gre good writing score

Is the Analytical Writing Important in GRE Scoring?

Last Updated on November 14, 2023

Many students starting their GRE prep ask me, “Is the Analytical Writing important in GRE scoring?”

For a variety of reasons, GRE test-takers often have mistaken impressions about whether the Analytical Writing measure matters and how much it matters. So, in this article, we’ll bust some myths about GRE Analytical Writing and answer the most common questions about the Analytical Writing score.

Here are the topics we’ll cover:

What is the gre analytical writing measure, how does analytical writing affect gre scores, consider school ranking, beware the steep drop in the score percentiles, can i skip analytical writing on the gre, a little preparation goes a long way, key takeaways, what’s next.

To start, let’s review what exactly GRE Analytical Writing entails.

The Analytical Writing measure is the first section you’ll see on your GRE . This section contains one essay tasks, which you have 30 minutes to complete.

The Issue task asks you to analyze an issue. The essay prompt presents an opinion about a topic of general interest. You’ll have to craft an essay responding to that opinion, with your own reasoning and examples supporting your stance. Whether your response agrees or disagrees with the presented opinion does not affect your essay score. The point is to pick whatever position allows you to craft as logical, coherent, and convincing an essay as possible.

The Analytical Writing measure does not require you to have particular subject matter knowledge. All of the information you need to write an effective response will appear in the essay prompt, be common knowledge, or be things that you happen to know and can utilize in your essay.

You will write your essays using the basic word processing program provided by the GRE test platform. That program features common functions such as Cut , Paste , Delete , and Undo , but does not feature automated spelling or grammar check.

The Analytical Writing measure contains one essay task, which you have 30 minutes to complete.

Now that we know what to expect in the GRE Analytical Writing measure, let’s discuss how GRE essays are scored.

The Analytical Writing section is scored separately from the rest of your GRE. In fact, you won’t see your Analytical Writing score along with your other scores on test day, because your essay is scored by a trained human reader as well as the computer. So, to allow time for a human to read your essays, you receive your Analytical Writing score once your official scores are posted to your ets.org account. The score you receive is on a 0-6 scale, in half-point increments.

The Analytical Writing section is scored separately from the rest of your GRE.

Now, when test-takers hear that the GRE Analytical Writing score is separate, generally one of the first questions they ask is, is GRE writing a part of the GRE overall score? The simple answer is no. Your GRE total score reflects your performance in the Quant and Verbal sections of the exam. Since you receive your total score immediately upon completion of your exam, before your essay has been scored, it has no effect on your overall GRE score. (You can get a detailed breakdown of how the GRE is scored here .)

Your total GRE score does not include Analytical Writing.

Because the Analytical Writing score is not factored into the total GRE score, and because test-takers don’t receive their Analytical Writing scores on test day, many GRE students assume that the essay score doesn’t really matter. However, depending on the graduate program to which you’re applying, your Analytical Writing score may be an important part of how admissions views your GRE scores. Let’s discuss.

Does the Writing Score Matter to Graduate Schools?

Test-takers often mistakenly assume that graduate schools don’t really care about the GRE essay score. The general thinking is that, since the Analytical Writing score is not part of the total GRE score, it doesn’t matter.

Furthermore, test-takers applying to programs in certain fields may assume that writing skills are unimportant for those programs. Or they may think that as long as their application essays are well-written, admissions will “already know” that they have writing skills.

It’s true that programs in some fields expect higher Analytical Writing scores than others. For instance, even top Engineering programs generally don’t expect Analytical Writing scores as high as those that a good Journalism or English program wants to see. That said, even more math-focused programs may look askance at a very low essay score.

So, this begs the question, what is a good Analytical Writing score for the GRE?

What Is a Good Analytical Writing Score on the GRE?

Analytical Writing is no different from the other GRE sections in that particular section scores matter more for some programs than for others.

Let’s take our earlier example of an Engineering vs. Journalism program. The graduate program in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, a top 5 Engineering school, reports that the average Analytical Writing score of admitted students is 4.0. NYU’s master’s in Journalism program, on the other hand, reports that its students have an average Analytical Writing score of 5.0.

Of course, this disparity is no surprise. Advanced writing skills are central to a student’s ability to perform at a high level in a Journalism program. That said, a 4.0 average is still pretty good for a “math-centric” program such as Engineering, right?

In other words, it’s a mistake to assume that, because a program is not centered on verbal or writing skills, any Analytical Writing score will do. Would you feel super confident applying to the Mechanical Engineering program at Carnegie Mellon with a 2.5 Analytical Writing score? A 3.0?

The moral of the story is that it’s always best to research the GRE Analytical Writing score averages at the specific programs you’re interested in. Those averages will tell you how important Analytical Writing is for you. If your field of study is more verbal-focused, chances are the Analytical Writing score will matter more than if your field is more math-focused. However, even if you’re applying to math-focused programs, assuming that the Writing score doesn’t matter at all is a mistake.

Research the Analytical Writing score averages at the programs you’re interested in to determine how much the Writing section matters for admissions.

Highly ranked programs may require pretty impressive scores in every GRE section.

For instance, UC Berkeley’s graduate program in Psychology, ranked #1 by U.S. News , reports that the 2020 cohort of admitted students had the following average GRE scores: 

• Analytical Writing 4.8

It’s difficult to look at those averages and say that the program cares much more about one GRE section vs. another, or that any of the sections isn’t “important.”

Keep this example in mind when researching score averages at your desired programs, because in some cases, you may find data only on GRE Quant and Verbal scores, not Analytical Writing scores. In those cases, you’ll want to consider the program rankings. Are you looking at very highly ranked programs that will want to see fairly high scores in every GRE section?

Additionally, you can look for Analytical Writing score averages at similarly ranked programs, which will probably have score expectations similar to those of the programs you’re interested in. Furthermore, you can always reach out to admissions at your desired programs to try to get further insight into what kinds of GRE essay scores they look for from applicants.

Looking for further guidance on applying to schools? Schedule a free consultation with a TTP admissions expert today.

If Analytical Writing score averages aren’t available for your desired programs, look at averages at similarly ranked programs and consider contacting admissions for further insight.

Let’s say you’re not applying to a top-ranked school. Or, you’ve determined that Analytical Writing is the least emphasized GRE section for admissions at your desired programs. Even in those cases, you should be aware that there are sharp drops in the percentile rankings associated with Analytical Writing scores below a certain point.

Let’s take a look at the latest Analytical Writing percentile rankings, per ETS , as of this writing. Note that ETS reports that the average Analytical Writing score among all GRE test-takers is 3.6.

Notice that the differences in percentile rankings among the upper scores are not that great. However, as we approach and fall below the average Analytical Writing score, the percentile rankings quickly plummet.

So, while the difference between scoring, say, 3.5 and 3.0 may not seem that significant to many test-takers, going from “around average” to a 13th percentile ranking may seem pretty darn significant to admissions.

Given the steep drops we see in percentile rankings associated with below-average Analytical Writing scores, I think it’s generally wise to aim for an Analytical Writing score of at least 3.5, even for math-focused programs. That way, you avoid those really low percentile rankings.

Remember, you don’t want to give admissions the impression that you didn’t care enough to even try on your GRE essays. And of course, the higher the Analytical Writing averages at your desired programs, the higher you should aim.

Generally speaking, test-takers should try to at least hit the worldwide average Analytical Writing score of 3.5, to avoid very low percentile rankings.

One very common question I hear from GRE students, particularly those applying to programs that emphasize Quant, is whether it’s okay to skip the Analytical Writing section of the GRE.

For most GRE test-takers, the answer to this question will be no. Most graduate schools want applicants submitting GRE scores to have taken the entire GRE, not just parts of it.

So, unless your desired programs explicitly state that they don’t consider GRE Writing scores, you definitely should not skip Analytical Writing. Furthermore, even if a program states on its website that Writing scores are not required or considered, it’s a smart idea to contact admissions directly to confirm that policy. You don’t want an avoidable slip-up such as skipping Analytical Writing to cause any problems with your application.

Do not skip the GRE Writing unless you have confirmed with admissions that Analytical Writing scores are not factored into admissions decisions.

All things considered, most GRE test-takers have to complete the Analytical Writing section. Furthermore, many (if not most) need to aim for an Analytical Writing score that is at least average or better than average.

Fortunately, preparing for Analytical Writing does not have to take a huge chunk out of your GRE prep time. When it comes to the GRE essays, a little preparation goes a long way — even more reason not to neglect Analytical Writing! Just taking a few days to do the following could mean the difference between a mediocre Analytical Writing score and a top-notch one:

• Review the kinds of prompts you could see on your exam .
• Solidify a basic outline to follow for your essay.
• Practice writing an essay or two.

At the end of the day, this relatively small investment of time and effort will be well worth it!

Take a few days to review the GRE essay topic pools that ETS publishes, solidify a basic outline to follow for each essay type, and practice writing an essay or two of each type.

• The Analytical Writing measure contains one task in which you have 30 minutes to write an essay analyzing an issue.
• Analytical Writing is scored on a 0-6 scale, in half-point increments.
• Your Analytical Writing score is not factored into your total GRE score.
• The average Analytical Writing score among all GRE test-takers is 3.6.
• Below-average Analytical Writing scores are associated with percentile rankings in the low teens and single digits.
• It’s a mistake to assume that, because a program is not centered on verbal or writing skills, a low Analytical Writing score will be acceptable.
• To set your Analytical Writing score goal, research the GRE Analytical Writing score averages at the specific programs you’re interested in, or similarly ranked programs. You’ll want to at least hit those averages or better.
• Unless your desired programs explicitly state that they don’t consider GRE Writing scores, do not skip the Writing section of your exam.
• AWA prep doesn’t have to eat up a huge chunk of your GRE prep time. A little goes a long way!

Wondering how much GRE scores matter in general for graduate school? Check out this article for guidance .

You also may be interested in this article about what graduate schools consider a good GRE score . 

You May Also Like...

About The Author

Marty Murray is a test prep veteran who has scored in the 99th percentile on multiple high stakes standardized tests and the former Chief Curriculum and Content Architect for Target Test Prep.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

What Is a Good GRE Score for Graduate School Admissions?

Experts say what qualifies as a good GRE score depends on the grad school you want to attend.

What Is a Good GRE Score?

iStockphoto

Grad school hopefuls wondering how well they need to perform on the Graduate Record Exam should understand that programs have varied expectations for standardized tests, admissions experts say.

Admissions officers suggest prospective students look up the GRE score ranges among admitted students at the schools they are considering and check if these schools have GRE score requirements.

Researching grad program admissions statistics can help you determine which GRE scores are good enough to qualify for acceptance at desired programs.

"A good GRE score is relative to the program you’re applying to," Pierre Huguet, CEO and founder of admissions consulting firm H&C Education, wrote in an email. "The best way to assess the value of your GRE score is to look for the latest average GRE data from the program you’re applying to. If these numbers aren’t available online, feel free to contact the department itself, as they are usually very happy to help prospective students with their applications."

People who complete the GRE receive three scores: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. Here's how the scoring breaks down, according to the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit organization that designs and administers the GRE:

GRE Score Ranges

GRE test-takers who are unsure what type of graduate program they would like to attend can use the following data from ETS for guidance on what kind of score to aim for. The chart shows approximate percentiles from those who took the test between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2021.

GRE Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning Percentiles

Analytical writing percentiles, guidelines for setting target gre scores.

According to ETS, the mean verbal reasoning score among all GRE test-takers between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2021 was 150.61. Meanwhile, the mean quantitative score was 154.34 and the mean analytical writing score was 3.6.

A score above a 155 on the quantitative section would typically put a test-taker "in pretty decent shape," especially for programs that are less focused on math, says Ryan Starr, an instructor with Manhattan Prep, a Kaplan test-prep company. He adds that a score near or above 160 is generally good enough to get into most programs, though some top programs with a math focus might still want to see higher scores around 165. For verbal scores, anything in the high 150s or above is a good score, Starr says.

Experts say that math-heavy grad programs tend to desire students with high quantitative scores and put less emphasis on verbal scores. In contrast, grad programs in humanities subjects typically want students with high verbal scores.

"So a low math score, for example, won’t necessarily hurt your chances of acceptance to great humanities and social sciences programs, and a low verbal score won’t necessarily hurt your chances of acceptance to a competitive math-based program," Huguet says.

Andrew Selepak, program coordinator of the graduate program in social media at the University of Florida , says GRE scores that are good enough for someone to qualify for one grad program may not allow them to be a competitive candidate elsewhere.

It is "important for the applicant to learn the minimum score for the program they are applying to," Selepak wrote in an email. "But a few points higher or lower can make all the difference when applying for graduate school and it is important for the applicant to not only keep this in mind, but to also know the minimum score required."

Dozens of law schools in the U.S. and abroad accept the GRE in place of scores from the Law School Admissions Test, known as the LSAT. An EST tool converts GRE results into equivalent LST scores, and law schools can differ from each other in how they view GRE scores.

The Importance of Percentiles

Grad school admissions officers sometimes care as much about a candidate's GRE percentiles, meaning the percent of fellow test-takers who the candidate outperformed on each section of the exam, as they do about actual GRE scores.

"Ultimately, they want to know how you do compared to your peers," says Nellie Gaynor, a graduate school admissions counselor at IvyWise, an admissions consulting company. "A score of 160 on one test and 165 on another test can have two very different percentiles. I think it’s important to understand that in the context."

Anything in the 75th percentile or higher in all three tests will generally be good enough to get into most competitive grad programs, Gaynor says. However, some prestigious programs may want to see higher scores.

U.S. News data reveals that there are some grad programs where admitted students tend to have exceptionally high GRE scores, including the doctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Engineering . The average GRE score among MIT engineering Ph.D. students entering in fall 2022 was 161 out of 170 on the verbal section, 4.4 out of 6 on the writing section and 167 out of 170 on the quantitative section.

How Much GRE Scores Matter

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, many grad programs have become test optional. Submitting GRE scores can benefit an application, but it may not always be necessary. Experts suggest weighing the benefits of taking the test alongside the cost and time required for test prep.

For applicants who struggled in their undergraduate programs, strong performance on the GRE can demonstrate academic prowess, Starr says. Further, experts say that grad school applicants with subpar test scores can sometimes compensate by writing compelling admissions essays and submitting a strong resume

"Basically, most schools are considering your GRE score and your academic transcript in the same bucket,” Starr says. “If that bucket’s a little light on the academic transcript, then you top it off with a good GRE score essentially to give the schools some indication that you can handle the rigors of an academic program in a way that the transcript doesn’t show."

Many grad programs offer standardized test waivers for candidates who have high college grades or extensive work experience, so candidates may want to investigate this, experts say.

Grad school applicants who intend to take the GRE and perform well on it should prep for the exam thoroughly. Gaynor says most test-takers typically spend two or three months preparing, though that varies.

However, GRE test-takers who do not perform as well as they hoped should not automatically assume that a low score will prevent them from attending grad school, Huguet says.

"Of course, test takers should try to get the highest score possible on the GRE exam," he says. "However, there’s a misconception among graduate school applications that your GRE score can make or break your application. It is important to understand that the GRE is only one aspect among many others. Things like research or work experience, or published papers, carry much more weight in a grad school application than your GRE score."

Gaynor emphasizes that grad school admissions officers look at applicants' credentials in a holistic way, evaluating GRE scores alongside other information.

"I think you have to understand that it’s one piece of the admissions puzzle," she says. "Ultimately, you can demonstrate your verbal or your quantitative skills in different parts of your application. In a GRE-optional world, there’s lots of different options for applicants to put their best foot forward and still be competitive at top schools."

Searching for a grad school? Access our complete rankings of Best Graduate Schools.

10 Steps to Tackle a Low GRE Score

Tags: graduate schools , GRE , education , students

You May Also Like

How to decide if an mba is worth it.

Sarah Wood March 27, 2024

Choosing A Major for Med School

Andrew Bauld March 26, 2024

Handling a Law School Rejection Letter

Gabriel Kuris March 25, 2024

College Majors and MBA Admissions

Anthony Todd Carlisle March 20, 2024

Tips While Awaiting Med School Decision

Zach Grimmett March 19, 2024

2024 Best Grad Schools Rankings Coming

Robert Morse and Eric Brooks March 19, 2024

Tips for Aspiring Lawyers in High School

Gabriel Kuris March 18, 2024

4 Surprising MBA Application Mistakes

Andrew Warner March 18, 2024

Types of Doctors Premeds Can Become

Jarek Rutz March 14, 2024

Applying to Law School as a Minority

Sammy Allen March 14, 2024

• 1. Introduction to GRE Analytical Writing
• 2. Issue Essay vs Argument Essay: 11 Key Differences
• 3. 7 Major Factors That Boost Your AWA Score
• 4. The 6 Step Process to Conquer GRE Analytical Writing
• 5. Examples and Analyses of Perfect 6.0 AWA Essays
• 6. 6 Types of False Reasoning You Should Avoid on the Argument Essay
• 7. How to Finish an Essay in 20 Minutes: 9 Effective Strategies to Save Time on the AWA Section
• 8. Top 101 Transitional Words and Phrases You Should Use to Score a 6.0 on the AWA Section
• 9. 27 Mistakes You Should Avoid When Writing Your AWA Essays
• 10. Bonus Chapter – Mind-Blowing Templates to Score a 6.0 on the AWA Section

The Advanced Guide to GRE Analytical Writing

71 mind-blowing tips, techniques, and strategies to score a perfect 6.0 on the awa.

Written By Jitta & Sachin

Introduction to GRE Analytical Writing

Getting a 99 percentile score on either of Verbal and Quant sections on the GRE requires several weeks, if not months, of diligence, patience, practice, and smart prep. But with only a fraction of the hard work you put in for Math and Verbal, and just a few days of practice, you can easily get a 99 percentile score on the AWA section. Plus, getting a 6.0 on the AWA isn’t a regular occurrence, and only about 8000 test takers around the world do it every year. So, if you can be one of those guys, you will be famous not only among your friends, but also among the admissions committees.

Unfortunately, the AWA is the most neglected section on the GRE. Test takers across the world believe that they can easily master AWA in a day or two. And look at what they end up with: The average AWA score of a GRE test taker worldwide is a mere 4.0, and the average AWA score of an Indian test taker is even lower. Now, to most Indian students, getting a 4.0 on the AWA might seem like an impressive feat. But in reality, 4.0 is considered just average in most countries. And on top of it, getting a 6.0 isn’t really as tough as it seems. It is only that you don’t know how.

If you are looking to score a perfect 6.0 on the AWA section, you will have to be a lot more planned than most other students. Just as with the Verbal and Quant sections, mastering the essay section on the GRE requires the same amount of confidence, persistence, and practice. And in addition to all that, you will also need a solid guide that can help you with all the strategies and tips. You will need an AWA Bible, so to speak.

But sadly enough, there isn’t much useful information on the internet about this frequently neglected section. Yes, there are some good articles and sample 6.0 essays that you can get with a simple Google search, but nowhere on the internet is a definitive guide to help you write a 6.0 essay on the GRE. And that is why, we at CrunchPrep, decided to provide you with a complete, advanced guide to scoring a perfect 6.0 on the AWA. And hey, don’t blame us if the 6.0 percentile goes down from 99 to 80 soon.

What is the AWA all about?

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) portion of the GRE consists of two essays, each of which you will need to write in 30 minutes or less. The two essays you will see on the GRE are, Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. These two essays will always come first on your GRE test, no matter what. You cannot simply skip off AWA, move on to the other sections, and come back later. AWA itself is a separate section, and only after you finish writing the two essays can you move on further.

Despite what most students say, you should remember that the AWA only tests how well you can write an essay, and hence measures only your writing abilities. Contrary to popular opinion, the AWA does not analyze your thought process. As long as your essay sounds logical, writing ability is all it measures. We will be discussing more about this in the upcoming sections.

How important is the AWA?

It is a widely known fact that your AWA essay score is not as important as your composite math and verbal score on the GRE, and getting a 5.0 or 6.0 won’t make or break your chances of getting admitted to the university of your choice. Graduate school admissions officers only bother about your AWA score, if it is too low, or significantly lower than their usual class average. Yes, a poor score on the AWA can definitely send up a red flag, and the admissions committee will certainly think twice before letting you in. Sometimes, they even go to the extent of rereading your SOP and LORs, to find out if they were actually written by you or someone else. So, it is rather safe to say that the AWA score is an important enough factor when it comes to admissions.

What is the score range for AWA?

The AWA score ranges between 0 and 6.0, with 0.5 point increments. But what exactly does it mean to get a 6.0, or 4.0 or for that matter, a 0 on the AWA? Well, the scoring system is designed in a way that your responses to each of these essay questions are scored on a 6-point scale, with 6 being the highest score and 1, the lowest. Given below, are the parameters that ETS looks at when grading your AWA essays:

6.0 – Outstanding:

A well-articulated critique of the argument/issue, demonstrating mastery of effective writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Clearly identifies and analyzes the most important features of the argument with deep insight.
• Develops cogent ideas, organizes them logically, and connects them properly without sudden transitions.
• Supports the main points of the critique strongly.
• Demonstrates superior control of the English language, including diction, sentence formation, spelling, grammar and syntactic variety used in standard written English.
• Few to no flaws in the essay.

5.0 – Strong

A well-developed critique of the argument, demonstrating good control of writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Clearly identifies the important features of the argument and analyzes them thoughtfully.
• Develops ideas clearly, and connects them logically, with appropriate transitions.
• Gives a very sensible support to the main points of the critique.
• Has clear control of language, including diction and syntactic variety
• May have minor flaws like spelling errors, but no major flaws.

