800 Verbal. 4 analytical writing.

[DrFaustus666]

I got 800 verbal, 4.5 AW, somehow. What's even weirder is that I wrote the test once before. My Verbal and Quant improved dramatically since last time, but my AW score went down from a 6 to 4.5. I don't feel like I did anything different so I have no idea what happened.

I've had the same experience: high verbal scores and AW all over the map (4.5, 5.0, and 5.5). I think the AW test is meaningless, and I DO hope that most Admissions Committees realize that too.

[philo-Sophia]

I really don't want to comment on AW because I didn't do well,either.But I really don't think AW is a scientifically designed test. What people need is to practice again and again and use the so-called templet in order to get a high score. If you don't use the templet ,you may get lost because of nervousness during the test, especially the time is so limited . The score can't really reflect one's capacity of writing.

[Eigen]

I really don't want to comment on AW because I didn't do well,either.But I really don't think AW is a scientifically designed test. What people need is to practice again and again and use the so-called templet in order to get a high score. If you don't use the templet ,you may get lost because of nervousness during the test, especially the time is so limited . The score can't really reflect one's capacity of writing.

I think you can practice over and over again to get a high grade... Just like with the other sections.

But it's not necessary. The wife and I both got 5.5s going into it almost completely cold. I think too many people overthink it.

Also, I think most people taking it (and doing well or not) think that it's used as a measure of your writing ability as a whole. It's not. It's a measure of a specific type of your writing ability. The school also gets samples of your writing in SoPs and writing samples you submit. The major difference is that some people get significant help polishing those pieces, whereas the GRE is assuredly your own work. Quite helpful to put a gauge on how well you can frame a quick argument.

[MoJingly]

Yeah, the AW section is just one of the many bones I have to pick with the GRE. I got a 4.0 too. I just made sure to submit a really polished SOP and writing sample to redeem myself. I received interview invites from my top two choices (which is a relief, seeing has how I only applied to those two ) . So rest assured, there is more to an application than an AW score. I have a feeling we just start to obsess over every negative thing on our profiles, and they tend to become the only things we can think about. But you know what? It just might be ok after all.

[Eigen]

It was interesting, my wife was chatting with a professor the other day who sat on the addcom at Berkley while he was there as a post-doc...

He said that he found it very noteworthy that the indicators that people talk about most (GPA, GRE, etc) seemed to play the least role in acceptances. That the adcomm as a whole was more interested in looking for mature hardworking individuals. When he asked about it, they told him that almost no one fails out of graduate school because they can't hack it academically... They drop out because of stress, lack of interest, etc.

[MoJingly]

When he asked about it, they told him that almost no one fails out of graduate school because they can't hack it academically... They drop out because of stress, lack of interest, etc.

That's a really interesting and noteworthy point.

[natsteel]

I got a 4.0 on the AW as well and have won a couple of writing awards and am having a paper published in a national undergrad journal. Like many of you, I suspect, I have my own style that I have developed over many years of writing that works well everywhere else but on the GRE AW section. I actually considered retaking it to try to raise it. But a number of my professors said it wasn't worth it to retake just for the AW score. My Verbal score is fairly respectable at 94th percentile. I did talk to a prominent professor at Columbia who told me that in his department they don't even look at AW scores, I quote, "Why would I look at that when I have someone's writing sample in front of me?" So I decided to leave it.

[emmm]

I got a 6 on the analytical writing without having written any practice essays. BUT . . . I thought my position paper was one of the worst things I've ever written. I really felt as though I was trying to salvage it at the end and make it coherent, since I didn't have time to scrap it and start over. The argument essay was much easier. It definitely helped that I had just come off a year of being a writing grader for a business law class, where some of the assignments were in this exact format, as all the students need to pass a very similar writing exam for their transfer applications.

[philo-Sophia]

I think you can practice over and over again to get a high grade... Just like with the other sections.

But it's not necessary. The wife and I both got 5.5s going into it almost completely cold. I think too many people overthink it.

Also, I think most people taking it (and doing well or not) think that it's used as a measure of your writing ability as a whole. It's not. It's a measure of a specific type of your writing ability. The school also gets samples of your writing in SoPs and writing samples you submit. The major difference is that some people get significant help polishing those pieces, whereas the GRE is assuredly your own work. Quite helpful to put a gauge on how well you can frame a quick argument.

yes,you're right,it measures the ability of writing a specific type of writing. But I'm a slow person...so it's hard for me to form a strong issue essay in a very short period of time.I think I need more practice to be quick if I want to get a higher AW score,but that will cost a lot of time that I should spend on my major courses.Maybe the best way for me is to work out excellent writing samples and focus on my major.

