GMAT Analytical Writing Assessment

The GMAT test contains 3 sections: the Quantitative Section, the Verbal Section, and the Analytical Writing Assessment Section.

Analytical Writing

The Analytical Writing Assessment is the first section of the GMAT. It consists of 2 essays, and you are given 30 minutes to complete each. The essays are evaluated by both a special computer program and a human reader, who is sensitive to evaluating those writers whose first language is not English.

This section of the GMAT tests your ability to think critically and communicate and express your ideas in written essay format. There are 2 parts to this section- Analysis of an Issue, and Analysis of an argument.

The Issue

Analysis of an Issue provides you with a certain issue or opinion on a certain topic. You won’t need prior knowledge of the subject, but understanding the vocabulary will certainly help. Issues can come from business, science, etc. Your task is to provide and explain your own point of view on the subject (either agree or disagree, never both), by providing examples from your own experience and knowledge.

The Argument

Analysis of an Argument provides you with a brief argument, a little like those in the Critical Reasoning questions. Here, you must not provide your opinion. Rather, you will have to analyze the given opinion- either support it using evidence that can help, or refute the given opinion by providing alternative explanations and weakening the underlying assumptions.

The two types of essays are similar, but you must focus on the differences. Getting the two confused will cause in failure of the section.

Scoring

This section is unlike the quantitative and verbal sections in the way they contribute to a GMAT Score. The 2 essays questions are graded separately on a half-point scale from 0 (minimum) to 6 (maximum):

• 0 An essay that is totally illegible or obviously not written on the assigned topic.
• 1 An essay that is fundamentally deficient.
• 2 An essay that is seriously flawed.
• 3 An essay that is seriously limited.
• 4 An essay that is merely adequate.
• 5 An essay that is strong.
• 6 An essay that is outstanding.

The scores are then usually averaged to give you a single final score on the writing section. These scores are not included in the GMAT Total Score.

What to do?

You need to practice your writing if you want to ace this section. Even though it doesn’t always count as much as the Quant and Verbal sections, it can still be important. Therefore, I would suggest you find sample topics and start writing essays about them until you’re comfortable with the timing and your ability. Remember, you have just 30 minutes per essay. You can find sample essay topics everywhere in GMAT books and on the web- here are a few:

Sample Issues:

Directions: Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following opinion. Support your point of view with reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

• “There is nothing unethical about breaking the laws, as long as you’re never caught”.
• “Even though it always attempts to help, government intervention always hurts the economy of a nation”.
• “The key to motivating people is allowing them to find reasons to work themselves, rather than providing them with external rewards and punishments”.

Sample Arguments:

Directions: Discuss how well reasoned you find this arguments. Make sure to analyze the line of reasoning and use of evidence provided.

• A recent college recently debated whether or not to pass an increase in student fees to finance a new Student Center Building. Only 35% of students protested against this idea, while the rest either decided not to protest or where too busy with exams and the upcoming winter break. Therefore, since a low precentage of students voiced their objections, the fee hike should be made official.
• Last month, the Little Shop of Ribbons started buying advertisements in the local newspaper. This month, December, their sales increased by 10%. This success proves that advertising in the local newspaper can make any business prosper.

Other GMAT Sections

When you’ve done enough writing, make sure to check out the other 2 sections of the test- the GMAT quantitative and GMAT Verbal sections.