4.0 – Adequate

A satisfactory critique of the given argument, demonstrating decent control of writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Capable of Identifying and analyzing the main features of the argument.
• Develops and organizes ideas satisfactorily, but some important connections and transitions may be missing.
• Supports the main points of the critique.
• Demonstrates sufficient control of language, but may lack syntactic variety.
• May have many minor flaws or some major flaws.

3.0 – Limited

A satisfactory essay with clearly flawed critique of the argument, demonstrating little control of the elements of writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Does not identify or analyze many of the important features of the argument.
• Has limited logical development and no proper organization of ideas.
• Offers support of little relevance and value for points of the critique
• Uses language imprecisely and/or lacks sentence variety
• Contains occasional major errors or frequent minor errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

2.0 – Seriously Flawed

An unsatisfactory essay with serious weakness in analytical writing skills, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Demonstrates no understanding of the main features of the argument.
• Almost no analyses of the main points have been made.
• Does not develop any ideas or is disorganized
• Provides nil to few relevant evidences.
• Has frequent serious problems in the use of language, grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.

1.0 – Fundamentally Deficient

An essay full of fundamental deficiencies in analytical writing skills, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Provides little to no evidence of the ability to understand and analyze the main idea.
• Failure to develop an organized response.
• Contains severe and persistent errors in language and sentence structure
• Has an unusually frequent pattern of errors in grammar, usage, and logic.
• A totally incoherent response.

0.0 – Unscorable

A paper that is totally illegible or obviously not written on the assigned topic. A score of zero is given to responses that come under one of the following cases:

• The responses are off topic.
• The responses are written in a language other than English.
• The responses are a mere copy of the given topic.
• The responses consist only of random keystroke characters.
• No response.

So, it is safe to say that if you write at least a few sentences in English, you will get a score of 1.0. But rest assured, no university under the sun will accept a score that low.

How is the AWA graded?

Each of your AWA essays is scored on a scale of 0 to 6. Two readers will read your Issue essay and assign it a deserving score and two different readers will read your Argument essay and assign it a score. Each grader will award a 6.0 to the top essays and scores of 0 are reserved for essays written on topics other than the one assigned or written in a foreign language. The graders spend about 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each essay, and give it a score based on pre-defined evaluation metrics such as the overall quality of your critical thinking and writing, as mentioned previously. The graders who evaluate the responses are college and university faculty members from various subject matter areas, including higher education.

Once the readers finish grading your essay, the two scores will be averaged to arrive at a final AWA score. If the grades given by the two readers differ by more than a point, a third, highly experienced grader is brought in to resolve the discrepancy (i.e., determine your final score for that essay).

For each essay, your final score is the average of the scores assigned by the two readers or the adjusted score assigned by the third reader.

Here’s how a typical Analytical Writing score might be derived:

If you earned scores of 6 and 5 on the Analysis of an Issue, then your final score for the Issue essay would be the average of these two i.e., (6 + 5) /2 which equals to 5.5 and if you earned scores of 4 and 5 on the Analysis of an Argument, your final score on the Argument essay would be (4 + 5) /2 which equals to 4.5.

Your final AWA score will be the average of your scores on Issue and Argument essays i.e., (5.5 + 4.5) /2 which equals to 5, which will be your final AWA score.

It should be noted that though your AWA scores range from 0 – 6, about 90 percent of all scores fall between 2 and 5. The average score for the AWA section for all the test takers so far is around 4.2.

Your Analytical Writing Assessment scores are computed and reported separately from the multiple-choice sections of the test and have no effect on your Verbal, Quantitative, or Total scores. Your score report however will not include copies of your responses; only scores are sent. You will receive your essay scores approximately 10-15 days after your test date.

What do graders look for in your AWA essays?

Most students think that essay length the only important factor when it comes to AWA scoring. But, in reality, it is not. Of course, it is one of the most important factors , but it isn’t the only factor. You will have to take many other factors into consideration, if you are looking to get anywhere near the perfect score. We have complied a list of all the factors that affect your overall AWA score, so you can be well prepared, while improving your writing skills on those lines.

The 7 Elements Graders Look For:

This is the most important, and also the most fundamental of all factors that the graders judge your essays on. The grader should understand what you are trying to say, by reading once. This makes their job easier, and they will understand that if it can be understood with just a single reading, then your essay has clarity.

As we discussed earlier, the grader can spend a maximum of only two minutes per essay, and it is your duty to make sure your essays have clearly composed ideas, because more often than not, graders do not bother to reread your essay and waste another couple of minutes. Consequently, you will end up with a score much lower than what you actually deserve.

Ask yourselves these two questions when you are writing the essays. What are you trying to say? What’s your main point? These two questions must have solid answers by the time the grader finishes reading the essay. If you think about it, these are the exact same questions you will have to answer, during Reading Comprehension. Just like how you can easily solve a Reading Comprehension question if you have answers to those two questions, graders assessing your essay will also need to find answers to these exact same questions, if you need a perfect score. Substance matters more than any other factor when it comes to your essays. So, make sure you have solid points, and clear logical reasoning that can be easily understood.

2. Structure

You should have seen it coming; structure is the second most important factor on your essays. The way an article is formatted, has a massive impact upon its readability. Your essays should read like a story; something that can be easily understood, and something that has a proper structure and organization. So, it is important that you break up your essay into distinct paragraphs, each with its own meaning and context, while maintaining a smooth transition between one paragraph and the next.

This way, every paragraph reads like a separate story, and the essay graders can easily scan through your entire response easily. Plus, since the transitions are smooth, and there aren’t any sudden twists in your response, it will make the grader’s job a whole lot easier.

So, ideally, you should have a structure in mind before you begin writing the essay. The general structure is to start with an introductory paragraph followed by 3-4 body paragraphs and finish off with a conclusion paragraph. So, you should make sure that there are at least 5-6 paragraphs in your essay, if you want a solid score on the AWA.

3. Sentence Variety

Even though you are writing several paragraphs on the same topic, you should ideally avoid writing similar or same sentences. If you are an avid reader of news, you get the point. No good writer under the sun writes two exactly same sentences in a single essay or article. Consecutive sentences with the same structure and length can sound monotonous and lifeless, and will obviously bore the reader.

Instead of sounding repetitive and boring, use sentence style skillfully. But this doesn’t mean you should rearrange the words, or chance the voice from passive to active or vice versa. It simply means that you should use a different variety of words to mean the same thing.

For example, if you have already written the sentence ‘The most important virtue of a leader is a strong sense of ethics.’, and if you have to use the same sentence at a later point in the essay, you should try and rephrase that same sentence and write something like this: ‘A strong moral framework is paramount for any leader.’ Get the point?

In this way, you should keep varying the sentence structures, flow and rhythm by switching between short and long sentences. You should also make use of transitional and signal words to vary sentence openings and endings.

4. Vocabulary

There has been a longstanding myth among test takers that the GRE really loves heavy vocabulary, and using it on your AWA essays will boost your score. Well, this isn’t true at all. We have seen students with exceptional vocabulary but poor coherence get paltry AWA scores in the past. And we have seen students with great essay scores without using heavy vocabulary.

Like we said earlier, the AWA is not testing how much vocab you have in your arsenal. There’s Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion for that. AWA only tests how logically you can deduce information and write a reasonable critique about an issue or an argument made by someone else. So, don’t buy those myths. As long as you use sensible reasoning, proper grammar and as long as you can defend your point intelligently and use precise vocabulary to convey meaning effectively, you should be alright. It is not needed that you use heavy vocabulary or GRE words.

5. Language and Grammar

Though officially ETS says you may have minor errors in the essay copy, that doesn’t mean you can ignore silly mistakes. Even though the mistakes or errors do not interfere with overall meaning and coherence, you should understand that the time you make your first error on the essay, the grader will notice it, and will be more conscious while reading the rest of the copy. The grader will be even more vigilant to see if there are any visible or obvious blunders that you have made, and this can have a negative impact on your AWA score. So, try and make sure your essay is as spotless as possible, and eliminate all errors before submitting. Take time to proofread your essay, once you finish writing it. Don’t be in a hurry to submit it off and skip to the next section.

6. Reasoning

Reasoning plays a key role in determining the overall quality of your essay. You should always look to include as many logically compelling reasons as you can to support your stance. One of the most important features about a compelling essay is its ability to convince the reader by means of sound logical reasoning. Anyone who reads your response should be totally convinced of your view point, without having second thoughts. To be able to write such a compelling and well-reasoned copy within 30 minutes would be rather difficult, but you can definitely do it with a lot of practice.

So ideally, you should be able to connect your ideas properly to the central theme or idea of the essay, and convince the reader to agree to your point of view. If the essay doesn’t sound logical or reasonable, you will unfortunately have to pay the penalty, no matter how long the essay is.

7. Evidence

In order to make your essay sound reasonable and logically sound, you will obviously need to provide sufficient evidences. If you want to impress the readers, and convince them to agree to your point of view, you will ideally want to provide convincing evidence to back up your thesis. Search for evidences, either direct or implied, and connect them with the essay. You can even create some random examples and evidences, as long as they fit the bill and don’t sound too random. Develop examples that cogently reinforce your thesis is key to a high essay score.

So, those are the 7 most important elements that graders look for in your essays. Make sure you have all these things covered in your essay, and you’re sure to see a perfect score.

Should you skip the AWA section during practice?

This is probably a question that is on the minds of many students. Almost half of the GRE test takers are native English speakers. And these students tend to neglect practicing the AWA section at home, because according to them, it’s not worth investing time on something they are very confident about. But, there are a few vital points that they don’t realize. We’ve observed what students do when they practice for the GRE, how their approaches have affected their scores on test day, and figured out four reasons as to why the AWA section is an extremely important aspect of the GRE exam.

Number 1 Reason Why Practicing GRE AWA is Important: Inflated Scores During Practice:

This is the single most important thing to consider when we talk about the importance of the essay section. Students normally tend to skip the essay section when they take practice tests, so they can directly go to the first section of Math/Verbal. Though this might seem like the obvious choice to you, you should consider the aftereffects before jumping into conclusions.

Think about it. The GRE is not a typical test that you encounter at college or elsewhere. It is a marathon. An intense, 3 hour 45 minute journey, which obviously you aren’t accustomed to. Now, if you skip the essay section during practice, you’ll be forfeiting 60 minutes of the total test time, which means you are going to have to sit for 2 hours and 45 minutes only.

This translates into an inflated overall score during practice, because you are just that much more active than you will be on test day. So, you get accustomed to sitting for 2 hours 45 minutes for the test, and your brain is hardwired to concentrate for that much time only. But, on test day, you still have two more sections to finish after you complete 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Do you get the point? It’s that extra one hour of concentration that requires sudden attention from your brain, which it sadly isn’t ready for. This is exactly why thousands of students score very low on their last two to three sections. They simply aren’t ready for the extra time, because their brains feel tired already. So, if you don’t skip the essay during practice, you’ll be writing in the exact test conditions as on test day, thereby training your brain for the big encounter.

There are a few other important reasons why you should not skip off AWA during practice , and we have discussed them separately.

How Long Should My Essay Be?

The essay graders are aware that you only get 30 minutes to write each AWA essay and they also know that you won’t be able to cover every possible argument, reason and rebuttal. Hence they do not expect you to write a super long detailed analysis of the issue or argument given to you. Remember that most GRE test takers won’t be able to find time to cover everything they would like to cover on the test.

So, how long should your AWA essay be? We see students wondering about this all the time and we know you would like to know about it too. ETS has not spoken out about the ideal length of an essay, and there is no word on the word limit as such. But there seems to be a pattern that appears on GRE sample essays that come along with the ETS official guide to the GRE.

When closely observed, there is a significant increase in the number of words from a 5.0 graded essay and a 6.0 graded essay. The reality is, longer essay is usually better. To analyze further on this topic, we have done a bit of research, and found out an interesting relation between essay length and the final score. If you look at the statistics below, you will have to concur with me. Longer essays usually score better on every essay topic.

If you are a long-essay fan and insist to pen a high scoring AWA essay on the GRE, you should write anywhere between 500-600 words. Don’t ask us why. The research shows that’s how it is, and if it true for a sample of 500 students, it must be true on a larger scale as well.

A column chart with average word count for essays from 500 students

As you can see, the longer the essay, the higher the grades. Notice that a 5+ point essay has length exceeding 500 words. Another interesting fact is, it seems as if 600 is an upper limit for word count. If you go beyond 600 words, you can see how the scores go down. This isn’t surprising, though. Almost no student on this planet can write a perfect 800 word essay under pressure in 30 minutes. If someone is shooting for a high word count, they are surely sacrificing on quality. So, it’s safe to say that 500-600 is what you should be looking at.

If you’d like to know more about the GRE essay length , we’ve done a separate post on that. Go check it out now.

Categorization of GRE Essay Topics

The most fascinating thing about the GRE essay section is that each and every essay topic that shows up on the real test is already published on the official ETS website. This may sound crazy because giving out the questions in advance is totally unnatural. By knowing the topics beforehand, you can prepare sample responses for all those topics and on the test day, all you need to do is just reproduce your sample response. Isn’t that a great advantage for you? You can get a perfect 6.0 score very easily!

But there’s a catch! You were expecting a few, aren’t you?

Well, there are close to 200 topics in all – far too many to practice responses in advance. Also, practicing each of these topics is not advisable as it is going to take a lot of time and effort and there is no point in mugging them up. You could as well spend this time on learning some math or vocabulary. However, there’s a good news. Just scanning through these two lists of essay topics will give you an excellent idea of the types of issues and arguments that show up on test day.

Now, most of the topics that show up on the GRE Essay section can be broadly grouped into five categories. I made things a bit easy for you and listed those five categories below. Take a look.

• Government/Politics
• Sciences and Technology

So, next time when you practice writing an essay response, make sure you write at least an essay from each of these categories.

How do I get ideas for the essay?

This is most likely the second most frequently asked question in our support mails by students around the world. It’s because a large number of issue and argument prompts on the official essay pool are hard to understand correctly. And when you don’t understand something, how can you write about that something?

So, what can you do about to solve this problem? Here are a couple of things you should work on:

If you were asked to write about a topic from out of nowhere, you would struggle for ideas. But when you already know that there could only be five categories from which your essay topics can show up, then you can turn the table in your favor. You should keep a few related examples for each one of these categories (i.e. education, arts, politics, technology, philosophy) as they will be handy and save you precious time on the test day.

Also, the essay prompts are full of obscure vocabulary and hence are hard to comprehend. Since, every essay prompt that could appear on the GRE is openly accessible on the official ETS website, you should give them a read through. While reading, you should also make note of all the unfamiliar words and later learn them. Learning these new words will ensure that you understand the topic well or at least allow you to take a very good guess.

How to get your essays graded?

Believe it or not, one of the most frequent questions that we receive from students around the world, is how they can get their essays graded. That is a good question, actually. Given the fact that there are so many practice tests for the GRE where you get your Math and Verbal sections graded, there is not even one practice test in the entire world that can grade your AWA score for you. If you are wondering why, it is because it is not at all easy to grade your essay instantaneously.

Think about it. Even on the test day, you will only receive your Math and Verbal scores, but not the AWA score. ETS itself takes about 7-10 days to give you an official report of your AWA score. It is that difficult to assess an essay. Plus, it is required that a human grader reads and grades your essays, if you want an accurate score. Which is obviously impossible if you are taking a practice test at home.

So what can one do? Is there no way to get your AWA essays graded? Well thankfully, there are quite a few options that you can consider. We’ve listed down all the available options, and it is up to you to decide which of them you want to choose.

5 Ways to Get Your AWA Essays Graded

Ets score it now.

The ETS Score It Now, is a great feature available for you to get your essays graded. For a small amount of $13 dollars, the ETS Essay Grader will grade two of your essays. You can submit any two of your essay responses, and the software will get back to you with a graded score of your AWA. Now, for most students around the world, and especially for those from the developing world, $13 is quite a lot of money.

And that is probably the reason why most students don’t even know that such a facility is available. We must agree, that even we at CrunchPrep have never used the service ourselves, or know any student who has, simply because we did not need to. Our expert tutors, on the other hand, have been grading student essays for free for a long time now. But nevertheless, we’re pretty sure that the ETS Score It Now feature will get you an accurate score, because well, it’s ETS who developed it.

And there is one more downside with this feature. The score is all you get, when you submit your essays. No feedback. Now, you would expect that ETS would give you some valuable tips to improve your score, but unfortunately, that $13 you spend is only going to get you a couple of numbers from ETS. So, unless you don’t need feedback, you are really not improving on the essay, and you have money to spend, you should definitely try and consider some other alternatives to this service offered by ETS.

Friends, Family, and Experts

Yes. However unbelievable it might seem, your friends can sometimes help you get better marks. They can help you identify the mistakes you did not find obvious enough, and you also get an outsider’s opinion on your essays, and therefore on your points of view. Now, even though your friends might be untrained, or unaware of the GRE AWA grading system, having a second pair of eyes look at your writing can be really beneficial to finding your flaws. Plus, you receive feedback then and there, right on your face, and it is sometimes the easier way to learn.

But before you let your friends or family judge your essays, you should tell them beforehand that you only had 30 minutes to write your essay, and so they should not expect you to write an award-winning piece. You should also tell them to pay attention to, and then judge you on the following aspects of your essay: structure, logical flow of ideas, and persuasiveness of examples. They should ideally not be looking for impressive words or sentence framing, but it is just an added bonus.

If however, you are too shy to ask your friends or family, try asking an experienced professor at your college, preferably a professor in linguistics or someone who is really good at formal, written English language. These professors not only give you an accurate assessment of your essays, but will also give you valuable insights as to where exactly you can improve your writing skills.

Self-Evaluation

When you don’t have access any professors or wise friends who can help you evaluate your AWA essays, the best option you are left with, is you. Self-evaluation, though most of the time not recommended, can be a really useful option for you. There are hundreds of mock essays on the internet, and with a simple google search, you can get access to various essays for the GRE. Even the ETS website has a few sample answers for essays, and the same questions have sample answers which are purposefully written to mirror a 6.0, or a 5.0 level essay, for example.

So, if you can compare your response with those on the internet, you can roughly estimate whether your answer is closer to the 4.0 or the 5.0 sample. If you can do this a lot of times, you will begin to see a definite pattern, which can help you estimate your average AWA score. Also, most mock essays usually have an explanation at the end, which explain why they have been given their respective scores. This really helps you see if your essay is lacking in similar ways.

This sounds rather difficult, and it actually a really complex and time taking process, which is why you should try and take this approach as a last measure; if you cannot find any other alternative helpful enough.

Internet Strangers

If you are an internet geek, you would probably agree that sometimes, internet strangers are really helpful in nature. There are many GRE forums like Urch , PaGaLGuY , etc, where you will find hundreds, if not thousands, of GRE experts and aspirants, who wouldn’t mind lending a hand. Thousands of GRE aspirants visit these forums every single day, and if you can post your essay and ask for some feedback, more often than not, someone will provide you with the necessary assistance. While this someone may or may not be an expert, it often helps to have a second opinion from someone in your niche.

GMATAWA.com

Alright. We’ve saved the best for the last. GMATAWA.com is probably the most fantastic resource out there, when it comes to grading your essays. It was developed to grade GMAT AWA essays, but rest assured, there’s not much difference between GMAT and GRE AWA essays. The basic structure of essays is the same everywhere, and this website is really helpful in grading your essays.

The grading happens instantaneously, and as soon as you submit your essay, you will receive a composite AWA score, along with various metrics on which your essay has been graded. We, at CrunchPrep, assure you that, other than ETS Score It Now , this is probably the most accurate AWA rater you will see, and you can expect a similar AWA score on your exam as well. So, make full use of this feature, and assess your writing strengths and weaknesses. However, you should remember that the website allows you to grade only 10 essays per email address, so choose wisely which essays you will be sending.

So, those are the five ways that you can get your AWA scores graded. Most often, more than one of the resources mentioned above will definitely be helpful to you. And by the way, remember this: Only two things can make you a better writer – Practice, and Feedback.

Issue Essay vs Argument Essay: 11 Key Differences

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section of the GRE asks you to complete two separate but complimentary writing tasks: The Issue Essay and the Argument Essay. Each task tests your analytical writing skills, including the assessment of your critical thinking skills. Both these essay questions are allotted 30 minutes each and are scored on a scale of 6.0. And those are the only similarities between them both.

There are lots of differences between these two types of AWA essays that a majority of test takers are unfortunately unaware of. It is common to think that since both these are essay questions, there aren’t many differences between them. And most of the errors that students commit in this section are due to the confusions that exist between these two essay types. GRE Issue Essay and GRE Argument Essay are very different in nature, and hence you need different strategies to tackle them. We will go deep into each of these essay questions you will see on the GRE, but for now, remember that the GRE Issue Essay requires you to construct and support your opinions on a particular ‘issue’ that has been given to you, whereas the GRE Argument Essay requires you to validate the authenticity, or the logical correctness of an argument that someone else has constructed, without letting your opinions interfere with the task. Got the difference? Now, let’s move on to the finer details.

Issue Essay vs Argument Essay:

1. your view vs. their view:.

The GRE Issue Essay basically tests your ability to present an argument with your views, and your ability to convince the reader to agree to your point of view. As you can clearly see here, you should include your own views and add valuable points to your response, in order for the reader to be convinced to agree with you. On the other hand, the GRE Argument Essay requires you to completely analyze a brief argument written by another author, and to effectively critique the argument or the author’s point of view, by providing sufficient evidences, and by asking logical questions.

2. General Topic vs. Specific Topic

In an Issue Essay, the debatable topic that has been given to you to analyze, is very general in nature and can be from any field. It hence doesn’t usually require you to have a very deep knowledge of the topic. The issue is simply provided as a statement, and your job is to pick a side, stick to it until the end without fiddling around, and present your points of view, your analysis, and your final conclusions in a suitable manner.

