Analytical Writing GRE- and question

[logicjournal]

For the analytical writing section- ets has a pdf of ALL the possible writing topics for both tasks. I actually read through these once and I really recomend it to prepare.  It's pretty far down on the list of things to do in applying to grad school, drafting a sop and revising the writing sample is much more important, but it won't take more than

Comments

[signsoflife]

I'd suggest you'd get more mileage out of setting up an essay template and practicing applying that template to the topics available.

I hadn't heard that they'd moved to computer scoring, but seriously, given that the old system involved the scorer having ~2 minutes per essay, I suspect the quality of evaluation is the same. That's to say, the GRE AW was ALWAYS about having really obvious structure and keywords in the right places, and subtle arguments were always lost. It amazes me that anyone takes it seriously, but alas, numbers look so! official!

[idealforcolors]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check that out, definitely.

And computer scoring of an analytical essay is either way over my head in its complexity, or it renders the whole exercise pointless, in my opinion. What I learned in college was how to write a good analytical essay that didn't adhere to a strict formula - guess I'd best forget that in favor of the high school plug-in system. (All right, I'm done whining, thanks for the forum :P)

[fuzzylogician]

This is good advice for anyone who like to know *everything* before they take the plunge (ahem, me..). I think that if you're stressed for time, though, it might be more useful to study templates and transition words, before you go over the entire ETS list. That's especially important given that the structure of your argument plays a larger role in scoring than the actual stand you take.

I think the AW scoring sucks altogether, for all the obvious reasons, but I'll stop procrastinating now and go do something useful :)

[phenein]

Write a long thing with several paragraphs, and you don't have to worry about anything else. I didn't use "clear structure" or "plug-in formula" and I in fact treated the subject in a very roundabout way and still got a 5.5. I think it's because I had six full paragraphs with examples. Plus, look at the examples they give of 6- or 5- rated essays. Obviously you don't need to be a literary genius or a being of great maturity to get more than a 5, just be lengthy and milk the prompt for all it's worth.

I kinda dislike ETS for touting the GRE so much. High school kids should be able to ace it as it is currently, and the "difficulty" is basically just making you stress over it and pay a lot for that luxury.

[ext_109983]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they grade your essay electronically first, then a human grades it with the computer's score as a guide.