Edited January 14, 2011 by philo-Sophia

[Eigen]

yes,you're right,it measures the ability of writing a specific type of writing. But I'm a slow person...so it's hard for me to form a strong issue essay in a very short period of time.I think I need more practice to be quick if I want to get a higher AW score,but that will cost a lot of time that I should spend on my major courses.Maybe the best way for me is to work out excellent writing samples and focus on my major.

That's the right idea, imo.

[Kathiza]

Oh my god.... I didn't even think that 800v was possible. How did you do this? I'm totally impressed! I have 600... and I thought this was good :-(

[Vacuum]

It might just be me, but I think you guys are overthinking this. Just because you get a high percentile for the Verbal doesn't mean you should do well on the writing portion. I did well on the writing and decent on the Verbal, but for example, I have no 'formal' experience with analogies, so I basically sucked at that portion of the Verbal. The amount of vocab people know also varies widely and for the Verbal you need to know somewhat obscure terms, whereas for the writing portion, you could use basic english wording and get a good score. I think that maybe people try to make their essays seems superior, which actually hurts you in the end because either the comp or person grading can't follow with all the big words being used or maybe the sentence structure is too complex (multiple commas, semicolons etc). I just feel that these two sections are completely different and really can't reflect on each other. I remember reading the essays of my peers in undergrad and some were so hard to follow because of extremely long sentences or too much fancy wording that really didn't state a point.

I think if you follow the basic format of an intro stating your points + a thesis, each para with a topic sentence, an example + explanation why this example is relevant, a concluding sentence, a final conclusion summarizing the points and remention of your thesis and why/how you 'proved' it and the use of multiple transitional words throughout, you should do well on the writing portion.

[DrFaustus666]

First off, Congrats on acing the verbal section, that is very impressive.

Second and more importantly, you may be a great writer but you obviously lack basic analytical skills. The GRE writing section is not about how well you can prose, but rather how well you can develop and argue a coherent idea. You can obviously read and you know big words. But you also seem to lack cognitive analytical abilities. Don't worry though, graduate school (assuming you get in of course) is all about developing the analytical skills that you currently lack. By the time you are out of grad school I am sure that you will actually be capable analytically.

SteveNSactown: This post bothers me. I don't want to start a flame war but nonetheless your comments "obviously lack basic analytical skills" and "lack cognitive analytical abilities" seem ill-informed at best (upon what basis do you draw these conclusions?) and possibly (depending on how thick-skinned catilina, the OP, is) downright nasty.

I think you don't really mean to come across this way, based on your congratulations, and on your last sentence, but the tone of your post seems just a tad supercilious. My two cents worth. Oh yeah, I also got an 800 (once, 700's on two other sittings) and lackluster AW scores.

[DrFaustus666]

I would be curious to see how much you melt when the manuscript rejection letters start rolling in and a tenure deadline looming.

You lost me.

I get that you're saying I am a bad writer too. But why? On what evidence? I'm not being a pain. I really want to know what makes you remark snidely to me after I chide the other guy for what I see as a snide remark.

Honestly, in good faith, am I missing something?

[coffeekid]

First off, Congrats on acing the verbal section, that is very impressive.

Second and more importantly, you may be a great writer but you obviously lack basic analytical skills. The GRE writing section is not about how well you can prose, but rather how well you can develop and argue a coherent idea. You can obviously read and you know big words. But you also seem to lack cognitive analytical abilities. Don't worry though, graduate school (assuming you get in of course) is all about developing the analytical skills that you currently lack. By the time you are out of grad school I am sure that you will actually be capable analytically.

Are you seriously being that presumptuous? "[Y]ou obviously lack basic analytical skills... lack cognitive analytical abilities." Well, you obviously lack a capacity for logic, considering the conclusions you make. I know many rigorous analytic writers who have had hiccups on standardized writing exams, and yet they still publish. Why do you think that the ETS offers a re-scoring of your GRE (for a fee, of course)? Because even a pedagogically homogenized organization like them realizes that scoring is inherently interpretive.

I really hope you are just a friend messing with this person... otherwise, good luck making connections in academia with that magnitude of condescension!

[DrFaustus666]

I apologize if that is how you are interpreting my post. I only meant to offer my sincerest congratulations while discussing the personal and intellectual growth that occurs during graduate school.