However, in an Argument essay, the author himself already presents a case with his/her supporting evidences in the form of a paragraph. Your job is to see how logical the argument sounds, and check whether this argument is right or not, whether the argument has been made on solid grounds, with sufficient evidences or not. You should then effectively critique the argument, by choosing sides. If you choose to substantiate the author’s point of view, you can cite your own examples to strengthen the points, and if you wish to go against the given point of view, then you must be able to ask comprehensive questions that check the validity of the evidences provided in the argument.

3. Analysis vs. Reasoning:

The directions for answering the Issue and Argument essays are also different. The directions given for an Argument Essay read somewhat like this:

“Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.”

Or like this:

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion, be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

And the directions given for an Issue Essay are entirely different from the Argument Essay, and unlike the Argument Essay, the Issue Essay can be accompanied with a varied set of instructions, and there is no one particular direction for you to follow. For example, on the day of your test, you may see any one of the following directions, at the end of the issue:

• Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
• Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.
• Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.
• Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.
• Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.
• Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

4. Your Conclusion vs. Their Conclusion:

In an Issue Essay, remember that you must be able to introduce the issue at hand in your own words briefly, using your own conclusion , while in an Argument essay, the given argument must be introduced from the author’s point of view using his own conclusion . This is such an important difference between the two essays, and most students tend to do the opposite more often than not, which is why they end up with average scores. You should always be clear on whose conclusion you are taking into consideration: yours, or the authors. And this depends on whether it is an Issue Essay or an Argument Essay.

5. Reasons vs. Flaws:

The second paragraph in the Issue Essay is where you should be stating the side you have chosen, and also your reasons for standing by it. Whereas in an Argument Essay, the second paragraph begins with the biggest flaw that you have identified in the argument made by the author. You should also discuss how his conclusion made by the author overlooks this major flaw. The flaws in the author’s presented argument must be identified before you start writing your response, which makes it easy for you while critiquing the argument.

6. Real Examples vs. Hypothetical Examples:

In the Issue Essay, the body paragraphs (paragraphs 2, 3, and 4) must definitely involve relevant real world examples that support your chosen claim. Remember that the examples you provide must not only be relevant, but they must be real world, true examples. Which means, you cannot create examples out of thin air, on your own. But, in an Argument essay, you have the flexibility to create your own examples, as long as they are relevant to the given topic, and as long as they efficiently substantiate the argument that you are trying to make. The flaws made by the author that you have identified, must be stated with explanations and solid examples, which can sometimes be fake, as long as they fit the scenario you are trying to explain.

7. Appreciating vs. Questioning:

The conclusion statement in an Issue Essay always involves agreeing with the opposing viewpoint in one or two statements. Even though you might not like agreeing with the opposing viewpoint, you should mention that it can be right in a few instances too. You should do this in order to show your emotional maturity level. But, in an Argument essay, the conclusion statements ends on a note of doubt, where you claim that the argument may have one or more valid points but is otherwise entirely flawed, needs more plausible explanations, and requires more solid examples for it to be valid.

8. Agreeing vs. Disagreeing:

Agreeing to the point of view given in the Issue Essay gives you more points to write, since more often than not, the issue presented to you is a general topic, and there will be few points to go against, while there will be plenty of points to support the given claim in the issue. But we still advise students to go the negative route. We will discuss this later on.

But the scenario is entirely different when it comes to the Argument Essay. The Argument given is deliberately made to sound negative, and since the given argument requires a critical analysis of the presented claims rather than your own perspectives, you can, and hence should, go against the author’s point of view. Since more often than not the author’s point of view will be flawed, you will have lots of points to write, and it becomes easier for you to attack the author’s argument instead of trying to support it.

9. Limitation vs. Liberty:

A very important point you should remember is that in an Argument Essay, you should only prove that the evidences supporting the conclusion are inadequate, not that the conclusion itself is wrong. The conclusion is always right, but you should doubt or question the authenticity of the conclusion, meaning, ask how the author came to such a conclusion without sufficient supporting claims. But it is never wise to say that the conclusion itself is wrong, so you should rather limit yourself to saying that the conclusion needs more evidences. On the other hand, in an Issue essay you have the liberty use anything and everything to support your claim. Because the topic given is very general in nature, you may use any evidences to support your statements, even if they say that the conclusion is wrong.

10. Statement vs. Evidence:

The Issue Essay depends on outside, credible facts, because there are no evidences provided within the issue. The issue question is a simple, generalized statement, and there will be no evidences provided. Which is why you should go search for your own evidences, and decide if you want to support or question the conclusion made by the author. But the Argument Essay already has its own evidences provided within the paragraphs, which you will have to analyze and critique.

11. Two Sides vs. One Claim:

The Issue Essay is always like a two sided coin, presented as a contestable topic with two sides where you have the option to go with the side you can present best. The Argument Essay however does not have two sides for you to choose. It has only one claim which must be analyzed and critiqued.

In the GRE, AWA Section is very important as it shows off your communication skills and writing abilities. Looking out for these common differences between the Issue Essay and the Argument Essay, will help you avoid mistakes and prevent misconceptions. A better understanding of these differences and sufficient practice will help you score high in this section.

7 Major Factors That Boost Your AWA Score

It is important to note that the essay graders are reading your essay in a fairly short amount of time, usually between half a minute to two minutes max. So, rest assured that they are not going over your responses with a fine-toothed comb. Nor do the graders have any rulebook which they have to follow in order to add or subtract points from your overall score. There is no rule that says “subtract .5 points for every 3 grammatical errors in the essay.” Or “Add 1 point for every 5 impressive GRE words used in the essay.”

The graders are there to assess your essay holistically. Which means, they are gauging its overall effectiveness, and then assessing it, as humans. But how do they gauge effectiveness? Are there any metrics that usually have in mind while going through the essays? Yes. Fortunately, there are 7 major factors that that may stand out to a grader and help influence your overall AWA score.

Organization

Organization is given the foremost importance by many graders. And it isn’t that hard to understand why. Essays that are well organized are, in fact, easy to read. That’s important because you don’t want to make the grader’s job any more difficult than it already is. The grader has only a couple of minutes to read your entire essay, and poorly organized essays are hard to follow. This will lead the grader to give you a score lower than you actually deserve. But on the other hand, a well-organized argument is easy to follow. Since the graders are looking at your analytical abilities, it helps if they can follow your argument.

If you organization is unclear, however, then your argument is also likely to come across as unclear. In the next chapters, we will be discussing more about how your essay should be organized in order to get a high score.

Syntactical variety is a very key aspect of writing quality content. Your essays should always have a proper syntax, and you should be using a variety of sentences to make your writing look professional enough to get a perfect score. Syntax is a fancy word for how you organize words into sentences. And you already know how important organization is. You should always try to write clear sentences that are crisp and easy to understand. Unlike what most students believe, you don’t have to use extensive vocabulary, unless they really fit into the scenario. So, save the GRE vocabulary for Text Completion, and write your essays simply yet creatively. Again, you should remember that your grader has to read hundreds of essays on the same day, and they sometimes will not be thrilled to untangle a complex sentence that you have used. So, they naturally skip that sentence and read further. So, it is always better to write clearly and simply than to go for risky propositions and complex sentence structures.

A general finding is that longer essays tend to score higher than their shorter counterparts. This may be attributed to various obvious reasons. First of all, if you have written a pretty long essay, it means that you have a lot of insight into the given topic and you are able to address numerous issues relevant to the discussion. Second, if you can write a 500 word essay coherently within 30 minutes, you will be considered as a voracious writer in general. These are the abilities that are usually likely to impress a grader.

But, make sure that the quality of the essay is maintained throughout the length and breadth of your essay, for, if you don’t maintain quality, you might come off as someone who is just trying to impress but is unable to organize and prioritize their thoughts. Long essays that are clearly organized, use professional language, and contain strong supporting evidences, and give enough reasons to the grader to give you a better score. We’ll soon discuss more on this.

Your essay response should definitely contain quality instances of premises, facts or reasons given to support the conclusion that you are trying to make. Your essay needs to contain some sort of supporting evidence, whether it be logical, statistical, factual, or other forms of justifications. Without proper support, your essay will not be able to effectively develop a firm position on the given argument or issue, and it certainly fails to persuade the reader’s opinion. So, make sure you always look for supporting evidences, and provide them wherever needed.

Like discussed erstwhile, you’re going to have to come up with a lot of examples that help illustrate the point you’re trying to prove, if you want to make your essay stand apart from the rest of the pack. Since test takers have a mere 30 minutes to write these essays and will never know the topic beforehand, the graders are used to seeing a lot of hypothetical examples. And this is completely okay. As long as you make sure that the examples fit the point you are trying to explain, it is completely fine. But the way to make your essay stand out is to use real life examples. I know it is very difficult, but if you are lucky enough to have some background about the given topic, you should try to include an expert opinion within the essay, and if you can, you should try and add relevant facts, statistics, and case studies to your essay.

Although the AWA does not test your grammar skills and the caliber of your writing, if your essay has a lot of grammar errors and spelling errors, it raises a serious red flag in the mind of the graders. This often happens because students tend to think that they can outsmart the grader by using fancy sounding words once in a while. While doing this doesn’t hurt, it is important to remember that you should only use words you actually know. Sometimes, students might not know the exact meaning, or even worse, the spelling of a big word that they heard somewhere, but they still go ahead and use it in a sentence. And obviously, they will be wrong, one way or the other. Now, while spelling is not one of the criteria the graders look for in your essay, nothing gives them a red flag like reading “Sevaral entreprenuers” or “primery hypothesys”. These are regular words used every day, and if you cannot spell them right, your score is bound to go down. Remember that unlike MS Word or other desktop word processors, there is no spell check or grammar check available on the GRE AWA. So, don’t hurt your score by using words whose spellings you don’t know.

The word processor on the GRE is quite basic in nature. You’ll have basic keyboard functions, plus three other features: cut, copy, paste, and undo. And that’s all. No other shortcuts or spell checks or other advanced features like bold and underline. Now, these functions work exactly as they do on your computer. You can cut text from a portion of your essay and paste it in at a different point. Or you can use undo to delete your typing. Use these features and reduce the time you spend on editing your essay. Learn how to use these features, if you are new to them, and practice speed typing at home.

This is really essential in these days of email and text messaging, where most of the younger population use chat language and shortened forms of words like lyk, hw, wat, imma etc. While this form of English is of no good anywhere in your life, it is especially frowned upon by the GRE community. So, if you find yourself using these sort of words in your essay, which has often happened in the past with many students, you will see your score go down suddenly and rapidly. So, it wouldn’t hurt to do a little typing practice at home before test day.

So, those are the seven major factors that help you boost your essay score on the GRE. You should analyze your AWA essays whenever you take a practice test, and see if your essays have all of these.

The 6 Step Process to Conquer GRE Analytical Writing

Here we discuss the step by step process you should implement, if you want to write powerful AWA essays in under 30 minutes and get a 6.0 score. Each of these steps discusses what you should exactly do, so as to make things easier for you on test day. All you need to do is follow these steps during practice, and get these tips into your head without much effort. Though the Issue and Argument Essays are quite similar when it comes to answering, we have given you separate step by step process to ace them both.

AWA Issue Essay:

The Analysis of an Issue essay tests your ability to “explore the complexities of an issue or opinion and, if appropriate, to take a position that is informed by your understanding of those complexities.” What this means is you should properly analyze the given issue and take a strong position: either negative or positive, and then elucidate examples as to why you have chosen that particular side.

The specific directions for the issue essay task are given like this: “In this section, you will need to analyze the issue presented and explain your views on it. There is no “correct” or “best” answer. Instead, you should consider various perspectives as you develop your own position on the issue.”

Before you begin writing your response, you should take a couple of minutes to think about the issue and plan a proper response before you begin writing. This helps you organize your ideas and develop them fully. Make sure to leave sufficient time to reread your response and make any revisions that you think necessary.

Following are the six simple steps that you should follow in the same order, if you want to pen down a powerful AWA Issue essay.

Step 1: Read the Essay

Obviously, this must be your first step. But you don’t just read the essay. You must perform a ‘smart read’. A smart read is where you read the prompt and figure out the central issue, and jot down this issue on your scratch paper, including some of the important concepts from the given topic. This is what more than 95% of students fail to do. Rather than juggling all your thoughts inside your mind, it is a lot easier to pen down whatever you have understood from reading the prompt in your own words.

Your work on this first step gets you grounded for the essay ahead. After reading the given issue, and writing it down in a few concise words, you should be able to understand exactly what the issue is and also what some of the crucial concepts related to that issue are.

Step 2: Brainstorm Reasons and Examples

This is perhaps the most crucial step of all, and this step is also where most of the heavy lifting gets done. Once you know what points you want to prove and what examples you will use to prove that point, writing the essay will be very easy. Half of the duty lies in brainstorming efficient examples and supporting reasons to supplement your point of view. So, make sure you spend adequate time on this step. Pre-planning before you start writing is of the utmost importance, because then, you will have a continuous flow of thought while writing, and there won’t be any wastage of time. If you start writing without thinking through the issue or planning the structure of your essay, you run the risk of wasting time on editing and re-editing your points.

Or even worse, you might reach a dead end and there is no more evidence left with you to substantiate your point of view, but you’ve already spent 20 minutes on the essay that you cannot go back and write a fresh piece. So, it is important that you take the time to brainstorm some examples and then pick a side. After you’ve written down the central issue and the key concepts, you should ideally make a “pro” and “con” list on the scratch paper. Start thinking of reasons for both agreeing with and disagreeing with the given issue. Once you have enough reasons to pick a side, you can move further. You should think about how your personal experiences relate to the issue at hand. Think about things you have observed or experienced in daily life, read about in magazines or newspapers, or even heard about from your family members and friends.

Next, you should be coming up with some examples of your own, that support or illustrate your point of view. Good supporting examples can be the difference between a score of 4.0 and 6.0, so it is worth spending a little time trying to generate them. Don’t spend more than two or three minutes on this part because you can still write a good essay without perfect examples.

Step 3: Pick a Thesis

After you have some reasons and examples for side that you have chosen to go with, you will have to pick a proper thesis based on which you will write your opinion. This is because you don’t have to actually believe the position you write about; sometimes, you may disagree with the issue at hand, but find it easier to come up with examples and reasons for the other side of the argument. So, you need to decide which thesis you are comfortable writing about. Don’t mull over it for minutes together. Just choose whichever thesis allows you to write the strongest essay. In most cases, you find the “con” side easier to argue. You can find a lot of examples that way. And that is completely fine.

Now your thesis needs to state why you believe this position is correct. Take a moment to think about this, and jot your thesis down on your scratch paper. Now you are ready to outline you essay.

Step 4: Outline Your Essay

Don’t start writing your essay altogether. Instead, outline your essay in the direction you want to take. Figure out what you want to write in the introduction, how you want to start off, and how you want to end the conclusion. Then, figure out what you want to write in the body paragraphs. More importantly, you will have to consider how to introduce the opposing side of the argument and how counter it with your point of view. Mentioning the other side of the coin makes the graders think that you are mature enough to have considered the various perspectives on the issue, without going ahead blindly based on intuition.

Step 5: Write Your Response

If you have finished all the previous steps properly and as planned, then this is by far the easiest step of all. All you need to do is write your response in a proper order, something that looks like this:

• Introduction – hook the reader with an amazing intro and state your most important thesis
• Agreeing to the given issue
• Bringing up the negative side of the issue along with supporting facts and quotes
• Building up the negative side further with examples and support

This is the most basic essay outline, and the most famous out there. But you can also follow an unconventional structure and still write a great essay. Some of the other structures that you can follow are:

• Introduction
• First argument for the side you take
• Refute your first take and argue for the opposite side
• Second argument for the side you take
• Refute your take again and argue for the opposite side

This structure allows you to take a neutral step, and hence interweave the arguments for both sides, just like in a debate.

Another structure that can be used in many situations is:

• Argument for your side
• Argument against your side
• Conclusion: evaluate both sides and arrive at thesis

This structure is probably the hardest of all, but has the advantage of being new and uncommon. Graders will definitely appreciate a new structure once in a while, and tend to reward essays that move beyond the norm.

But, the point is, the writing part of the essay should really be the easiest part. Most people who think they have trouble writing actually don’t have difficulty with writing, but they have trouble figuring out what exactly they are trying to say. So if you’ve completed the previous steps, you should know more or less what it is that you want to say about the topic.

Step 6: Proofread

Proofreading is another step that is often neglected, mainly because test takers don’t have the time to. They think they cannot afford to waste one or two minutes proofreading the essay, while they can use the same time to write an additional sentence or two. But as a matter of fact, a perfect 400 word essay gets a higher score than an imperfect 450 word essay. So, you should rather focus on improving what you have already written, and try to spend at least three to four minutes on proofreading what you have written.

Since you don’t have a spell checker on the AWA, you don’t know if you misspelled any word in a hurry. So, be sure to check every single word, and try to refine your essay as much as you can, before the time runs out. Make sure you have all the necessary parts of your essay and the examples you meant to use. Doing these things will clean up the overall appearance of your essay and can only positively affect your score.

AWA Argument Essay

While the Analysis of an Issue task measures your ability to create your own argument, the Analysis of an Argument essay measures your ability to evaluate someone else’s argument. In the words of the test writers, the argument essay tests “your ability to formulate an appropriate and constructive critique of a specific conclusion based upon a specific line of thinking.”

There are two key points in these directions; “evaluate the argument,” and most importantly (it’s so important the directions place it in italics), “do not present your own views on the subject!” Some test takers end up basically writing an analysis of an issue essay when they are supposed to be writing an analysis of an argument essay. Your job here is simply to evaluate and critique the argument presented, not offer your own position on the subject. If you do not answer the question appropriately, you can say goodbye to a good score.

The steps for the Analysis of an Argument essay are somewhat similar to the steps for Analysis of an Issue:

Step 1: Evaluate the Argument

The Analysis of an Argument task presents you with a passage exactly like the passages found on Critical Reasoning questions. Your first task is to break the argument down into its conclusion and premises. Once you have the conclusion and the premises, the next step is to find the assumptions underlying the argument.

Step 2: Brainstorm Assumptions

These arguments are usually full of holes, even more so than Critical Reasoning arguments. You should be able to find two or three major assumptions necessary to make the conclusion work. Look for the common argument patterns: causal, sampling, and analogy. Of course, there may be a lot of assumptions spread around the entire argument, but you only need two or three good assumptions to construct your essay. Now that you have the major assumptions, you can plan the general format of your essay.

Picking a thesis on the argument section is rather easy and involves just one step. Just assume that whatever assumptions that the author has made have no evidences, and go completely negative on that, and prepare a thesis in your mind in that direction.

Once you have laid out the assumptions of the argument, you need to evaluate the strength of these assumptions. Since your task is to evaluate and critique the logic of the argument, you must consider how viable these assumptions are. Generally, the arguments on the GRE are poorly reasoned, so you should basically be looking for reasons the assumptions fail to lead to the conclusion. Think about ways you could weaken and strengthen the argument. A typical essay plan looks like this:

• Introduction: Describe the premise and point out the flaws or state your intention
• Detail first assumption; explain problems with it and how to weaken/strengthen the argument
• Repeat for second assumption
• Repeat for third assumption
• Conclusion: Give final evaluation of the validity of the argument

This is the most basic format for the argument essay, but feel free to make changes as and when you need. You may also use one of the following structures that are less commonly used.

• Introduction: Describe the premises, conclusion, and assumptions of the argument
• Weaken the argument by attacking the assumptions
• Strengthen the argument by bolstering the assumptions
• Conclusion: Present final evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the argument

Another variation goes right to the assumptions in the argument:

• Detail first assumption; explain problems with it and how to weaken/strengthen the argument.
• Repeat the same for second assumption.
• Repeat the same for third assumption.
• Conclusion: Evaluate the strength of the argument based on the assumptions.

Step 5: Write

The writing process on the argument essay is in some ways a little easier than that of the issue essay. Because the focus of this essay is the logic of the argument, there is no need for creative prose. Instead, you are merely presenting the flaws of the given argument in an objective fashion. Your delivery on the argument essay can be straightforward and simple and you can still get a great score, provided your analysis is sound. Following is what each paragraph needs to contain.

Introduction Paragraph

Your introduction paragraph needs to lay out the basic parts of the argument and let the reader know what the purpose of the essay is. Your introduction should have these elements:

• A statement of the conclusion
• A statement of the premises
• A statement of the essay’s purpose

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of an argument essay should describe the assumptions necessary to the argument and then critique them. A good critique should reveal the weaknesses of the assumptions and also show how the argument could be strengthened. Argument essays do not require specific examples and in many cases, specific examples would be inappropriate. Focus instead on dissecting the logic of the given argument. A body paragraph should have the following components:

• A description of an assumption
• An explanation of the weaknesses of the assumption
• An evaluation of the conclusion in light of the assumption

Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion paragraph of an argument essay doesn’t need to do much, but as with the issue essay, you need to have one. All you have to do is make a final evaluation of the soundness of the argument.

Before you leave your essay, spend one or two minutes proofreading your essay. Make sure you have all the necessary parts of your essay and that your essay is free from grammatical and spelling errors. Correct any typographical errors. Doing these things will clean up the overall appearance of your essay and can only positively affect your score.

Examples and Analyses of Perfect 6.0 AWA Essays

Now that you know how exactly you should structure your AWA essays, it is time to understand what a perfect essay looks like. In this chapter, we will discuss a couple of examples for perfect 6.0 Argument and Issue essays, and we will also analyze the reasons these essays deserve a perfect score. This will give you a basic idea of the various key aspects of the AWA essays that you should include while writing. These essays have been taken from the ETS Essay Pool itself.

