing section: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-analytical-writing  

 

Cheers,

Brent

[wardword]

I got the same essay topic on my retake. I used the same EXACT points as I had the first time.The only difference between Time 1 and Time 2 was that I added superfluous and pointless sentences to make it longer. I added around 200 words to mine (making it about 1000 words) and ended getting a 5.5 too. So the only difference between my 4.5 and 5.5 was a bunch of fluff.

 

If anything, it totally convinced me that the answer is LENGTH. Longer essays score better, even if it means rambling a little.

Personally, nobody will ever be able to convince me that my first essay wasn't objectively BETTER, but them's the breaks.

[clandry]

Great advice, doubled.

 

Your first tip is HUGE - feel free to make up anecdotal evidence that supports your position. 

I'll also add that it's important to go into the test with two pre-designed essay templates in mind. This will save you a ton of time. 

 

If anyone is interested, we have a free set of videos that cover this everything else you need to know to ace the Analytical Writing section: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-analytical-writing  

 

Cheers,

Brent

ah yes! I forgot that. A generic format works quite well. For the argument essay, I always have this as my thesis: "although the argument is seemingly plausible, it is rife with unwarranted assumptions."

[Conscia Fati]

IA with the OP. I got a 6 on my AW and I totally made stuff up. Citing an imaginary New York Times article is always a great idea.

[PeakPerformance]

I took my first attempt at the GRE last Monday and received a 168Q/164V/5.5AWA. I feel my advice on Q&V would not be anything insightful, but I have some strategies for the AWA that I think would benefit most people if you're not aware of them already.

 

Here they are:

1) If you can't come up with examples, just BS. Make crap up. That's what I did. Personal BS anecdotes, supposedly "famous quotes" by people (hell, make up the person's name too), supposed historical events that never happened, and so on....

Unless you got some moral objections with using this method, I'd seriously suggest giving this strategy a go as it worked for me. 

However, it's probably not a good idea to BS common knowledge. For example, you don't want to say something like the "U.S. joined the Nazis during WWII." 

Be crafty with the BSing. 

2) Use several GRE words you feel comfortable using.

3) Write long essays as many have suggested.

4) Don't stop writing to look for that perfect word. On more important writing (e.g., writing journal papers, statements of purpose), I have the perfect word syndrome. You absolutely cannot do this on the GRE as it will drain your time dramatically. 

5) Seriously, just use the format of intro, body, conclusion. Don't try to be creative unless you're comfortable doing so.

6) Use first, second, last to start body paragraphs if you can't think of anything else. Don't spend too much time on this. Forget wtf your creative writing or w/e teachers have taught you as it is irrelevant to the GRE. 

 

Note: The above were things I made sure to employ, although I am not sure which contributed the most, if at all, to my score.

 

 

Both of my essays were close to 1000 words (I had a ballpark idea of what 500, 750, 1000 word essays are) for what it's worth. If it was a formal essay where I had unlimited time, I could probably cut the word count in half easily. In other words, I had a bunch of sentences that could have been worded in a much more concise manner and quite pathetically, i think the redundancy may have improved my score. 

 

In conclusion, the GRE test sucks and the graders are idiots. 

 

I'm sorry, but how did you get your AWA scores back so soon? It takes more than 7 days to find out your AWA score!

[Sizzle]

I'm sorry, but how did you get your AWA scores back so soon? It takes more than 7 days to find out your AWA score!

 

Sometimes, they return them a lot sooner. I took the exam on the 31st of October, and I received my scores just after midnight on November 8th.

[clandry]

I'm sorry, but how did you get your AWA scores back so soon? It takes more than 7 days to find out your AWA score!

Got it on the 6th/7th day.