I Hate to Write

[machuchu120]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to start off by saying that I think this is such a great journal with everyone supporting and encouraging each other. Great to see that. Anyway, this is another one of those questions regarding the GRE. I got a 780(84%) for biology subject, 600(85%) Verbal, 740(82%) Quantitative, but a 4.0(33%)Writing. I'm satisfied (

Comments

[telemain]

I just did the writing and I followed the time schedule Barron's advised which I think helped me pace myself very well:

For the issue essay:
Spend the first 5 minutes just brainstorming, and organizing your brainstorming into a loose outline of things you could write about.

Then, take 20 minutes to flesh out your 3 best ideas into paragraphs.

Take ten minutes to write an introduction and conclusion, which is much easier once you've already written the body, because you can tailor your intro to what you have already written about.

The last ten minutes are saved for editing and revising (if you are worried about spelling, for example, and adding some final touches that make your essay more cohesive.

For the argument, I spent
5 minutes writing down the main claims of the argument, and brainstorming about the possible inaccuracies/rebuttals I could make

10 minutes writing a 3-paragraph analysis (don't bother being creative, just tackle each claim made in the argument in the same order)

10 minutes doing a intro/conclusion (I didn't even need this long, the argument analysis is pretty short)

5 minutes proofreading/editing

[telemain]

I should add that I haven't gotten my writing scores back yet, but I felt pretty confident about them. My issue essay may have been on the short side (I think it was 6 paragraphs) but my Barron's book at least said that they are willing to give 6's to short essays that show depth.

[machuchu120]

Thanks for the advice. This really fits into the formula approach which was stated above. Best of luck with your writing score.