Example and Analysis of a Perfect 6.0 Issue Essay

“When someone achieves greatness in any field such as the arts, science, politics, or business that person’s achievements are more important than any of his or her personal faults.”

When individuals attain greatness, their achievements are more important than their personal faults. While historians should not whitewash the personal foibles of great individuals, the impact that these mortals have had in their fields should tower over any personality defects. To focus on the personal weaknesses of great individuals is to miss the importance of their achievements.

The course of human history is decorated with individuals able to rise above their peers and reach the zenith in their fields. These individuals are often the subject of intense scrutiny from contemporaneous skeptics and later historians. But no one can lead an exemplary private life all the time; no human being is able to withstand such surveillance and historical scrutiny without personal faults coming to light. Great individuals are no exception. However, it is misguided to focus on their personal faults rather than their achievements. To do so is to miss the importance of their work, without which our culture would be worse off.

For example, Abraham Lincoln was arguably one of the greatest Presidents the United States has ever had. He managed to bring the country through a substantial revolution and to end slavery despite powerful economic and social forces working against him day and night. However, Lincoln was not a saint. He was moody and prone to depressive funks that disrupted his family life and slowly eroded his marriage. These personal faults did not reduce his success as a President. While we do not have to ignore questions about whether he was a depressive, we also should not consider them an important part of his political heritage. In contrast, many people criticize Lincoln’s decision to suspend the right of habeas corpus. This (presumed) failing is not personal in nature, but relates directly to Lincoln’s work in his field. Criticisms of this sort are entirely relevant, whereas personal criticisms are not.

Another example of a great individual dogged by criticism of his personal conduct is Albert Einstein. Einstein developed a number of the most important theories in modern physics, including an explanation of the photoelectric effect, an explanation of Brownian motion, special and general relativity, and Bose-Einstein quantum statistics. Each one of these theories would have been considered a great life’s work for a scientist; for one man to contribute this much is remarkable. However, Einstein also had life-long problems with infidelity. The fact that he cheated on his wife is in no way relevant to his accomplishments in the field of physics, and indeed most references to Einstein properly ignore it. To focus attention on the faults of his personal life is to obscure the impact he made on history.

Great individuals have personal faults, as all human beings do. Yet it is incorrect to assert that these faults detract from those individuals’ accomplishments. We are better able to appreciate the gravity of great accomplishments when we are not burying our heads in the sand, in search of personal failings.

Explanation:

The essay above deserves a perfect score, because it takes all the 7 major elements that graders look for, as we have already discussed in chapter 3: Clarity, Structure, Sentence Variety, Vocabulary, Grammar, Evidence, and Reasoning.

The thesis provided by the student is very clear and concise. There is no confusion about which side the student took. The issue essay tests how well we can present a position on an issue effectively and persuasively, and this essay passes both the tests.

The piece is also very well organized. The most popularly used structure “intro-body-body-body-conclusion” really works well for this type of an issue, and the student made good use of it. While the response included only two examples as opposed to the suggested three, the two examples presented are extremely strong. President Lincoln is an ideal case study of a leader whose greatness should be not be obscured by his domestic problems. The same can be said with Einstein; his infidelities may have wounded his family emotionally, but his contribution to modern science and technology will be remembered throughout the history of mankind. So, obviously, two of the most historic and the most apt examples were presented by the student here.

Additionally, the conclusion is substantial and does an excellent job of summing up the essay. The student uses a variety of sentences in order to make the conclusion unique, and not sounding too much like the introduction itself. He/She does a great job of restating the introduction paragraph without sounding overly redundant. Lastly, this essay is extremely well-written, and shows the student’s grasp over written English language. The grammar and syntax are almost flawless, and it is hard to write a better essay response to this issue, in under 30 minutes.

These are the reasons why this essay deserves a straight 6.0 score.

Example and Analysis of a Perfect 6.0 Argument Essay

The following appeared in the editorial section of a national news magazine:

“The rating system for electronic games is similar to the movie rating system in that it provides consumers with a quick reference so that they can determine if the subject matter and contents are appropriate. This electronic game rating system is not working because it is self-regulated and the fines for violating the rating system are nominal. As a result an independent body should oversee the game industry and companies that knowingly violate the rating system should be prohibited from releasing a game for two years.”

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument’s logic and analyze the argument’s underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument’s conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.

The argument claims that the electronic games rating system, although similar to the movie rating system, is not working because it is self-regulated and violation fines are nominal; Hence, the gaming rating system should be overseen by an independent body. Stated in this way the argument fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion relies on assumptions, for which there is no clear evidence. Therefore, the argument is rather weak, unconvincing, and has several flaws.

First, the argument readily assumes that because the electronic game rating system is self-regulated, it is not working well. This statement is a stretch and not substantiated in any way. There are numerous examples in other areas of business or commerce, where the entities are self-regulated and rather successful. For instance, FIA, the Formula1 racing organization is self-regulated. Yet, the sport is very popular and successful, drawing millions of spectators around the world each year. Tickets are rather expensive, races are shown on pay-per-view, and nearly all drivers are paid very well.

Another example is the paralleled movie rating system that the argument mentions. The author fails to clarify whether it is working well, but it is clear that the movie rating system is pretty well received by people, who often base their decisions to go see a movie with kids or not on the movie rating. It has never been a case when someone would feel cheated by the movie rating and express disappointment afterwards. Since the movie rating system is also self-regulated, it follows that this regulatory method is working pretty well and it is not obvious how it can be the reason for the poor electronic game rating system. The argument would have been much clearer if it explicitly gave examples of how the self-regulatory system led to bad ratings and customer dissatisfaction.

Second, the argument claims that any violation fees for bad electronic game ratings are nominal. It thus suggests that this is yet another reason for the rating system not working. This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between the monetary amount of the fines and the quality of the electronic game rating system. In fact, the argument does not even draw a parallel with the mentioned movie rating system and its violation fines. If any such correlation had been shown for the movie rating system, which supposedly works well, then the author would have sounded a bit more convincing. In addition, if the argument provided evidence that low violation fines lead to electronic game manufacturers to ignore any regulations with respect to the game rating system, the argument could have been strengthened even further.

Finally, the argument concludes that an independent body should oversee the game industry and companies that violate the rating system, should be punished. From this statement again, it is not at all clear how an independent regulatory body can do a better job than a self-regulated one. Without supporting evidence and examples from other businesses where independent regulatory bodies have done a great job, one is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence. As a result, this conclusion has no legs to stand on.

In summary, the argument is flawed and therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors.

The piece is also very well organized. The most popularly used structure “intro-body-body-body-conclusion” really works well for this type of an argument, and the student made good use of it. The response included sufficient examples that are pretty solid, and more than satisfy the student’s take. The examples provided are also real-life in nature, as opposed to many hypothetical examples that students write. This gives this essay response quite an edge.

The student uses a variety of sentences in order to make his/her point strong enough to concur with. He/she does a great job of restating the introduction paragraph without sounding overly redundant. All the paragraphs are very well written, and the structure, writing, and vocabulary used by the student shows the student’s grasp over written English language. The grammar and syntax are almost flawless, and it is hard to write a better essay response to this issue, in under 30 minutes.

6 Types of False Reasoning You Should Avoid on the Argument Essay

In order to confuse test takers, the AWA essays will always contain some flawed reasoning or illogical statements. In particular, some of the paragraphs on the AWA Argument essay will contain flawed reasoning, which can appear in many forms. While these forms can potentially be unlimited in number, most of them can be categorized into 6 groups. These are potentially the 6 types of false reasoning that you frequently see on the AWA Argument essays:

• Creating stereotypes. Assuming that characteristics of a group in general apply to each member of that group.
• Assuming that a certain condition is necessary for a certain outcome
• Drawing a weak analogy between two things
• Confusing a cause-effect relationship with a correlation (famously known as post hoc ergo propter hoc, i.e. correlation does not imply causation)
• Relying on inappropriate or potentially unrepresentative statistics
• Relying on biased or tainted data (methods for collecting data must be unbiased and the poll responses must be credible)

Almost all of the argument essays contain more than one of the following flaws, so it is important that you are aware of each and every possible flawed reasoning.

1. The Stereotypical Assumption

We see this happen quite often in our everyday life. People resort to creating stereotypes of a particular person, or a group of people. However, common sense says that it is pretty unrealistic to describe a group and then expect that every single member fulfills the very same characteristics.

For example, saying that ‘Girls are weaker than guys’ or that ‘Asians are geniuses’ is just plain wrong, because in both the cases, the statements are generalized in nature. While both the statements can seem to be true for the most part, we all know that in the real world, some girls are stronger than guys, and that some Asians fail their tests. Which means, one cannot simply make a sweeping statement in either of the aforementioned cases.

Now, you can easily remember this type of false reasoning on the AWA, by relating it to stereotypes. We generally think of stereotypes as harmful because they unfairly limit a certain group to a predefined characteristic that often has little to no evidence. Hence, in order to avoid falling trap to this stereotypical assumption fallacy, you should immediately consider any sentence that generalizes a particular group as plain wrong, and attack that assumption when you are writing your response.

2. The Necessity Assumption:

This is a very frequent type of false reasoning that hides in plain sight. Most students simply cannot identify that this type of reasoning is wrong. The author of an argument usually assumes that a certain condition is necessary to achieve the desired result. This sounds reasonable, but the problem here is, the author simply says that it is necessary to do something to achieve something, and does not provide the necessary evidence which proves that there is no other means of achieving a similar result.

For example, the arguments says that, if students have to perform better in schools, it is necessary that the teachers be more active in the classroom.

Now, this looks like a perfectly logical statement to anyone. But the problem is, the author has not considered whether there are any other ways students can perform better in schools. The author makes a simple statement that outlines only one necessity – the teachers being active – and does not talk about the relevant evidences, or the possibility of other ways to achieve the same result. Of course, there are other factors involved: maybe students can perform better if they study every day at home, or if the school redesigns the curriculum to suit the needs of students, etc. So, you should keep in mind to attack this necessity assumption, and also to include the alternative factors or possibilities.

3. The Illogical Analogy:

Analogy is when someone comes to a conclusion about something on the basis of another thing. For example, if a giant conglomerate has doubled its sales in the last one year because it had spent over $10 million on advertising, then in order for another giant conglomerate to double its sales, it has to spend more than $10 million on advertising.

Now, on the first glance, this might seem like a logical argument. But, if you think about it carefully, it is an illogical analogy that the author has made in order to prove his/her point. The argument may seem sound enough to agree to, but one simply can’t analogize these two scenarios, even though the size of the companies is similar.

First of all, we don’t know if the two companies are based in the same country or not. The demographics in their respective countries may respond to different incentives. And there are several other factors like industry, market size, product quality, support system, target audience, consumer trends, economic situation in the country, etc., that need to be addressed, before the author can make such a comparison. Without this thorough background info, one simply can’t make this analogy, and test takers should hence not fall into such traps.

4. The Correlation – Causation Confusion:

As confusing and bemusing as the title is, this is one of the more frequent fallacies that appear on the AWA argument essays. More famously known as the post hoc fallacy, this is easily one of the most common types of false reasoning you’ll encounter on test day. So it is very important that you master it.

Many arguments try to confuse test takers by arguing that correlation and causation are one and the same. But in fact, they aren’t. There is actually a world of difference between them both. While correlation just means that two events have occurred simultaneously, causation means that one event is the result of another event. Now you understand how different these two are. To illustrate further, let us take this as an example: In the year 2000, Company X released their new computer called Series 5, and that same year, the US witnessed a huge economic recession. Again in 2008, the company released its second computer called Series 6, and the US had undergone another economic recession. So, whenever this company releases a new computer, the economy goes down.

Do you see how illogical it sounds? That is the difference between correlation and causation. The above example shows correlation, and not causation. So, one should be careful enough to understand that just because one event happens after another, it doesn’t mean that the first event caused the other to occur.

5. The Statistical Irrelevance:

You will often find that the AWA arguments cite statistical evidence to support their claims. Now, while we appreciate any kind of statistical data that further bolsters the author’s point of view, we must also be careful to analyze the relevance of the statistical data in a particular scenario.

Sometimes, the argument may cite a statistic according to a survey where a small group of people were asked a question, and based on their views, the author generalized the opinion of the people of the entire city/state/country. For example, if a survey of 1000 people in New York City say that they really need a new park in the city, does it mean that the entire population of the city feel the same? In order to draw a conclusion about anything, a larger sample is required. In order to really identify the voice of the people, the survey should at least include a majority of people in the city. If the population of New York City is 10 million, then the survey should try to include the opinions of at least half that number.

Hence, test takers should keep an eye on statistics mentioned in the arguments made by the author, and try to validate the relevance or significance of the given statistical data.

6. The Data Bias:

Sometimes, even though surveys include a large number of people or a certainly large sample space, it is not enough to conclude that the results obtained from the survey are really true. Biased data is another reason why data can be manipulated with, or tainted easily. For any survey or data to be considered legitimate it has to be collected in an unbiased, fair, and scientific manner.

For example, if a survey was conducted among children in a city, on the question “What is your favorite color?” and the children were given only two options, Blue and Red, one cannot conclude that Red is the most favorite color for the children in the city, even though 83% of the children chose Red. The survey clearly does not ask an open ended question, and is biased towards either Red, or Blue, or both. The survey is designed, consciously or unconsciously, to yield certain desired responses, and this definitely manipulates responses by providing narrow options.

Hence, test takers should question the statistical legitimacy of a survey, and question the author whether the survey or data obtained is scientific and unbiased or not.

Checklist for Argument Essay Task:

Here is a checklist you should use when you practice writing argument essays. Ask yourself these questions to identify the flaws in the given argument.

• Are the facts stated in the argument real or are they just preposterous exaggerations? (Hint: you can always question the source of the information provided in the argument)
• If the argument draws conclusions from any sample statistical data, then is the connection between the data and the conclusion strong?
• Is the sample data taken from the group similar to the other group for which the conclusions were made?
• Is the sample data significant enough?
• Is the provided sample data inconclusive or invalid? Did it exclude other important factors?
• Are the statements mentioned in the argument from an authority on the subject or from individuals trying to voice their concerns/opinions?
• Do you have any real world examples that invalidate the conclusion? (examples from your personal experiences, from articles you read before, from the news or from historical incidents)

Is there anything missing in the argument? Maybe there is really something that should have been mentioned to make the argument more concrete.

How to Finish an Essay in 20 Minutes: 9 Effective Strategies to Save Time on the AWA Section

When it comes to acing any section on the GRE, it all boils down to mastering one key factor – time. Time is the only reason why 99% of the test takers cannot get a perfect score on the GRE, let alone on the AWA. But then, just as pretty much with everything related to the GRE, we at CrunchPrep have cracked the code in order to finish off a brilliantly written essay in under 20 minutes. That’s right, 20 minutes only.

Just as with other sections on the GRE, there are a few time saving strategies that you can adopt on test day, if you want to finish off the AWA section quickly, and still score a perfect 6.0. Here are the 9 most effective time saving strategies that you should implement on test day.

1. Finish off Introduction and Conclusion First

This is an amazing technique that not only saves time for you, but also relieves you of the pressure of writing something in reply. All you have to do is, as soon as you are ready to pen down your response, finish off writing the introduction and the conclusion paragraphs first. Don’t bother touching the other paragraphs yet.

Now you may wonder, how on earth one can write the conclusion part without ever concluding the essay in the first place. Simple. As we have already discussed in the previous chapters, you first outline your essay before you start writing it. So, by the time you are about to start penning down your response, you will have already figured out what you want to write in the introduction, how you want to start off, and how you want to end the conclusion. So, it becomes rather easy for you to get started.

Finish these two very important paragraphs as early as you can, preferably in the first 5 minutes. Now, if you can do this well, you only have three more paragraphs to write, and you have over 20 minutes of time left. You can easily write each paragraph in 5 minutes, and the entire essay will be finished before you know it.

2. Always Be Negative

Even though we asked you to pick a thesis in the previous chapters, you should know that if you want to save time, you will have to try and stay on the negative side. This applies to both the Issue and the Argument essays. If you are wondering why, you should understand how the human brain works when analyzing a controversy. It takes no time for us to point out mistakes in others, while it takes a lot of thinking and courage to appreciate something that is controversial, because our brains are evolutionarily hardwired to stay away from something foreign, in order to protect us. And given the incredibly limited time that you have on your hands, it will be easier for you to criticize the author’s point of view, than to take his/her side.

So, let us go with some prejudice here. Before you even start reading the essay question, you should be in a negative state of mind, and be ready to counter the given essay with lots of criticism. You should believe that whatever the author has written is false, no matter how logical it may seem. This sort of thinking will help you brainstorm the relevant points quickly.

3. Attack the Assumptions

In both the Issue and the Argument essay questions, the author will have made multiple assumptions in order to come to a particular conclusion. It is your job now to attack the very assumption that the author makes. There is no point in attacking mere facts, because we never know if the facts are true or false. Which means, you cannot simply claim that the facts presented are wrong.  But you can always say that the assumption is wrong. So, as soon as you start reading the essay question, figure out where the author has made assumptions, and think about how you can attack them.

4. Don’t Be A Perfectionist

This is a big problem among students today, especially those who really want to get a perfect 6.0 score. Wanting a 6.0 score is okay, but the problem is, these students try to be perfectionists about everything they write. They try to make sure every little thing about their essay response is perfect. Now, while this is a good practice in normal life, you should remember that this will hit you badly on test day. You cannot simply make sure everything you write is perfect, especially when the clock is running after you, and when you are totally stressed out.

A better strategy is to keep writing even though you make mistakes, as once you think you are done with the writing part, then you can start proofreading your copy for mistakes and small errors.

5. Use the Scratch Paper

One of the biggest sins that GRE test takers commit, is that they don’t use the scratch paper to its fullest. Don’t be under the impression that the scratch paper is given only to help you solve quant problems. The scratch paper can be used effectively to score higher on the AWA section too. Use the scratch paper to pen down your thoughts as you are reading the given topic, and also make use of it to outline your essay, and to devise a proper answering strategy.

If you need more details, on how to use the scratch paper on the GRE , we have done a separate post on that. Check out more scratch paper tips and strategies here .

6. Practice Typing

If there is one thing that can help you write a 500-600 word essay in under 20 minutes, it is the ability to type fast. Considering the fact that you will take about 2-3 minutes to read and understand the given question, another 2-3 minutes to figure out what you want to write, and another couple of minutes to outline your essay, you will be left with roughly 20 minutes to write a 600 word essay. Considering the fact that you should save some time to proofread your essay, you should probably be able to type around 600 words in 15 minutes, which means, 200 words every 5 minutes.

Yes, it is possible to type a couple hundred words in 5 minutes, if you already know what you are going to write. Don’t worry about it. 200 words in 5 minutes equals 40 words per minute, which is exactly the global average for typing speed. But still, if you think you can’t type that fast, start practicing today. There are some fantastic free resources like Keybr and TypingWeb available online, that help you learn fast typing.

7. Practice Keyboard Shortcuts

Learning keyboard shortcuts can be really helpful on test day. The word processor on the GRE is quite basic in nature. You’ll have basic keyboard functions, plus three other features: cut, copy, paste, and undo. And that’s all. No other shortcuts or spell checks or other advanced features like bold and underline. Now, these functions work exactly as they do on your computer. You can cut text from a portion of your essay and paste it in at a different point. Or you can use undo (Ctrl + Z) to delete your previous typing. Use these features and reduce the time you spend on editing your essay.

8. Practice! Practice! Practice!

As straightforward as it gets. Just as with the other sections on the GRE, the more you practice writing long essays at home, the higher you score on test day. But there is a catch here: you should practice typing essays on a computer keyboard. This is rather important, because most of us today use laptops and tablet phones to communicate, and the keyboards we normally use differ greatly from those of the desktop computers. You will have to type on a desktop computer keyboard on test day, and it is recommended that you get used to the new keyboard at home itself.

9. Read The Entire AWA Question Pool

We generally don’t recommend this to every student, since most of them don’t have the time to. But if your test is months away from now, it will do you a world of good if you can go through each and every AWA question from the ETS Essay Pool. There are separate question pools for Issue Essays and Argument Essays , and they are not too many in number. You could probably finish them all in a month or two.

Remember that the AWA questions you will see on test day will be from these essay pools only . So, it won’t hurt to check them all out.

Top 101 Transitional Words and Phrases You Should Use to Score a 6.0 on the AWA Section

The difference between a normal essay and a great essay, is the way it is written. Normal essays are lifeless, and they bore readers a few lines into the story. But on the other hand, great essays meticulously use persuasive language, and gain the reader’s attention. In addition to writing compelling reasons and connecting stories, you should also include powerful vocabulary, if you want to get a perfect score. Since a lot of students who take the GRE are non-native speakers, they will not be able to naturally write essays that sound truly professional.

So, here are some of the words and phrases you should be using when you write your AWA essays. You might have seen these words countless times in books, newspapers, or magazines. But it is time for you to include them in your writings, and make your essays sound professional.