I think I may have hit a little too close to home for you as you did well on the verbal but also lacked the cognitive ability to develop a coherent argument. After reading your post I was not at all surprised to learn that you did poorly on the AW section, as it was poorly developed and in your words "ill-informed." And yet despite your obvious short comings you still came in here to brag about your high verbal score.

Pathetic.

Your insult only causes me to introspect. I might indeed have been bragging. And I'll admit I was disappointed at my AW score.

Nonetheless, I still think you could have made your original point in a gentler and more constructive way.

[coffeekid]

"Why do you think ETS offers a re-scoring of your GRE (for a fee, of course)?"

uhhh for money?

"Because even a pedagogically homogenized organization like them realizes that scoring is inherently interpretive."

Wow I bet you got at least 800 on the verbal section with big words like that.

"I really hope you are just a friend messing with this person... otherwise, good luck making connections in academia with that magnitude of condescension!"

pot, kettle, black, etc.

Ok, buddy, get out of the forums please. It's clear that you are just out to mess with people. Go to a bar for that, where you actually have to own up to what you're saying. People here are trying to help and inform others with their decision making.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Ok, buddy, get out of the forums please. It's clear that you are just out to mess with people. Go to a bar for that, where you actually have to own up to what you're saying. People here are trying to help and inform others with their decision making.

Let me put it a different way: no personal attacks or you will be banned from posting for a while.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Listen here, "coffeekid" you started it with your inane white knighting. Please stop threatening me before I report you.

Does anyone know if this site has a "block" feature?

Yeah. It does. But only we moderators can use it. This thread was mostly contention-free until you showed up. Trust me, your posting ability is in grave jeopardy.

[DrFaustus666]

It seems that intellectual onanism is rampant among the current crop of applicants, and for that matter current humanities MA students. You are missing more often than Dave Kingman, who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. Clearly admissions criteria at American graduate programs need significant revision, as this board and nearly every other board on this page illustrate so cogently.

I never heard of Dave Kingman and I'm honest enough to admit it and not google the name first.

What else have I missed?

Or was I too busy onanizing to get your point (my left hand is a little sore actually)?

[i.am.me]

Are you seriously being that presumptuous? "[Y]ou obviously lack basic analytical skills... lack cognitive analytical abilities." Well, you obviously lack a capacity for logic, considering the conclusions you make. I know many rigorous analytic writers who have had hiccups on standardized writing exams, and yet they still publish. Why do you think that the ETS offers a re-scoring of your GRE (for a fee, of course)? Because even a pedagogically homogenized organization like them realizes that scoring is inherently interpretive.

I really hope you are just a friend messing with this person... otherwise, good luck making connections in academia with that magnitude of condescension!

I agree with coffeekid's feelings. None of the comments were directed at me, but they still hurt my feelings. I also know of many talented and award winning writers who got an insultingly low score on the AW. Well, they still made it into their respective PhD programs. Aren't we all here to offer support and advice to one another?

[qbtacoma]

Well, to Mike and Steve, I scored a 5.5 on my first try at the GRE (since that seems to matter to Steve at least) and I think you two are condescending and nasty. Plus you seem to be under the impression that ability is not only something that can be captured by a test, but that the GRE is the test that can measure it. The OP has probably moved beyond the accordion essay style we all learned in junior high, but scored relatively poorly because the GRE measures how well a writer can stick to a small number of formulas. If that's your idea of analytical skill then you probably shouldn't be on a career path that allows you to teach others.

Please take your flamer masturbation elsewhere. Pathetic!

[qbtacoma]

Admin, I checked out the posts for MikeNTheNatti and SteveNSactown and they are all insulting bullshit like this, probably by the same person. Pull the plug!

[balderdash]

Admin, I checked out the posts for MikeNTheNatti and SteveNSactown and they are all insulting bullshit like this, probably by the same person. Pull the plug!

It's one person with two logins. Both names were created around 2:45 am yesterday (my time zone), both are the same construct, ie, Steve in the Sac[ramento?] and Mike in the [Cincin]Natti. And both are for flaming. So don't take any insults too personally.

[UnlikelyGrad]

It's one person with two logins. Both names were created around 2:45 am yesterday (my time zone), both are the same construct, ie, Steve in the Sac[ramento?] and Mike in the [Cincin]Natti. And both are for flaming. So don't take any insults too personally.

Different IP addresses though...very different.