Supporting words – for instance, for example, to illustrate, to demonstrate, such as, particularly, specifically, notably

Additional support – moreover, furthermore, in addition, similarly, in the same way, with respect to, as well as

Putting same idea in a different way – in other words, to put it simply, in view of this, with this in mind, to put it differently, that is to say

Opposing words – by contrast, on the other hand, in comparison, on the contrary, instead, though, while, despite, although

Consequential words – as a result, accordingly, thereupon, thence, thus, because, for this reason, in effect

Time indicating words – immediately, formerly, currently, meanwhile, eventually, first, second, finally, previously, henceforth, in due time, subsequently

Certainty words – without doubt, most importantly, indubitably, undoubtedly, needless to say

Comparison words – in comparison, however, likewise, even so, nevertheless, nonetheless, all the same

Positive words – magnificent, grandeur, magnanimous, phenomenal, marvelous, prodigious, formidable, notable, glorious, wonderful, paramount, sublime, flamboyant

Negative words – unfounded, doubtful, questionable, oversimplified, problematic, unconvincing, unacceptable, biased, unreliable, defective, presumptuous, vague, unwarranted, weak

Against the point of view words – one cannot deny that, to be fair, it could be argued that, granted, admittedly, a stark contrast, as contrasted with, on second thoughts

Concluding words – in summary, consequently, hence, in closing, in conclusion, therefore, ultimately, to summarize, on the whole, for the aforementioned reasons

Ultimately, it is the content of the essay that really matters. If you are able to write an astounding essay, you really don’t need any advanced words or phrases. But since it is a herculean task for many students, especially the non-native students, to write a perfectly professional essay in under 30 minutes, it would definitely help if some of these words are included.

But at the same time, students should be careful enough to not simply scatter these words across the essay as they please. These words and phrases should really fit in the context of the essay, and the sentences must smoothly integrate into one another. Hence, refrain from using these words and phrases improperly, and learn when and where to use them in your AWA essay.

27 Mistakes You Should Avoid When Writing Your AWA Essays

Until now, we have discussed numerous techniques and strategies to score a perfect 6.0 on the AWA section. But, we think it would be beneficial if you have all the probable mistakes at one place, so you can safely avoid them all at once. Here are the 27 mistakes that you should strictly avoid while writing your AWA essays. Now, some of these points may sound repetitive since we have already discussed a lot up until now, but think of this as a checklist that can help you figure out the danger zones and possible pitfalls.

1. Writing a cliché ridden essay

While using cliché phrases and sentences may seem like an idea choice for anyone writing an essay, it would more often than not be detrimental to someone writing the GRE. Understanding the fact that hundreds of thousands of students write the same essays every year, you should try and be a bit different, a bit unique. Using the same examples that everyone uses really won’t help you much, because it only looks like you have lifted those lines from someone else’s passage or an online journal. So, try to use your own examples, and your own sentences while writing the AWA essays.

2. Not citing the original author

Sometimes, it would really help if you can use a killer essay quote or two, in your AWA essays. But it is important to remember that you should cite the original author, lest there is chance that you might come off as pretentious. Whenever you are quoting someone’s lines, it is customary to give them the credit. Doing this will not only reinforce your image as a trustworthy individual, but also gives the grader an impression that you are an intellectual person. After all, only uber-smart people can remember great quotes along with their authors’ names.

3. Writing mixed-up paragraphs

If you remember what we discussed about writing and organization in the previous chapters, you should recollect the fact that you must allocate separate paragraphs for every idea or point that you are writing about. Often times, test takers tend to stuff a paragraph with two or three ideas, and end up mixing it up pretty badly. This can often cause confusion, not only to the grader, but also to you. Discussing more than one point in a single paragraph is not at all recommended. Dumping all ideas into a single paragraph is a very bad idea, and shows poor organization. So, make it a point to not mix up paragraphs.

4. Giving away too much in the intro

The most important aspect about writing an article or an essay is to avoid giving away too much information in the very beginning itself. Don’t believe us? Ask any content marketer. The key to writing exceptional essays is to keep the reader intrigued until the last word. This is one of the reasons why we hate our textbooks but love fiction novels: the latter simply keep you interested until the end. So, you might want to implement the same strategy when writing your essays. Do not give away too many key points, or at least your main idea, in the first paragraph itself. There are separate paragraph for that.

5. Using irrelevant examples

Just as we already discussed multiple times throughout this guide, avoid using irrelevant examples as much as you can. Sometimes it is fine to make up your own examples, but remember that they should be very relevant to the rest of the essay. So, as much as you can, try and come up with strong and concrete examples to support your point of view.

6. Not summarizing effectively

One of the more overlooked mistakes in writing is that many test takers tend to not summarize their essays properly. A perfect conclusion paragraph not only includes the main idea or point of view that you chose to side with, but also has a neat summary of all the points that have already been discussed in the previous paragraphs. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to write them all over again, but a quick conclusive line about each paragraph would do you a world of good.

7. Introducing new points in the conclusion

Yes, this happens quite often, and is one of the major reasons why many are not getting close to that perfect AWA score. Sometimes, you finish off writing the entire body of the essay, and move on to the conclusion paragraph. As you are writing it, you are struck with a new point or an idea that you think should be on the essay at all costs. So, what do you do? You somehow try to fit that point somewhere in the conclusion paragraph, and you think it will add to your existing robust set of points. But guess what? You haven’t backed it up properly anywhere in the essay, and hence the entire point sounds irrelevant or insufficient at that point of time. So, avoid introducing new ideas or points in the last paragraph. Be content with what you have already written.

8. Writing immediately

If you have read the previous chapters thoroughly, you would understand that there is a step by step process that you need to follow in order to get closer to the 6.0 score. But, a majority of the students give in to the temporal pressure, and start off writing as soon as they read the question. This will only lead to chaos in the next few minutes, as you will find your head clogged with ideas. So, give it a minute or two, and think about what you are going to write, before you start typing.

9. Not ideating correctly

A poorly presented idea is as good as an idea not presented at all. Whatever point it is that you are trying to make, you should make it correctly. An improper presentation, or a poorly organized idea will only make your essay sound more amateur that anything else.

10. Taking too much time for ideation

As straightforward as it can it, time is the most valuable resource on the GRE. Taking too much time just to gather ideas is not at all good for your score. Almost all the essays you will see on the GRE are quite simple to criticize, and anyone with decent practice can crack the code easily. So, in order to avoid wasting too much time trying to ideate, you should do a bit of practice at home.

11. Not sticking to one side

We’ve already said it out: Go negative! There is no way an average GRE test taker can write a perfectly balanced essay response in under 30 minutes, which is why most of them tend to sway towards a particular side. You should follow suit, if you want to score higher on the AWA section. Not sticking to any one of the sides shows that you are too afraid to stand your ground, or that you are too confused to pick a side. Neither of this is a good image for you, so always pick a side no matter what.

12. Not using templates/structure

There are a few basic structures for writing the AWA, and adopting them would be a good idea, since you don’t have to reinvent the wheel all over again. We have already done most of the hard work for you, and provided some basic structures and templates that you can easily follow. If you can’t make good use of them, at least try to create your own organization or structure. Otherwise, your essay response ends up being too clumsy to understand.

13. Not being specific enough

Whichever side you choose to take, or whatever point you are trying to make, be specific. Never try to beat around the bush and expect to get away with. You are not a politician. Never use vague statements that only lead the grader to more confusion.  Be very specific about your opinions, and have a clear idea of what exactly you are going to write, even if it might sound a bit negative, or a bit harsh on the author.

14. Using complex words just for the sake of using

To paraphrase Maya Angelou’s epic quote, ‘You should use a word only if you know what it exactly means.’ Keep this in mind at all times. Do not use a word just for the sake of using, and end up sounding like a novice writer who is trying to impress people he doesn’t know. Instead, use nice little words that sound simple and professional enough to get you a good score.

15. Not using transitional words

Your essay should read like a story. Every paragraph that you write should have a smooth beginning and a smooth ending, thus making the entire essay readable. This can only happen when you use transitional words and phrases that are like bridges linking one paragraph with another. Not using transitional words can make your prompt sound abrupt and hence, not perfect.

16. Not sounding confident enough

Whether it is an Issue essay or an Argument essay, you are asked to give your opinion. Which means, you are entitled to write whatever it is that you have in mind. Nobody is going to argue, or disagree with you, so there is no need to get defensive at all. Using words such as ‘I think’, ‘in my opinion’, ‘perhaps’, ‘Maybe’, etc., will give the reader the impression that you are not confident enough to put your ideas forth. So, be more confident, and more authoritative when you are writing your opinions. Write like an expert editor of a newspaper, not like a newly recruited intern.

17. Using the word ‘I’ very often

While it is perfectly alright to sound like an expert, it is not alright to sound narcissistic and repetitive. A lot of students use the word ‘I’ way too often that it puts the reader off. Yes, everybody already knows that it is you who wrote the essay and that all the ideas presented in the essay are yours. There is no point in saying ‘I think this’, or ‘I would do that’ etc. A few times is fine, but too many times isn’t welcome at all.

18. Using the same sentence structure over and over again

If you remember what we said earlier, sentence variety is as important as anything else. Using monotonous sentence structures or repetitive phrases throughout the essay is a pretty bad idea, since it tells the reader that you, as a writer, lack variety, or creativity. So, try to rephrase the same sentences and write something else that means the same. Like many other things in life, this comes with a lot of practice.

19. Not including a counter argument

Agreeing with the author to some extent will give the grader a great impression about you as a writer, but if you keep on agreeing with the author’s points of view, without including any new information from your side, you will surely come off as someone without any knowledge about the given subject. Given the fact that almost all essays come from a wide range of topics, and that they don’t need any special prior knowledge, it would be bad if you cannot counter the author’s deliberately wrong point of view along with your two cents.

20. Contradicting yourself

With so many arguments and counter arguments clogged inside your mind, and with the speeding clock on the screen, it is possible that you somehow contradict your own argument. Sometimes, when writing the third or the fourth paragraphs, test takers contradict their own opinions or points of view that they put forward in the first one or two paragraphs. This clearly shows that you get confused easily. So, don’t contradict your own statements, and always read what you have written.

21. Letting writer’s block take over your AWA

Writer’s block is when an author loses the ability to write something new. This has happened to the greatest of writers, and will probably happen to you too, if you don’t practice well enough before the test. If you are someone who is not used to writing a lot, then should start practicing for the AWA, unless you want to end up staring at the screen pondering how to begin the essay.

22. Affecting other sections due to mistakes in AWA

Also you already know, you will face the AWA section first. Don’t let the AWA section set the tone for the rest of the test. Sometimes AWA goes great, and you’ll feel extremely confident (or overconfident) about the remaining sections. Sometimes, you may not do well on the AWA and feel gusted about yourself, which affects the other sections. So, try to stay unaffected by the result. Remember; you are the one who sets the tone, not a couple of essay questions.

23. Focusing a lot on grammar and vocabulary

Even though grammar and vocabulary are really important when it comes to scoring higher on the AWA, you should not overstress their importance. Write whatever you can and as much as you can. Do not bother about silly grammatical errors or workaday vocabulary. Once you think you are done with writing, then go back and read everything, correct those grammatical mistakes, or replace those boring words with good vocabulary. But, do it only once you are done with the essay.

24. Writing unnecessarily long sentences

Mark Twain once said ‘If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.’ That shows how difficult it is to write short and concise sentences. Anybody can write long gibberish in a short time, but it takes lots of practice, time and talent to keep it simple. Now, even though you are not blessed with a lot of time during the GRE test, you should try to minimize your sentences to make them sound smarter. Don’t try to use filler words or phrases so you could increase the word count. Quality trumps quantity any day.

25. Using slang language.

Writing as if you are chatting with a friend is something that happens quite often during exams. Using chat language and shortened forms of words like u, hw, y, etc. is bound to happen, especially if you are not very adept at writing often. If however, you find yourself using these sort of words in your essay, your chances of getting a good AWA score will rapidly decrease. So, it wouldn’t hurt to do a bit of practice at home before test day.

26. Attacking the issue task as if it’s an argument

Or vice versa. It is possible to get confused between an issue essay and an argument and test takers often mistake one for the other. This could be the gravest mistake you will ever make on the AWA section, because if you cannot understand whether the given question is an Issue or an Argument task, then you cannot write a proper response at all. So, make sure you don’t get confused between the two essay formats or structures, and that you have a clear understanding of both the question types.

27. Not leaving time for proofreading

Proofreading is often neglected because test takers simply don’t have the time. They think they cannot afford to waste one or two minutes proofreading the essay, while they can use the same time to write an additional sentence or two. But as a matter of fact, a perfect 400 word essay gets a higher score than an imperfect 450 word essay. So, you should rather focus on improving what you have already written, and try to spend at least three to four minutes on proofreading what you have written.

So, this is the most comprehensive list of mistakes that you can avoid on the AWA section of the GRE. With this, we come to the end of this ultimate guide. And if this were any other guide, we would have finished it here. But since this is an advanced guide for the AWA, we would like to give you something special. Something that is exclusive to only you. In our bonus chapter, we would like to give you a bonus: A couple of super-secret templates that you can use, if you want to speed up your AWA preparation.

Bonus Chapter – Mind-Blowing Templates to Score a 6.0 on the AWA Section

This bonus chapter includes mind boggling AWA Essay templates that will get you a sure shot 6.0 score. We have created these templates after examining several hundreds of AWA essays and responses from students across the world. This chapter contains both AWA Issue Essay Template and AWA Argument Essay Template separately. Using these templates will get you guaranteed results, and you will see a perfect 6.0 score on your own essays, guaranteed.

NOTE: But wait! Just because we have given you a couple of templates, it doesn’t mean that you just copy the same content during your actual GRE test. Remember, this website gets thousands of visitors every day, and if every single one of you use the same template, very soon, all your AWA scores will be cancelled and your essay response will be held for plagiarism. We definitely don’t want that to happen, do we? So, better be careful.

We strongly advise you to use these templates as frameworks, and use them to create your own templates for both the essay questions. The templates provided here are just for reference, and it will only help you if you create similar templates for yourself, rather than using the ones given here.

Download the AWA essay template right now!

So, that’s about it. We have come to an end of this epic guide to ace the analytical writing section on the GRE. We have discussed about 71 invaluable strategies that you could use to improve your writing skills, and thereby get a perfect score on the AWA section.

This is by far the most comprehensive GRE Analytical Writing guide in the world. It was created to help you ace the Analytical Writing section in the GRE. If you think this is very helpful, or if you really loved it, share it with your friends right now! Our goal is to help as many students as we can. So what are you waiting for? Go share or tweet the living daylights out of this guide!

Download the GRE AWA Templates!

Also get Free GRE tips directly in your inbox!

Download The Free GRE Guide (Valued at $30)

The GRE ® General Test

One test for graduate, business and law school

Select a step to learn more about your GRE ® General Test journey.

Understanding Your GRE General Test Scores

How the test is scored.

Learn about how each of the measures on the GRE General Test is scored.

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures

Your reported scores on the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are based on the number of correct responses to all the questions included in the operational sections of the measure.

The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are section-level adaptive. This means the computer selects the second operational section of a measure based on your performance on the first section. Within each section, all questions contribute equally to the final score.

For each of the two measures, a raw score is computed. The raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly.

The raw score is converted to a scaled score through a process known as equating. The equating process accounts for minor variations in difficulty among the different test editions as well as the differences in difficulty introduced by the section-level adaptation. Thus, a given scaled score for a particular measure reflects the same level of performance regardless of which second section was selected and when the test was taken.

Analytical Writing measure

Analytical Writing essay responses are evaluated on a 6-point holistic scale, including receiving a score from the e-rater ® scoring engine, a computerized program developed by ETS that is capable of identifying essay features related to writing proficiency. In holistic scoring, scores are assigned on the basis of the overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. A single score is reported for the Analytical Writing measure. Read the "Issue" and "Argument" scoring guides and the Analytical Writing Score Level Descriptions .

All essay responses on the Analytical Writing section are reviewed by trained analysts using ETS essay similarity detection software and by experienced content experts. For more information, see the section on Cancellation of Scores by ETS in the GRE ® Information Bulletin (PDF) .

Score interpretation resources

The following resources will help you gain a better understanding of what your scores mean and how we advise institutions to use them.

• Interpreting Your GRE ® Scores (PDF) — Includes information to assist you in interpreting your GRE scores.
• GRE ® General Test Interpretive Data (PDF) — Provides summary statistics and percentile rank information for the Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing measures.
• GRE ® Guide to the Use of Scores (PDF) — Provides information for institutions about the appropriate use of GRE scores and interpretive data.
• General Test Percentage Distribution of Scores Within Intended Broad Graduate Major Field (PDF) — Contains Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing data for seniors and non-enrolled college graduates who stated that they intended to do graduate work in one of approximately 300 major fields. The score data are summarized into 51 broad graduate major field categories so that applicants can be compared to others likely to be most similar to them in educational goals.
• General Test Percentage Distribution of Scores Within Intended Graduate Major Field (PDF) — Contains Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing data for seniors and non-enrolled college graduates who stated that they intended to do graduate work in one of approximately 300 major fields. The score data are summarized into 300 graduate major field categories so that applicants can be compared to others likely to be most similar to them in educational goals.

Recently viewed courses

Recently viewed.

Find Your Dream School

This site uses various technologies, as described in our Privacy Policy, for personalization, measuring website use/performance, and targeted advertising, which may include storing and sharing information about your site visit with third parties. By continuing to use this website you consent to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .

   COVID-19 Update: To help students through this crisis, The Princeton Review will continue our "Enroll with Confidence" refund policies. For full details, please click here.

What is a Good GRE Score?

Do GRE test scores really matter? Is your GRE score good enough to get you into the grad school of your choice? 

A "good" GRE score depends on the the programs you are considering. For comparison, the average score for all GRE test takers is currently a 150 for Verbal and a 152 for Math (Source: ETS ). Because the GRE General Test is used for such a wide range of graduate school programs (including some business schools!), the relative weight it is given will vary from field to field and from school to school. Research the universities where you plan to apply so that you can create the best GRE prep plan for you! 

Guide to GRE Scoring 

You'll receive three GRE scores on your score report, one for Quantitative Reasoning (math), one for Verbal Reasoning, and one for Analytical Writing (the essays).

GRE Scores Range

Read More: Average GRE Scores: How Do Your Scores Compare?

GRE Score Percentiles

Every GRE score has two components: a scaled score (i.e. 130–170) and a percentile rank. Your percentile rank is more important than your scaled score. Your percentile rank indicates how your GRE scores compare to those of other test takers. For example, a scaled Verbal score of 150 on the GRE translates to roughly the 47 th percentile, meaning that you scored better than 47 percent of other test takers—and worse than the other 53 percent of test takers. Here are the most recent GRE percentile ranks , released by ETS.

The essays are scored a little differently than the Verbal and Quantitative sections. The corresponding percentiles are as follows:

In other words, a score of 5 on the essay portion of the GRE means you performed better than 93 percent of test takers.

What are good GRE scores for MY goals?

The first step in figuring out how to prepare for the GRE is figuring out how your scores will be used. The only way to do that is to contact the programs to which you plan to apply. Here are some questions you should be asking.

1. What GRE scores do I need to be accepted?

You need to have a target score so you can figure out how much work you need to put in between now and test day. If the school doesn’t have or won’t quote you a cutoff score, use our grad school search and business school search to find out the average scores for last year’s incoming class. 

2. Will you look at all parts of my GRE score?

Some programs may care about your math score, but not your verbal score, and vice versa. If a program doesn’t care about your math or your essay score, then you know exactly where to put your prep time.

Read More: How to Study for the GRE

3. Are GRE scores used for anything else?

If your scores will used for course placement or for scholarship consideration, it would be good to know that now, while you still have time to prepare.

4. How important are my GRE scores in terms of my entire application?

How much weight a program places on your score is often a function of how competitive admission to the program is. If it is a competitive program, every number will count.

5. What do you do with multiple GRE scores?

You might decide to take the GRE a second time. It would be good to know, however, the importance of that first score. If a school is going to take your highest GRE score, then you can relax a bit on test one, knowing that you can take it again if you need to.

Other Grad School Admission Factors

The reality is that good GRE scores are just one of the factors that can affect your admission chances. Grad and business schools are looking for the whole package, including:

• Standardized test scores
• undergraduate coursework
• professional and hands-on experience
• letters of recommendation
• statement of purpose , etc.

Find out exactly how your GRE scores will be used so you can craft the right application strategy for your dream school.

How will you score?

Take a GRE practice test with us under the same conditions as the real thing. You'll get a personalized score report highlighting your strengths and areas of improvement.

Start a Free Practice Test

Explore Graduate Programs for You

Explore our featured graduate schools & programs to find those that both match your interests and are looking for students like you.

Best Law Schools

Check out our complete list of 168 law schools, based on surveys of school administrators and over 17,000 students.

Search for Medical Schools

Our medical school search allows you to refine your search with filters for location, tuition, concentrations and more.

Find MBA Programs Matched to Your Interests

Explore our featured business schools to find those that are looking for students like you.

What would you score on the MCAT today?

Thank you! Look for the MCAT Review Guide in your inbox.

I already know my score.

Enrollment Advisor

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 1

1-877-LEARN-30

Mon-Fri 9AM-10PM ET

Sat-Sun 9AM-8PM ET

Student Support

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 2

Mon-Fri 9AM-9PM ET

Sat-Sun 8:30AM-5PM ET

Partnerships

• Teach or Tutor for Us

College Readiness

International

Advertising

Affiliate/Other

• Enrollment Terms & Conditions
• Accessibility
• Cigna Medical Transparency in Coverage

Register Book

Local Offices: Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM

• SAT Subject Tests

Academic Subjects

• Social Studies

Find the Right College

• College Rankings
• College Advice
• Applying to College
• Financial Aid

School & District Partnerships

• Professional Development
• Advice Articles
• Private Tutoring
• Mobile Apps
• Local Offices
• International Offices
• Work for Us
• Affiliate Program
• Partner with Us
• Advertise with Us
• International Partnerships
• Our Guarantees
• Accessibility – Canada

Privacy Policy | CA Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information | Your Opt-Out Rights | Terms of Use | Site Map

©2024 TPR Education IP Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University

TPR Education, LLC (doing business as “The Princeton Review”) is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, a firm owned by Chinese nationals with a principal place of business in Hong Kong, China.

GRE Score Range: What’s a Good GRE Score?

What is a good GRE score? For most programs, it’s 75th percentile or above: 157+ in Verbal Reasoning and 165+ in Quantitative Reasoning . For top programs, it’s a 90th percentile score or higher: 162+ in Verbal and 169+ in Quant. However, finding the score you need for a particular program within the GRE scores range is slightly more complicated than that!

In this post, I’ll look at the factors that go into a good GRE score, from the score range to the average score per section. With this information under your belt, you’ll be better able to set the GRE goals that make sense for you—and make the most of your studies!

GRE Score Range: What are the GRE scores?

GRE scores range from 130 to 170 in the multiple-choice sections, in one-point increments. The GRE max score is 340 (the GRE total score ranges from 260-340). The essay/analytical writing score (AWA) runs from 0.0-6.0 in half-point increments. The GRE exam score range for different graduate schools, and even different programs at the same school, varies widely. All in all, several factors will affect what good scores are for you.

Table of Contents

What are the gre scores ranges (quant, verbal, combined).

• What is the average GRE score?

What is the GRE score range by program?

What is a good gre score for grad school, what’s a good gre score for me, what’s a bad gre score, how do i increase my scores.

The GRE score range total runs from 260 to 340. Perfect GRE scores are 170 in each section, 340 combined. The table below shows the Verbal, Quantitative, and combined scores:

GRE In-Section Scores

In-section scores are basically your score for the Verbal section and your score for the Quant section. It can definitely be confusing to contextualize your scores, especially because comparing Verbal scores to Quant scores can feel like comparing apples to oranges. Even the raw score to scaled score conversions are different!

Keep in mind that, depending on your program, your scores in one section may be weighted much more strongly in admissions. Of course, scoring high in both sections is a definite plus! We’ll cover more about in-section scores by program later.

Understanding GRE Percentiles

Score percentiles describe the percentage of test-takers who scored lower than you. If you scored in the 75th percentile, for example, that means that you scored better than 75 out of every 100 GRE test-takers. In terms of percentile ranks, most people would consider scoring within the top 10% of all test-takers pretty good!

In short, finding out GRE scoring percentiles for your target programs can help you set your goals. Find out more about GRE percentiles here .

What is the average GRE score in 2023-24?

Rounded to the nearest point, the average verbal reasoning score is 151, and the average quant score is around 155. the awa (analytical writing section) average is 3.6..

A lot of students aim for the skies and think of their goals in terms of a perfect score—a 170. But the reality is that many of us don’t need to attain such a lofty score. If you’re still wondering how to evaluate your scores in terms of the general pool of test-takers, looking at average scores can help. How? By providing a bigger picture of everyone taking the test and showing you where that middle point is.

A good score on the GRE varies significantly by program. Very generally, life sciences, mathematics, and physical sciences programs tend to value Quant scores more. For top business schools that accept the GRE , scores range between 161 and 168 for Quant, and 156 to 167 for Verbal.

However, the humanities and arts programs tend to value high Verbal scores more. Applicants admitted to the top 10 English programs had an average GRE Quant score of 157 , in the 61st percentile on the GRE. That’s quite a difference!

Improve your GRE scores with Magoosh GRE , with over 1600+ practice questions including hundreds directly from the official makers of the GRE exam.

More Average GRE Test Scores by Intended Graduate Major Field

As you’re applying to graduate programs, the average score of all test-takers is irrelevant. For you, the average score for your particular program at your target school is much more important. This is the score you need to exceed.

The table below provides a helpful baseline, but note that these are average scores for all schools. To find the competitive scores you need, I highly recommend doing research for the specific colleges and universities that you are targeting.

Data from ETS Worldwide Test Taker Snapshot – 2023-24 (PDF)

Of course, which school you’re applying to will also have a lot to do with your target score. Programs may be more competitive at certain schools. First step? Look up the stats for the programs you’ll be applying to in our post on GRE Scores for Top Universities . Then, talk to current students and the admissions committee.

You can also go to schools’ websites and find a contact to email. Let them know you are a prospective student and provide some background about yourself; they may be able to connect you to a current student who has a similar background to you. They can give you a better idea of the types of students that the program is looking for (GRE scores, educational background, work experience, future goals, etc.).

I can’t say it enough: “good” scores depend on your particular target school and program. But if you’re going to push me for an answer…

In very general terms, above the 75th percentile in either section is good. That’s about a 164 or higher in Quant and a 157 or higher in Verbal. To get about 160+ on each section, you can miss a little over half a dozen questions in Verbal and about 4-6 in Quant (which is curved a little harder). So there is a little room for error.

There are two main reasons to aim for above the 75th percentile:

• First, you want to give yourself some wiggle room in case you can’t quite reach your goal score. If you fall a bit short, then you can decide whether or not it’s worth retaking the GRE . Admitted students with below-average scores usually have an incredible application to make up for this deficit – impressive work/research experience, a compelling story, a strong college GPA, etc. Always consider your application as a whole when determining whether your GRE score is good enough.
• Second, you want to improve your odds of acceptance by impressing the admissions committee with a higher-than-expected score. If the average Math score for your program is 153, and you score a 158, then you automatically have a leg up on the competition. Admissions committees like to see that students can excel at standardized tests, in addition to having excellent, well-rounded applications.

These scores are at least one standard deviation from the mean. And scores two standard deviations from the mean put you near the top 5%, 170 in Quant and 165 in Verbal, at which point your score will certainly not be an impediment.

A bad GRE score is one that excludes you from the program that you want to attend. That’s all! But, for more context, the bottom 10% of test-takers score below 140 in Verbal and 142 in Quant. Again—very generally!—a good goal is to score better than average on the GRE.

What should I do if I don’t have a good score?

No matter what the case, don’t despair! If you have taken the test and were, say, a 145 scorer in both sections (that works out to the 22nd percentile in Verbal and the 15th percentile in Quant), then your road to improvement is pretty steep, but very doable.

By prepping hard for a month or two, you should be able to jump from the lowly teens and 20s to the respectable 44th and 35th percentiles, respectively: a mere five points, but you never know! This small number of questions could be the difference between getting into a program and not getting into a program.

With all of those factors in mind, it’s time to set your target score (or rather, target score s —one for each section).

Why? The GRE general test is a tough exam (in terms of both content and psychology) that’s meant to separate strong applicants from the rest of the pack. Succeeding on the GRE is a matter of determining what score you need well before your test date in order to make sure that your application is noticed and considered by your target programs.

Once you know your goal score, you can use a GRE practice test to help you determine how far you are from your target score and the type of GRE prep course that can help you get there. Then, to help you get there, check out Mason’s advice in Magoosh’s livestream for how to get a top score on the GRE!

Beyond grades and test scores, though, there are a few things that grad schools look for in applicants that can change how they see your application. Primary among these is your interest in—and demonstrated passion for—the field and your subject. Close behind these are how good a match you are for that particular program in terms of your goals and history and how they align with the program of study offered. Emphasizing these elements can go a long way towards getting you into the program of your dreams!

Rachel is one of Magoosh’s Content Creators. She writes and updates content on our High School and GRE Blogs to ensure students are equipped with the best information during their test prep journey. As a test-prep instructor for more than five years in there different countries, Rachel has helped students around the world prepare for various standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT, and she is one of the authors of our Magoosh ACT Prep Book . Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brown University, an MA in Cinematography from the Université de Paris VII, and a Ph.D. in Film Studies from University College London. For over a decade, Rachel has honed her craft as a fiction and memoir writer and public speaker. Her novel, THE BALLERINAS , is forthcoming in December 2021 from St. Martin’s Press , while her memoir, GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND , co-written with Jessica Pan, was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House. Her work has appeared in over a dozen online and print publications, including Vanity Fair Hollywood. When she isn’t strategically stringing words together at Magoosh, you can find Rachel riding horses or with her nose in a book. Join her on Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook !

View all posts

More from Magoosh

73 responses to “GRE Score Range: What’s a Good GRE Score?”

Hello! I took my GRE recently and secured 320 (153V and 167Q). I have a good GPA too(9.84/10), in the university which is in the top 100 univs of India. I’m planning to apply for Masters in Machine Learning in US. I know there are many factors at play which ultimately determine my admission processes. But assuming everything else constant, could you tell me if my GRE score is good enough to get into top 50 Univs in the US?

Hi Praneeth,

I’d suggest reading over our article GRE Scores For Top Universities . Check out the Computer Science scores for the schools we have listed there. Your scores are very close to most of those, although your verbal is a bit lower and your Quant is on the minimum end. However, keep in mind that the scores we list there are the average scores for those schools. I’d recommend that you contact the schools/programs that you want to apply to directly, as they will be able to give you the precise GRE score minimums they’re looking for.

I hope this helps, and best of luck to you! 😀

Hi, My gre score is quants: 156, verbal: 159. I am aiming for engineering programs and have 4 years of relevant work exp as well. Just wanted to understand if my quants score will limit my options.

We recommend checking out the post on GRE Scores for Engineering Programs to see the average Quant scores for specific programs and majors. Keep in mind that these are just averages, so there are definitely admitted students with lower and higher scores. Hope this helps!

I recently scored a 324 after using Magoosh.

V – 165 Q – 159 AWA – 5.5

My Q score is just shy of the 70th percentile (1 percentage point) and I am contemplating whether a retake would be worth it. I aspire to get my MPP or attend law school, and I want to be competitive for top programs.

Hi Sally, I sent this question to our team of test prep experts, you’ll get a response to your email 🙂

Hello I took my gre last week and got a score of 318 (verbal 152, quant 166). I am planning to give toefel next week. I am currentle studying at NIT Jalandhar with CGPA of 8.00. I want to do MS in Computer Science From US. What are the colleges that I can get admission in? Is there any link from where I can see what were the scores at which students got admission in Computer Science at various universities.

Unfortunately, we don’t have nearly as much expertise and experience in graduate school admissions as we do with GRE prep, so I’m afraid we can’t be of much help. Here are a few blog posts to help you evaluate your scores:

• What is a Good GRE Score?
• GRE Scores Infographic
• GRE Scores for Top Universities
• GRE Scores by Program Major

If you’d like general advice about graduate programs, this website is also a great place to start your research:

• Best Grad Schools

We also have an admissions section on our blog where our partner companies often address common student admissions questions:

• GRE Admissions
• TOEFL Admissions

I hope this helps at least a little bit! 🙂

I scored 152 in verbal and 152 in quant is this score good?

This entirely depends on your target schools and program requirements! I would recommend doing some research on or getting in touch with admissions counselors at your target schools to find out more 🙂

Congrats on taking the GRE!

I have taken GRE twice and my score has been stagnant at 302. During mocks I had scored 316-321. I really do not know what happened and where I went wrong. I need to score 325+ and I know it is achievable but I just need the right guidance. Dear magoosh team I really need your help in achieving the same. Please guide me as soon as possible.

Thanks for reaching out to Magoosh! There are a few potential things that could be going on here. First, it’s important to recognize that your practice test score can change depending on the quality of the test. The most authentic practice tests are the ETS Powerprep tests, and you can see our book reviews for information on other resources. Another thing to keep in mind is that things like test stress and testing environment can have outsized effects on your score. It’s important to have a plan to deal with test stress and any situation that may come up at the testing center.

You are looking for quite a large score increase. It’s not impossible, but it will take hard work and high quality materials! I highly recommend that you check out our Premium GRE Program. Our study schedules, lesson videos, questions and expert support can definitely help you achieve your goals!

Hi! I was wondering how important the Analytical Writing part was in the assessment of GRE scores (to be more precise, I scored a 4.5, which I feel might too low to be aiming for a top humanities program?). Thanks in advance!

Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so I’m afraid that we are not the right people to answer this question. I recommend that you reach out to people from your your target schools (admissions counselors, current and former students, and professors) to ask them more about how they analyze GRE scores. Good luck!

I Scored 139 in verbal and 147 in Quant please tell me is it a good score ? or I need to re-appear in the exam to get better score.

Whether your score is a good score or not depends on the programs you’re trying to get into. 🙂 For some programs, it may be enough. For others, you might need to retake the exam. I recommend reaching out to the school’s you’re interested in to get a sense of their requirements.

If you’d like to prepare for a retake, we can absolutely help! You can try a free 7-day trial here .

I took my GRE twice. In my first attempt I scored 291 – quant – 152, verbal – 139 and awa – 4.0 .. In my second attempt i scored 296. Quant – 152, Verbal – 144 and awa – 4.5.

I felt there is not much improvement. I would like to retake my GRE again and my target score is 320. For my dream university and course they expect a minimum of 158 in quant. So, i feel it’s safer to have 320 score. I am planning to give it in September 2019.

This time, I really want that score. Any useful tips from your side?

Thanks for reaching out to Magoosh! You are looking for quite a large improvement in both verbal and math. Luckily, you’ve given yourself plenty of time to achieve this goal. The most important thing that you can do is to use high-quality study sources , follow a good study plan , and make sure that you consistently a nalyze your progress to build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses.

Have you looked at our Magoosh Premium Program ? We take you through everything you need to know for the GRE, and our team of tutors can guide you through the study process. You can get started with a free trial to see if it’s right for you 🙂

Hii.. i scored 270 in GRE.. is there any good college for this score please suggest me

Hi Hemashree,

With a 270, it will be hard to meet minimum requirements for most schools that expect a GRE score to be submitted. If you are in a position to re-study and take it again, I suggest doing so. You are well prepared to tackle it a second time now that you are familiar with the demands of the GRE! Wishing you the best. 🙂

I scored 298 in GRE (157-Q and 141-V) , I have a strong gpa, 4 publication and good sop. Please suggest if I should retake my GRE or should apply with this score. I am focusing on University of Texas at Dallas .

Hi Harshit,

Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so I”m afraid we aren’t the best people to answer this question! I recommend that you do some research on the school or contact an admissions counselor to ask about their admissions preferences. This varies widely by school and department, so it’s really best to get the information straight from the source!

Hi, I am applying to Univ of Springfield, for Msc in public health. I had 147QR and 145VB in GRE. Do I stand a chance getting admitted?

Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so I’m afraid we aren’t the best people to answer your question! I recommend that you reach out to an admissions counselor at the school to determine their GRE requirements, and even talk to current students to get their thoughts on the issue 🙂 Good luck!

I scored a 144 on quant and a 136 on verbal the first time I took the GRE, I kind of went in lukewarm with the thought that I knew I had to prepare longer. I did the Kaplan book first, which obviously did not help me much…I just purchased the Magoosh 6 month study lesson and hope to increase my Quant to a 150 and verbal at least a 145…I was thinking of giving myself about 8 more weeks to study and take it again. Do you think the score I want to achieve are realistic after scoring so low the first time? I would be spending about 30 hours a week practicing and going over lessons.

At roughly 2 months of study, 30 hours a week, a 6 point boost in Quant and a 9 point boost in Verbal could be possible, for certain. Given the unusually high amount of hours per week that you have for studies, you may want to modify one of Magoosh’s GRE study plans , allowing for more study time than the 15-20 hours that most of our plans require. 🙂 And since you’re a GRE Premium subscriber, feel free to use the “Help” tab to contact our email support tutors if you need advice on how to put together your study plan.

Hi! This answer was really helpful, but I also have a few further questions.

I scored 144-verbal and 150-quantitative. I need to score aprox. 154-verbal and 160-quantitative. Do you think it is possible to have a 10 point jump on each section with 6 hours of study per day for two months? Is it possible to get support on putting together a study plan when a 6-month GRE Premium subscription is ordered?

Hi Fabiola,

I’m going to forward your message on to our team of test prep experts. Someone will get back to you soon, in a separate email 🙂

My GRE score is 292. Can you please suggest some best universities for me to pursue data analytics? I m planning for this spring.

That score is a little bit on the lower end. Based just on what you’ve told me, though, it’s honestly a little hard to say exactly which schools might take you. Data analytics programs tend to emphasize Quant much more than Verbal, so if the Quant component of your 292 is higher than 150 (the higher the better), your chances of getting accepted at a respectable school are greater. If you can tell me your individual Quant and verbal section scores, I might be able to give you a more specific answer.

I’ve been studying for the GRE for 3.5 months now with test prep and only saw a 1 point increase in my quant and 4 point increase in verbal. I focused mainly on quant and only 11 hours on verbal. The school I am trying to get into has a median GRE quant score in the 85th percentile. I’ve done well in my math subjects (career changer here from clinician to programmer) with a B+ in Calc 3 and an A in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations but can’t seem to show a stronger quant score! The school uses a holistic approach to the app review process and I’ve opted to submit my application early. They are waiting on my GRE scores now. With a quant of 150 and verbal of 155, and putting hours toward quant in studying, what do you think I should do?

I understand how nerve-wracking this decision is, and how frustrating it is to study so much without seeing an improvement! Our expertise is in test prep, so I”m not sure if we’re in the best position to give you advice here, but I can certainly try to help you think through this decision. First, it’s important to realize that the GRE isn’t about super difficult and high-level math…it’s really all about critical thinking and creative problem-solving. It’s not uncommon to see people who are successful in advanced math classes struggle with GRE math–it’s just a different approach and mindset. I recommend that you contact the school and ask for their thoughts on your GRE scores. If the school takes a holistic look at the application, then you may be able to make up for poor GRE scores with the other components of your application, and explain the scores on your essay. Finally, you can consider pushing your application for regular consideration (if that is possible in your case), or submit the application as is and still study for a retake in case you don’t get in. If you decide to study for a retake, I recommend that you take a good look at your study materials and approach, because it’s apparent that something isn’t working for you! This blog post can help you think through some of those things. I know that this is a difficult decision, and I wish I had a more concrete answer for you! You’ll have to do whatever you think is best. Good luck!

I applied to programs in Education and the Social Sciences. My target schools have average scores of 158 Verbal, 152 Quant, and 4.5 AW. My best GRE Scores are 154 Verbal, 160 Quant, and 5 AW. Would my lower than average Verbal score be a limiting factor despite my strengths (relative to the target average scores) in the other two categories? Or would a committee compare my overall score?

Hi Rouzbeh,

Unfortunately, this is a difficult call to make! Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so take anything I say with a grain of salt 🙂

Grad admissions committees have a lot of different factors to consider, including work experience, academic standing, and all of the other components of your application. It’s important to remember that this is an average score and not a required score, which means that they do accept students with lower scores. I don’t think that your lower verbal score will be a huge red flag for the admissions committee, but they are also not necessarily transparent about their process and requirements. In situations like this, you just have to trust that you are a strong candidate and that your application can speak for itself 🙂

I scored 280 in gre. I completed my BSc in chemistry with 66.8%. I decided to do chemical engineering.

In which University, you are studying? please tell me.

I just took the gre and I scored a 155 in both sections . Looking to apply for a masters degree at the university of south Florida. The required scores are 155 for quant and 149 for verbal. Tho I met the requirements, I’m still not too confident. Should I retake the test ?

This depends on a lot of different factors, and unfortunately there is no easy answer! Different schools analyze GRE schools in different ways. USF might like to see stronger GRE scores, or they might just be looking for minimum scores which you already reached. A higher GRE score might help to offset a poor GPA, lack of work experience or other weak spot in your application, but studying for a retake can be an unnecessary distraction that keeps you from crafting a strong application. I recommend that you do some more research about the school and ask current students or send an email to an admissions counselor. Try to get a sense about how USF analyzes GRE scores and what they are looking for in their applicants. Good luck 🙂

Hi, I want to pursue Masters in Computer Science.I have GRE scores Quant:156 and Verbal:145.Can I make into top 50 colleges in the US?Can you give some suggestions?

Your GRE scores are in relatively low percentiles, with your Verbal score below the 50th percentile, and your QUant score in the low 60s for percentile. So on the strength of your GRE score alone, you probably couldn’t get into a top 50 college. While I do recommend that you retake the exam to get into a top school, it’s also important to remember that top schools seldom accept you on the strength of your GRE score alone. If you ahve strong work experience, published research or papers, or other noteworthy accomplishments, top schools may still consider you.

For more information on where your current scores lie, see our posts on GRE score percentiles and GRE scores for top universities .

Hi, I am a PhD aspirant and have started preparing for my GRE now. My target schools are the Ivy League business schools. Please help me understand what would be a good score (section wise) for me considering my specialization would be in Strategy/Management

Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice–so I can’t answer your question with 100% certainty, but I can direct you to some resources that can help 🙂 You can get a good sense of what Ivy league schools look for in this blog post: https://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-business-schools/ . I also encourage you to check out the schools’ website and make sure that they accept the GRE–if you aren’t sure, you can consider the GMAT test: https://magoosh.com/gre/2014/gre-vs-gmat/ I hope this helps!

You should remember that to get into an Ivy League school for a PhD, GRE score is less important when compared to your recommendation letter or research experience.

Having said that almost everyone in those program have a perfect quant score anyway.

Ammom, while what you’ve said is often true of Ivy League schools (and other hghly competitive non-Ivies), it’s also important to remember that every school and individual program has their own GRE preferences and requirements. So the GRE can be more important in some top degree programs than in others.

Hi, my Cgpa is 3.75/5.0. I want to apply for aerospace engineering in a Canadian university. Although I have not applied for GRE, can I write GRE now and still apply for 2019 session

Hi Opemipo! GRE scores are valid for 5 years, so you can take it when it best suits you. 🙂

I got a score of 165 in quant, 145 in verbal, and 4 in AWA. What are my chances of getting into a good university? Can you please name a few universities as well.

Hi Shailesh,

We cannot provide you a list of suitable universities because we are not admissions consultants and we know nothing about you and your career goals. I recommend looking into top programs in the field you want to enter and see what they require for admissions. There are probably schools that would happily admit you with this score, but you have to decide if those are the schools you’re aiming for. Good luck! 🙂

Hi. I took gre in october,2022. I scored 299. Verbal 146, Quant 153. I retook the exam in November, but there wasn’t any improvement with the overall score. I scored 299 again. Verbal 142, Quant 157. My Bachelor’s degree cgpa is 3.24 in Statistics. I have done a Ms in Statistics, result yet to publish. I have done a project research in my Master’s program. I also earned a certificate from udemy on”Statistics for Data Science and Business Analysis”. I took the TOEFL test. And scored 105. I want to apply for Data science in Master’s program in USA. With my current gre score, do you think i have any chance to get into any grad school in my targeted program? Thank you in advance.

Hi Sudipta!

Here’s what I suggest. Take a look at this website from NYU , for example. They give the average scores students receive (which you are close to), but they note that they don’t have a hard minimum score requirement, and that they look at the application as a whole. So, what you will want to do is to look into each school you’d like to apply to to find out their individual requirements. Additionally, note that we do have Admissions plans, that will help you through all stages of the process. Right now, we’re encouraging students to direct all admissions-specific questions to the free Discord community we’ve created for Graduate Admissions students! You can join for free here: Magoosh Admissions: Discord

Best of luck to you! 😀

Hello, I took GRE yesterday and got 165 for verbal and 163 for quantitative. Since I plan to apply for PhD in computer science, I’m a bit worried that my quantitative score is not up to the requirements. Do you think I need to give GRE another try to get a better score?

Hi Enrique,

There are most definitely schools that will admit you, but you have to decide if they are the schools you want to attend. Have you done some research to see what your dream programs expect? In the end, if you believe you can improve upon your score and you have the resources to prepare for a retake, it would behoove you to do so. Good luck! 🙂

Hey, I scored a 155 in my Quantitative and a 149 in Verbal. My exam center had network connectivity issues that made me stop the test after my quant which came immediately after my essays, only after to continue after an hour and a half of being idle. I believe I can score up to a 155 in Verbal and a 166 in quantitative and I my CGPA is 4.87/5.0. Should I retake the GRE? I want to apply to engineering graduate school.

If you believe you can improve your score, it is well worth resitting the exam. Your scores right now are not as competitive as the scores you told me you think you can get. Good luck! 🙂

Well , just got out of the test centre ,

am an architectural technologist working in a top 20 firm with around 3 years of work Exp .

Had prepared, pretty rigorously I must say , for the past 3 months . Self study with a lot of focus on math and minimal practice on the verbal section .

The score I saw at the end of the session was verbal -165 and quant – 160 .( strange, considering I spent about four hours in total on verbal )

Think I got a brain fade of sorts during the quants section and screwed up a couple of easy ones .

So considering , I got an average quant score . Do you reckon it would be worth my time (and energy ) to give it another go ?

Iam looking at 165 in quant , and I know where I messed up .

Or is a 160 in quant won’t be a hindrance come admission time ( my program of interest is a hybrid one , a bit of engineering with design )

Any input would be great .

And if I were to invest in your self study program , do I get a money back guarantee if I don’t improve in the next attemp as advertised ?, do I qualify ?

Sorry to hear that your GRE score wasn’t quite what you’d hoped in Quant. That sounds disappointing. Based on what you’ve told me, this sounds like a minor slip-up on your part, and it does sound like you can get more than 160 in Quant. It also sounds like you may have a chance at 165 or higher if you retake the test. So I’d say a retake is worth it, provided you have time for one. 🙂

And yes, with a previous GRE score in hand, you meet the basic qualifications for our refund guarantee. If you decide sign up, just be sure to read and follow our Score Guarantee instructions .

I have a question about the scoring of the GRE..so I took an ETS practice test, and I got a 149 (35 percentile) on my Quantitative score. I checked my answers throughout the whole test and I found out I got half of the math questions wrong and half of them right. So, how did I get a 35 percentile score if I got half of the math questions right?

The percentile is how you rank against other test takers, so you performed better than 35% of the test takers with the score you got. It has nothing to do with the percent correct you got (other than how this helps you compare to all other students). I hope that clarifies!

Hi I scored 170 in quant and 146 in verbal. I am planning to apply for colleges in US. Is a low verbal score going to hurt me. I am planning to pursue data analysis as a major field.

There is no definitive answer, so you will have to see how individual schools treat the verbal score. Any school that doesn’t have a minimum verbal score will be fine with what you earned. 🙂

I scored 315 on GRE ( V-155, Q-160) but 3.0 in AWA. Is my AWA score bad to apply for Master’s in Biological sciences, esp. Molecular biology in the top #15-30 universities? Should I retake the test?

That depends on the program. Have you done some research to see how they handle AWA scores? You may be lucky and not need them, but you may also find they require a minimum of 4.0 for admission.

I have 160 QA and 152 VA. I am looking for MS in CS from USA. Should i reconsider giving GRE again for higher quant score or can i get admit from Good clges. I have 32 mnth exp with Accenture. 66.7% in grad

Hi Deepank,

The answer to this depends heavily on the schools you want to attend. Have you researched admission requirements for programs you are interested in? Seeing how you stack up to real requirements can be super helpful as you determine what to do next. 🙂

I’m thinking about applying to Political Science/Public Policy graduate programs. I got a 170 V and a 159 Q. Given my intended field of graduate study, does it make sense at all to retake to try to get a higher Q score? While I’ll probably only apply to the top 10-15 programs, I don’t think I’ll apply for at least a few cycles and should thus have enough time to retake, if it makes sense to do so.

In other words, how much do graduate programs related to political science and policy care about the GRE Q score?

Thanks in advance for your response, Andrew

First of all, congrats on such a stellar GRE score! I can tell that you worked hard and it showed 🙂

Our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so I’m afraid that I can only give you general advice on this question. According to this blog post on Social Science GRE scores , you are well within the score range for top Political Science Schools. However, you may want to do some research to narrow down your target schools before you decide to re-take the GRE. We also have this handy flowchart to help you make this decision: Retaking the GRE . Best of luck as you make your decision, and congrats again on an amazing score!

HI, I’m planning on doing Master’s in Applied Nutrition from Canada or Usa. I’d like to know if GRE subject exams are necessary and if so- Do I have to necessarily write all subjects or I can select specific subjects (like eliminate maths?) or is GRE General exam enough?

Unfortunately, we don’t have nearly as much expertise and experience in graduate school admissions as we do with test prep, so I’m afraid we can’t be of much help. However, for your specific program question, I would recommend that you reach out to a few of your target programs and ask about admission requirements. This will be the best source for an accurate and immediate response. I hope this helps, and I’m sorry we could not be of more help in this regard. Best of luck! 🙂

Your acceptance will depend on the subject and the school. Wharton gets much better scores and a great deal will now depend on your statement of interest given the low scores. For State College and social science subjects, you might do better but again, recommendations matter a great deal. Finally, of course, luck on student representation from different regions and your ability to bear your course costs might work to your advantage. This is from my experience but I got much better scores – maxed, but there were other issues involved in my case. Best of luck.

hey i want to take admission in Math PHD ,can you tell me whether GRE subject test is enough or i have to take GRE general test?

also please tell me TOEFL or IELTS will be better for getting chance

Happy to help 🙂 While the exact application requirements vary based on the program, most US-based programs require the GRE General Test as well as the GRE Mathematics Subject Test. Additionally, typically programs will accept both TOEFL or IELTS scores, without a preference as to which exam you take. However, and as I mentioned, these requirements are specific to individual programs and universities. So, you will want to check the requirements of the programs you’re interested in to make sure you take the correct exams. 🙂 I hope this helps! Happy studying 😀

Hello! I took the GRE last August and scored 152 quantitative and 156 verbal. I retook the GRE (and admittedly did not do my best) receiving scores of 154 quantitative and 154 verbal.

I am applying to PA school, and most of the minimum scores are pretty average where verbal scores are expected to be slightly higher than quantitative.

I was hoping you could give me advice on which scores I should send to programs or if I should send both. Because I did not do as well as I wanted to, I am planning on retaking the GRE, but it may not be in time for early consideration for admission.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I think it would not be bad to send both scores; they show relative stability in ability and neither one shows you in a particularly bad light. Of course, if you could get a substantially higher score, I would support that one and not the others, but if you run out of time to get a new score, the ones you have work together fine. 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What is a Good GRE AWA Essay score?

by Talha Omer, MBA, M.Eng., Harvard & Cornell Grad

In about the gre.

The AWA section of the GRE is often a confusing score to interpret. AWA is scored separately from the verbal and math sections on a six-point scale. If you are new to GRE, you have probably heard people say that their verbal and quant scores are so so, but you rarely hear people mentioning their AWA score. The mysterious nature of this score makes you wonder if schools even care about it at all.

Meanwhile, it may play a significant role, especially for the students that will have to deal with numerous written assignments like research papers, essays, case studies, and so on. Of course, one can always use an essay service to simplify their academic life. That way, you won’t have to care about the AWA score.

However, depending on the program you are applying to, your AWA score may carry more importance than you think. Since GRE is a test designed to measure your readiness for grad-school, the AWA score reflects your ability to present convincing arguments. This may mean little to an engineering school , but in humanities , your prose’s quality is an essential factor .

Humanities subjects typically include a lot of writing, and so the ability to organize your thoughts on paper and deliver a persuasive argument is lauded.

In this article, I will discuss what a good AWA score is and if it matters.

In this Article

What is a good AWA score?

How would i know what my awa score should be, how can i evaluate my awa skills.

The analytical writing section of the GRE is scored on a 0-6 scale in half-point increments. The obvious answer would be that 5+ points on AWA is a “good” score. However, it is not that simple. As I said previously, it all depends on what area of study you are applying to. STEM programs typically aren’t as picky about your AWA score as humanities. Moreover, we know that students who apply for STEM programs usually have average AWA scores.

According to data published by ETS, students who applied to STEM programs had a mean AWA score lower than humanities and arts.

As you can see, humanities and arts have a higher mean AWA score than other fields. Moreover, ETS has also published extensive data related to scores that give us a better understanding of how test-takers score about each other.

According to GRE’s Guide to the use of scores, we can deduce the following insights from the provided data.

If we compare the two tables, we can see that you only have to score better than 60 percent of test-takers to achieve a 4.0 AWA score, the highest mean score among all the fields.

Whereas for STEM degrees, you can get away with a lower score. Hence, irrespective of the program you are applying to, I would say a good AWA score is 4.5-5.0. An excellent score is 5.5-6.0, and an average score is 3.5-4.0.

When it comes to GRE, nothing is set in stone. Graduate schools take a holistic approach to your application. Things like excellent work experience or research experience may make up for a relatively low GRE score in some instances. That being said, your first concern should be cut-off scores.

Fortunately, not many schools have AWA cut-off scores, but if they do, it’s usually around 3.5-4. An excellent way to determine if the program you are applying to has a GRE cut-off score is to check the program requirements.

You can also request this information from the school by sending them an email. Another way to check the average AWA score of a school is to use websites like  U.S. News . U.S. News has a vast library of data on hundreds of U.S. grad-schools.

Once you know either the cut-off score or your school’s average AWA score, you would know what to aim for.

This is the most tricky part of GRE prep. Unlike quant and verbal sections, AWA doesn’t have an “objective” standard. By objective, I mean that there isn’t a one-word right or wrong answer and hence evaluating your writing is a tricky thing to do.

One thing that you can do is consult essays published and evaluated by ETS on their website. Six essays have been taken out from actual GRE tests and scored accordingly. Read the prompt in the highlighted box first, then write your essay without reading the essays provided there. Once you are done, compare your essay with those published by ETS and read the “rater commentary” too . This will give you an idea of what your essay score would be.

Another lesser know resource is ETS’s own “Analytical Writing Sample Essays and Commentaries” that you can download from here. This is a 70-page document containing a wealth of information and real sample essays taken from GRE tests. You will learn about the scoring system and what the examiners are looking for in an essay.

However, if you want to go all out, you can sign-up for a GRE course such as the ones offered by The Economist , Magoosh , and Manhattan . The courses give you the option to submit your essays to get them evaluated by GRE experts. The only problem is that these courses can cost hundreds of dollars and is not an option for everyone.

Retaking the GRE Boosts your Admissions Chances

Picture this: you're applying to your dream graduate program, and you're wondering if retaking the GRE is the right move. Will it hurt your chances of admission? Should you just settle for your current score? (You can also watch this video on how retaking the GRE can...

A complete collection of the best GRE essays

The AWA section of the GRE has to do with essay writing. This is the only section of the test that doesn't have MCQ-type questions. Instead, you have to write two essays. In one, you have to analyze an issue, whereas you have to analyze an argument in the other one....

Why is the GRE easier than you think?

GRE has a reputation for being a tough test, and in some aspects, this is true. However, many factors make the GRE easier than what is commonly believed. Some of these factors are also lesser-known ones that people don't talk about. Sure, you have to memorize a...

Why is the GRE so difficult?

GRE is the required standardized test that students have to take to get into grad school. It is often a daunting prospect for many to take the GRE because of its reputation as a complicated exam. Most beginners think that they need to know advanced math to ace the...

Is the actual GRE harder than the practice tests?

The Graduate Record Exam is a salient part of your grad-school application. The test is designed to weed out those who are not yet ready to take on graduate-level courses. You are tested on your verbal and math reasoning skills and the ability to write compelling...

Is the GRE Pointless?

The Graduate Record Examination, more popularly known as GRE, is a standardized test aimed towards graduate school applicants. Thousands of graduate Schools in North America require GRE as part of the application process, and without it, you can't get in. It is no...

Do i need to take the gre general or subject test?

Many people know that GRE is the go-to test when it comes to graduate school admissions. Anyone who has ever entertained the idea of graduate school has also looked up GRE at some point. However, most people only know about the GRE general test. GRE "general test," as...

Why is the GRE so Expensive?

GRE is pretty much a necessity for graduate school applications. You may get away with not taking it if you apply to humanities programs, but for STEM, almost every graduate school explicitly requires it. This can pose a financial challenge for those who belong to...

Is the GRE at home accepted for admissions?

ETS announced its GRE at-home service in 2020 amidst the Covid breakout. At the time, students looking to apply to graduate school needed a quick alternative as test centers had been shut down. In only six weeks, the home version of the test was ready and available to...

Is the GRE at home harder than the GRE at test center?

Many graduate school aspirants are signing up for GRE at-home amidst the ongoing Covid outbreak. Early last year, ETS announced their home-based GRE test to combat the test center shut-down worldwide. The at-home GRE service has allowed millions of students worldwide...

WANT MORE AMAZING CONTENT?

• Free GRE Practice Questions
• 100+ Personal Statement Templates
• 100+ Quotes to Kick Start Your Personal Statement
• 390 Adjectives to Use in a LOR

• Best Online Colleges & Universities 2023
• Best Nationally Accredited Online Colleges & Universities 2024
• Regionally Accredited Online Colleges
• Best Online Colleges That Offer Free Laptops 2023
• Top Self-Paced Online College Degrees for 2023
• Best Online Universities & Colleges

Cheapest and Most Affordable Online Colleges 2024

• The Most Affordable Online Master's Programs 2024
• The Best Online MBA Programs
• Most Affordable Online MBA Programs 2024
• Online MBA Programs with No GMAT Requirement 2024
• Cheapest Law Schools Online 2023
• The Quickest Online Master's Degrees 2024

Easiest PhD and Shortest Doctoral Programs Online 2024

• Fastest Accelerated Online Degree Programs by Degree Level 2023
• Best Accredited Online Law Schools 2023
• 4-Week Online Course for Medical Coding and Billing 2024
• Accredited Medical Billing and Coding Schools Online with Financial Aid
• Become a Medical Assistant in 6 Weeks
• 20 Most Useless College Degrees 2023
• 6 Month Certificate Programs That Pay Well
• Online Colleges

Highest Paying Masters Degrees for 2024

Best accelerated nursing & bsn programs online, best online colleges south carolina 2024, accredited online colleges in missouri 2024, best nationally accredited online colleges & universities 2024, best online colleges & universities 2024, what is a good gre score.

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a standardized test widely used for graduate school admissions in the United States. It is designed to measure analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning skills.

A good GRE score can improve your chances of admission to graduate school.

EDsmart dives into the GRE, its scoring system, and what constitutes a good score using the most recent data available.

Overview of the GRE

The GRE General Test is divided into three main sections:

• Analytical Writing
• Verbal Reasoning
• Quantitative Reasoning.

The test is scored on a scale of 130-170 for Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections and 0-6 for Analytical Writing. The test takes approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete and can be taken either in-person at a testing center or online at home.

Analytical Writing (AW) : This section measures your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. You will be asked to write two essays: "Analyze an Issue" and "Analyze an Argument." Each essay is scored on a scale of 0-6 in half-point increments.

Verbal Reasoning (VR) : This section tests your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it. It consists of two 20-question subsections. Quantitative Reasoning (QR): This section assesses your problem-solving ability using basic mathematical concepts. It consists of two 20-question subsections.

A good GRE score is relative and depends on the graduate program you're applying to, the competitiveness of the applicant pool, and your overall profile. Typically, a score that is above the average of admitted students at your desired institution is considered "good."

To gain a better understanding, we can look at the most recent GRE score data :

Mean GRE scores (2021-2022)

• Verbal Reasoning: 151.3
• Quantitative Reasoning: 157
• Analytical Writing: 3.4

It's important to remember that graduate programs vary in their requirements and preferences. For example, a STEM program may emphasize the Quantitative Reasoning section more, while a liberal arts program may prioritize Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing scores.

Research the average GRE scores of admitted students at your desired institutions to get a clearer picture. Many universities publish this information on their websites or graduate school brochures. Another helpful resource is the ETS's GRE Comparison Tool for Institutions , which allows you to compare your scores with other applicants in your intended field.

What is the average GRE score?

The average GRE score is 151.3 for Verbal Reasoning, 157 for Quantitative Reasoning, and 3.4 for Analytical Writing. However, these scores vary depending on the graduate program you're applying to.

For example, a STEM program may have a higher average GRE score than a liberal arts program. It's essential to research the average GRE scores of admitted students at your desired institutions to get a clearer picture.

What is a competitive GRE score?

A competitive GRE score is above the average score for the graduate program you're applying to. However, it's also important to consider your overall profile when evaluating your GRE score. For example, a lower GRE score may not be as detrimental if you have a strong GPA and letters of recommendation.

How can I improve my GRE score?

• Take a diagnostic test. Take a diagnostic test to identify your strengths and weaknesses to improve your GRE score. This will help you focus your study efforts on the areas you need the most improvement.
• Use official GRE prep materials. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) offers a variety of official GRE prep materials, including books, practice tests, and online courses.
• Enroll in a GRE prep course. Several GRE prep courses are available, both online and in person. A GRE prep course can provide you with the structure and support you need to improve your score.
• Work with a private tutor. If you need one-on-one help, you can work with a private GRE tutor. A private tutor can tailor their instruction to your needs and help you develop a personalized study plan.

GRE Scores for Grad Schools

The average GRE score for top universities is 160+ for Verbal and Quantitative.

You can see the estimated ranges for average GRE scores by school below, according to Chris Swimmer at Magoosh .

GRE Ranges for Top Universities

Harvard gre scores, stanford gre scores, mit gre scores, uc berkeley gre scores, princeton gre scores, columbia gre scores, yale gre scores, nyu gre scores, usc gre scores, ucla gre scores, cornell gre scores, upenn gre scores, how much time should i spend studying for the gre.

The time you need to study for the GRE depends on your starting point and goals. If you are starting from scratch, you may need to study for several months. However, if you have a strong academic background and are already familiar with the GRE format, you may be able to improve your score in a shorter amount of time.

What are some tips for taking the GRE?

• Get a good night's sleep the night before the test.
• Arrive at the testing center early.
• Eat a healthy breakfast. Bring snacks and drinks to the testing center.
• Take breaks during the test.
• Don't stress out if you don't know the answer to a question. Read the directions carefully. Pace yourself.
• Don't second-guess your answers. Review your answers before you submit your test.

How to Improve Your GRE Score

If you feel that your GRE score is not competitive enough, consider taking the following steps:

• Take a diagnostic test to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Develop a study plan that focuses on improving weaker areas.
• Familiarize yourself with the test format and question types.
• Utilize official GRE prep materials, including the ETS's PowerPrep software .
• Consider enrolling in a GRE prep course or working with a private tutor.
• Practice time management and learn test-taking strategies.
• Take multiple practice tests under realistic conditions.

GRE Resources

Gre practice tests.

• POWERPREP (paid)
• Kaplan Test Prep (free)
• Mometrix (free)
• The Princeton Review (free)

General Resources

• Educational Testing Service (free + paid)
• 70+ Free GRE Resources - Rice University
• Get paid back for test fees - GI Bill

Take the next step toward your future with online learning.

You might also like.

Cheapest Online Colleges that Accept FAFSA

20 Most Useless College Degrees 2024

Social Media Stats to Know in 2023

Contact information

Quick links, subscribe to our newsletter.

• Skip to content

GRE Prep Courses & Tutoring

What's a Good GRE Score?

December 3, 2018

You almost spend more time trying to determine the perfect GRE score than you could actually studying for it. With all of the online rumors and false information regarding the exam, its scoring rubric, as well as what separates a substandard score from a premium one—it's a wonder most people don't have panic attacks before they set foot in the testing center! Have you put much thought into what type of score you need for your own application purposes? Has your mind been swarming with Verbal, Quant, and Analytical Writing averages that seem to get you nowhere?

Learning about what makes a good GRE score is a major aspect of studying for it. Not only do you need to know how far you must go with your own studies, but learning the academic expectations and terrain of a given program through its GRE scores is highly beneficial prior to beginning the graduate program of your dreams. In this article, we are going to break down average GRE scores as cited through ETS. Additionally, we are going to examine median scores by major, country of origin and program or university. Hopefully, this accurate information will paint a better picture of your own course of study as well as score expectations. After all, knowing what is ahead better charts your immediate path forward, does it not? We hope this article brings you insight, but also acknowledgment of everything that is expected of you and this important test.

Okay, let's dive in.

GRE Score at a Glance

Before we delve further into the specifics of what makes a good GRE score, let's take a look at score averages at a glance. Below is a table detailing score averages from ETS, the makers of the GRE, from July 2014 through June 2017. Whether it's relevant or not, we should note that out of the test-takers featured in this table, 52% of them were female, 46% were male, and 2% did not provide a classification to gender.

With the average scores being 150.05 in Verbal Reasoning, 152.80 in Quantitative Reasoning, and 3.50 in Analytical Writing—hopefully, you have a better idea of the GRE scoring landscape while you pursue your course of study. It might be useful to compare your own diagnostic mock exams to that of the national averages above to see where you match up. Now since the GRE is intended for graduate school across a variety of disciplines, perhaps it's valuable to examine average GRE scores by major/graduate school focus. Since some majors vary dramatically from others—not just in core content, but also GRE averages—picking apart medians by majors can bring about much-needed test-taking insight. The information from the table below also comes from ETS. The scores averaged between the same time period as before, from July 2014 through June 2017. Please note—if your intended major is not listed, ETS has a more extensive list on their website for continued study. 

 As is to be expected, students who pursue quant and math-heavy subjects such as physics, mathematics, engineering as well as finance all have higher math GRE averages than majors where, say, literature or language rests. Of course, a student's major will directly impact his or her score, depending on their strengths and fields of study.

A final point of interest when it relates to GRE averages is by nationality. The following information is derived from a report published by ETS in 2016 on country-by-country GRE averages. If you are a non-U.S. citizen applying to graduate programs in the States, this will be of particular interest to you. Hopefully, this will illuminate your own thoughts and feelings about the competition you may be facing from your home country as it pertains to the application pool! 

It comes as no surprise that the verbal averages are higher in countries where English is the native language; it may cause a small shock, however, to see the quant averages in other countries than the U.S. This correlates with research from 2014 performed by the National Science Foundation, which claims high school students in countries like Korea and Japan—among other countries—far exceed the math capabilities than students from the States. Long story short—if you're a U.S. citizen taking the GRE for graduate student in math—play to your strengths!

Average GRE Scores by School

While it's always beneficial to know average national GRE scores as well as ones on a country-by-country basis, having the information at-hand regarding your chosen university's GRE statistics is highly useful while continuing your course of study. When we know the average GRE of a particular school, we are aware of not just the competition, but also how much further we have to go. This can affect our tutoring or class curriculum, as well as the number of diagnostic mock exams. Whether you're far ahead of your school's average or lagging behind and in need of improvement, below you will see median GREs by institution. If your graduate program is not listed here, please refer to your school's website, as medians are often published there. This information was taken from a recent May 2018 US News & World Report Ranking—a reliable and authentic resource for education-specific statistics. Also note—because scores are divided not only by school but major, we are averages—which are all identical—for the following universities: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, & Columbia.

Elite schools tend to have similar if not identical ranges, as you see from above. This hopefully paints a picture of what the student body looks like as it relates to test performance. How do your scores compare to your chosen school? Making sure they align within the range, if not surpass it—is a way to alleviate application anxiety and safeguard admission.

The Takeaway

With all of this information overloading your mind, you may be wondering: So what's my GRE plan of attack? Being saturated with average scores not only by school, but also major and country can be overwhelming when trying to chart concrete steps on how to get to your own idea score. Let's talk about some ways to improve your score with all of this data in the back of our minds.

First and foremost, finding the right course of study is imperative for GRE success. This not only includes top tier study materials with adequate explanations and practice exercises, but an actual class—be it in-person or online—with a highly skilled GRE instructor who can break down and elaborate on important test-taking strategies and points. Thankfully, this is 2018 and there are a lot of opportunities for GRE prep; long gone are the days where you were limited to a traditional "brick and mortar" classroom. Many online courses make studying for this important exam convenient and also intellectually stimulating, particularly when you can do so from the comfort and ease of your home or office. Furthermore, deciding whether or not you are best suited for one-on-one tutoring or more of an "in-class experience" is crucial, as both can play to your strengths, aspirations, and test-taking weaknesses.

Implementing your course of study—whether through Manhattan Review or another highly reputable academic services firm—with realistic mock GRE exams is also beneficial, as you are able to better track and pinpoint the progression of your score. These help in providing a "test day experience" where you feel the pressures and limitations of time against a ticking stopwatch. There's nothing more exciting than seeing your score improve over time—particularly as it inches closer and closer to your ideal score for the school of your dreams—so why not get started on a diagnostic test? The advantages are endless.

In the end, securing your score several points higher above your school's average is the best way you can utilize the GRE to your full advantage. This may involve more hours of tutoring than you initially imagined or even sitting for the official exam more than once. However you chart it—however you navigate it—getting an elite score is a sure-fire way to secure admission to an elite graduate school program. Whether you're aiming for continued study in Economics, Psychology, Chemistry or Business—with hard work and determination, the GRE is here to assist you in accomplishing your dreams.

Testimonials

Free Resources

PrepScholar GRE Prep

Gre prep online guides and tips, what is a good gre score a bad one an excellent one.

As with any test, if you’re taking the GRE, you probably want to know what a good score is. The short answer is, it depends! The long answer is this article.

In this guide we’ll go over what a good GRE score is in terms of the entire GRE test-taking population, what a good GRE score is for you, and how to set a goal score. You’ll be on your way to a good score for you in no time!

What is a Good GRE Score Overall?

It’s hard to say with certainty what a “good” GRE score is in absolute terms, because there is so much variation in program expectations (more on that in the next section).  But if you want to know how a particular score stacks up against all other test-takers, you can check out the official GRE score percentiles . A percentile ranking shows what percent of test-takers you scored better than. For example, if I’m in the 25th percentile, I scored better than only 25% of students.

The average (or 50th percentile) GRE score is a 150 on Verbal and a 152.6 on Quant (152 is a 47th percentile score and 153 is a 51st percentile score). For Analytical Writing, a 3.5 is the average score.

Here’s a general breakdown of some score percentile benchmarks for the Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning sections:

Score Percentiles for Verbal and Quant

Quick side note: we've created the world's leading online GRE prep program that adapts to you and your strengths and weaknesses. Not sure what to study? Confused by how to improve your score? We give you minute by minute guide.

You don't NEED a prep program to get a great GRE score. But we believe PrepScholar is the best GRE prep program available right now , especially if you find it hard to organize your study schedule and don't know what to study .

Click here to learn how you can improve your GRE score by 7 points, guaranteed .

There are a couple of things to note from the above chart. First, that Quant scores tend to be a little bit higher than Verbal scores. How can we tell? Because percentiles for Quant are lower. So while a 165 has you scoring higher than 96% of test-takers on Verbal, you’ve only scored higher than 89% of test-takers on Quant with that score. So, more people scored higher than 165 on Quant than on Verbal (11% versus 4%).

The second thing to note is that test-taker scores tend to cluster around the middle of the scale. A five-point increase from 150 to 155 nets you a 21-point percentile increase on either section! By contrast, a 5-point increase from 165 to 170 only nets you a 3-percentile increase on Verbal or an 8-percentile increase on Quant. Essentially, you get a little more bang for your buck with point increases if you are starting out closer to the middle of the scale than at the ends.

In terms of how your score compares to all test-takers, a 25th percentile score (about a 144 on Verbal and a 146 on Quant) is a low score as it means 75% of test-takers—so, the vast majority—scored better than you. A 50th percentile score (about a 151 on Verbal and a 153 on Quant) is about average—you scored right in the middle of the pack. So not bad, but not awesome either.

A 75th percentile score (about a 157 on Verbal and a 160 on Quant) is pretty good: you’ve scored better than most of the other test-takers. A 90th percentile score (about a 162 on Verbal and a 166 on Quant) is excellent and will be competitive for most programs (but not necessarily all! More on that below).

The general shape of the score distribution for Analytical Writing is similar, with the most percentile gains coming from the middle of the scale:

Analytical Writing Percentiles

As you can see, the biggest percentile gains occur between 3.0 and 4.5, with the more extreme ends of the scale having smaller percentile changes.

So, while it’s hard to say with certainty what a “good” score is in absolute terms, you can get an idea of how your score stacks up with all the other GRE test-takers. The higher the percentile, the more people you scored higher than.  More important, though, is what a good GRE score is for you personally and what it can do for you.

What Is a Good GRE Score for You?

First and foremost, a good GRE score for you will be one that is high enough to get you into the program(s) you wish to attend —provided you meet the other qualifications the program is looking for.

GRE scores are often used by the admissions committee to rule out the weakest applicants. So a low score may well tank your chances, but a score within or even above program expectations won’t help you a whole lot if you lack some essential component desired by the admissions committee (like research experience or strong recommendations from professors). A high score may shore up a comparatively minor weakness, like a GPA a little below the program average, but it won’t make up for any truly glaring deficits in your application.

As with all advice as concerns the GRE, I’m sure there are exceptions to this, but that’s the common trend: a good GRE score will help you maintain smooth admissions sailing, but it won’t build the boat, so to speak. You have to do that.

Beyond that, a particularly good score can also help you qualify for fellowships and scholarships , particularly ones that are University-wide, where GRE scores and GPA may be the only meaningful ways of comparing applicants across disciplines.

So then, assuming you meet the general program qualifications, what is a good GRE score for you? Read on, friends.

Determining What GRE Score You Need: 5 Key Factors

Because graduate programs are so different from each other—vastly more so than undergraduate programs—there is no hard-and-fast rule as to what a good GRE score is for a particular type of program or discipline. The important part is that a good GRE score will get you into the programs you want to attend. What a good GRE score is for you depends on a number of factors, which I will review here.

Program Level: Master’s or PhD

In general, successful PhD candidates are going to have higher GRE scores than master’s candidates. This is simple logic; there are far fewer spots available in PhD programs than in master’s programs, and the applicant quality is usually higher. So because the competition for PhD spots is steeper, a higher GRE score is necessary to separate yourself from the pack.

For example, if you check out the average GRE scores for all graduate programs at Clemson , you can see that most PhD programs have higher GRE average scores than the corresponding master’s programs, particularly in the more relevant section. For example:

• Bioengineering MS students had  153.5 Verbal/ 158.5  Quant averages, while PhD students had 157  Verbal/ 161  Quant averages.
• Forest Resource MS students had 145  Verbal/ 149.5  Quant averages, while PhD students had 153  Verbal and 154.5  Quant averages.
• Mathematical Sciences MS students had a 155 Verbal/ 158.5 Quant averages, while PhD students had 155 Verbal/ 164 Quant averages.

Of course there are exceptions to this trend, but we can see that in general, even across a variety of disciplines, there are higher average GRE scores among admitted PhDs as compared to admitted Masters candidates.

Program Discipline

Different disciplines will tend to have different good GRE score expectations, particularly as concerns the different sections. Engineering, physics, and chemistry programs, for example, tend to expect relatively high Quantitative scores , with even decidedly mid-tier programs having average scores of 160+ for admitted applicants. (A 160 is a 76th-percentile score, by the way.) By contrast, they have lower expectations for Verbal scores.

The reverse is true of humanities-focused programs, which generally expect relatively high Verbal scores and may have fairly low average Quant scores for admitted students. So a good score for a Computer Science program won’t be the same as a good score for an Art History program, and vice-versa.

Programs of all types generally care the least about your Analytical Writing scores. Don’t just totally wing it with no prep or leave it blank, but you’ll generally get the lowest return-on-investment with score gains in this area.

How Important the Program Considers GRE Scores

Not all programs, even within the same discipline, consider GRE scores to have the same importance. Some place great stock in them, while others only see them as an ancillary or supportive piece in the application.

For example, the Aerospace Engineering program at Texas A&M says , “Significant consideration is given to GRE scores for student admission.  The minimum GRE for consideration is a Verbal minimum of 152 and a Quantitative minimum of 160.  The average GRE score of students admitted to our department is 321 (GRE V+Q) and most funded students are substantially higher.” So if you’re applying to this program, your GRE score is very important, particularly if you are hoping for funding.

Similarly, the Stanford Statistics Department writes , “We do not have minimums required for application, but do expect students to have earned high GPA and GRE scores….Average General GRE scores (in percentiles) of admitted applicants: Verbal 83%, Quantitative 91%, Analytical Writing 52%.” If a program explicitly states that they expect high scores or that scores are important, you know that outstanding scores are something to focus on as you put effort into your application.

By contrast, other programs take a more measured approach to the GRE: The Stanford Graduate School of Education states , for example, “The Graduate School of Education does not have a cutoff GRE score requirement. The evaluation of each applicant is based on all the materials in the file and is not exclusively based on test scores. The Graduate School of Education does not provide average GRE score information of previous applicants or current students.” They emphasize, then, a holistic approach to applications that takes into account all parts of the file. They take pains to downplay the GRE by emphasizing that they don’t have a cutoff score and that they don’t provide GRE average scores.

The Computer Science program at University of Washington reports , “The average GRE scores of recent applicants were: Verbal 83% (including international applicants), Quantitative 93%, and Analytical 61%. While grades and test scores form an important component of an applicant’s case for admission, letters of recommendation and other factors—such as undergraduate research projects or unusual experience that would predict excellence in graduate school—all enter into admission decisions in a significant way. No component in isolation will guarantee or preclude admission.” This program also emphasizes  the holistic nature of its evaluation process, which implicitly downplays the GRE.

However, just because a school doesn’t seem to overly emphasize the importance of the GRE or GRE scores on their website, that doesn’t mean you can blow off the GRE and assume any score is fine. If they ask for the scores, they are going to use them to evaluate candidates on some level. It may just be that working on another aspect of your application—say, a portfolio or recommendation letters—will give you a higher return-on-time-investment than studying for a two-point GRE score increase, or that they will be more impressed by an all-around strong application than an overall weaker application with a GRE score 5 points higher.

Want to improve your GRE score by 7 points?  We have the industry's leading GRE prep program. Built by world-class instructors with 99th percentile GRE scores , the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through machine learning data science, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible.

Try our 5-day full access trial for free:

And keep in mind that even though schools say they don’t have a GRE score cutoff, the reality is that you’re always being compared to other applicants. If your GRE score is significantly lower than most applicants, your academic preparation will be seriously in doubt. After all, there will be MANY students who think the GRE is fairly easy – if your score doesn’t reflect this, then they may doubt your academic preparation for a tough graduate program.

Program Competitiveness

Regardless of how important the admissions committee says that GRE scores are (or not), the more selective the program, the higher your GRE score needs to be. Top-ranked programs want students at the very top of the pack, so a good GRE score for those schools will be much higher than a good GRE score at a mid-range or less selective school. For example, a 160 (on the more relevant section) might be phenomenal for a master’s at your local public university, but it will be almost certainly be pretty far below average for the #1 and #2-ranked programs in your field.

The Rest of Your Application

Another thing to consider: how strong is the rest of your application? If you have super-strong recommendations from luminaries in the field and tons of relevant research/work experience, you can probably afford a somewhat lower GRE score than someone whose other qualifications are just decent. But again, it’s worth noting that even a phenomenal GRE score won’t really help you get admitted if you don’t meet the other qualifications for admission or the rest of your application is weak.

An Aside: What If the GRE Is Optional?

Some programs are GRE-optional. This may be truly optional—you can send the scores if you wish—in which case, only send if you are taking the GRE anyways and you get a high score. An amazing GRE score will be a mark in your favor, but a mediocre one won’t help you at all.

Other programs only require the GRE if you did not meet a certain undergraduate GPA threshold. If this applies to you, performing well on the GRE is of critical importance to prevent your application from being immediately tossed aside.  Since your academic record is weaker, you need to demonstrate that you have the capacity for difficult work through your good GRE scores. And of course, the more competitive the program, the higher your GRE scores should be.

I’ve given some general guidelines on what makes a good GRE score. But how do you set a specific goal score? Read on.

How Do I Set a Goal GRE Score?

There are two ways to set a goal score—one method for if the programs you are interested in give any kind of GRE score guidelines, and one for if they don’t.

Scenario 1: Programs Provide GRE Information

If the programs you are interested in provide the GRE score information of applicants, it’s fairly easy to set a goal score. Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Find Information

The first thing to do is to look up all of the GRE information available for your programs of interest. If this information is available, you can usually find this somewhere in the web page for prospective program applicants—either right in the section about test scores or in the FAQ (questions like “What’s the minimum GRE score for admission?” often provide this information).

Step 2: Assemble Information

Once you have all of this information together, it’s time to assemble it into a chart. Let’s go through an example.

Let’s say Amina is applying to computer science master’s degree programs. First, she’ll note down her programs of interest in this chart:

Now we’ll go through the list and note down the information we can find online, and what score that corresponds to. We’ll start with Columbia : “Most admitted applicants, however, have scores of 750 or higher on the Quantitative section of the test.”

Wait a second—750?? That score is on the old scoring scale, out of 800. Luckily, we can check the GRE concordance chart to see that a 750 on the old scale corresponds to a 169 on the new scale. Also note that they say “most” applicants have a score at this level or above, so you should aim higher if possible. Let’s write all this down in the chart.

Now we can move on to Portland State . They say, “The minimum for acceptance as an MS student is 60th percentile in Quantitative and 25th percentile in Verbal.” Checking out our percentile chart, we can see that this corresponds to a 156 in Quant and a 145 on Verbal. Note that this is a minimum, not an average, so if you want to be a truly competitive applicant you should score 2+ points above this. Let’s note that down.

Moving on to the University of Washington , they say that “Average GRE scores for applicants accepted into the PMP are: Quantitative 83%…and Verbal 60%.” This corresponds to a 163 on Quant and a 153 on Verbal (let’s round up to be safe).

Finally, let’s check out University of Illinois at Chicago . They say that they require “A total score of 308 or above on the official GRE exam (153+ verbal, 155+ quantitative).” Again, this is a minimum. Let’s note it down.

We’ve got all of our information. What’s next?

Step 3: Determine Your Goal Score

Once you have all of your information from your programs noted down in your chart, look to find the highest scores in each column. Then aim for 2 points higher than that score —this is high enough to put you squarely in the acceptable score range for that school (even if the number given is a minimum), but not so high that you’ll be wasting energy trying to get an unnecessarily high score when you could use that energy on other parts of your application. (Remember, a GRE score is mostly to get you in the door—a super-high score won’t necessarily be a huge additional boost to your application).

This is what we consider your Good GRE Score.  This is the score YOU need to get into the schools of your choice. That’s why everyone has a different good GRE score target!

Let’s look back at our sample chart for Amina. We can see that the highest scores in each column are 154 for Verbal and 169 for Quant. Her goal scores, then, should be 156 for Verbal and 169-170 for Quant. She’s got her work cut out for her!

Want to improve your GRE score by 7+ points?

Check out our best-in-class online GRE prep program . We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your GRE score by 7 points or more.

PrepScholar GRE is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses . We also feature 2,000 practice questions , official practice tests, 150 hours of interactive lessons, and 1-on-1 scoring and feedback on your AWA essays.

Check out our 5-day free trial now:

Here’s a blank printable chart for you to use in your own goal-setting (click for PDF).

Scenario 2: Programs Do Not Provide GRE Information

It can be frustrating when schools don’t provide information on GRE scores of applicants. You can of course call the admissions office of the program to see if they’ll give you any more concrete information, although it’s unlikely that they’ll give you specific numbers if that information is not available on the website. So if you can’t get numbers, how are you supposed to know what scores you need?

While it’s difficult to get an exact number, here is a process that will give you an idea.

Step 1: Check Program Rankings and Selectivity

This first thing to do is check the program rankings for the programs you are interested in at places like US News , and also look up the acceptance rate if available. The higher the program ranking and the lower the program acceptance rate compared to other programs in the discipline, the steeper the competition to get in is going to be. So assume that you will need a perfect or near-perfect score on the most relevant section to get into the top programs in a given discipline (a possible exception being those programs that require a portfolio, audition, etc).

Some fields (like engineering and education) even have GRE averages or ranges of admitted students published in US News .

Note down the ranking /selectivity of all of the programs you are interested in. Note down whether it’s very selective, selective, average, or less selective. It’s hard to give a hard guideline as to what ranking corresponds to these designations exactly, because different disciplines have different numbers of programs—the playing field is very different in a discipline with 20 ranked graduate programs versus one with 100 ranked graduate programs. As a pretty loose guideline, you can consider the top 10% of ranked programs most competitive, the top 30% of ranked selective, the top 60% of ranked programs average, and the rest less selective (you can consider programs where the ranking is not published or unranked less selective).

Let’s say that Hortense is applying to get a master’s in Education. US News has publicly ranked 180 graduate programs listed for Education . She’s interested in the Teacher’s College at Columbia University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and BYU-Provo’s McKay school.

Looking at program rankings, Columbia is ranked 7th. As #7 out of 180 ranked programs, it’s in the top 10%, and we can consider it a top-tier/most competitive school. Let’s note this down in a chart.

University of Illinois is ranked 24/180. This place it in the top 30% and makes it selective. University of Kentucky is ranked 62nd. This places it in the top 60% of programs and puts it at an average selectivity. Let’s note this in our chart.

Now we can move on to step two.

Step 2: Check Your Score Distribution for Applicants in Your Field

So, you’ve noted down the selectivity of you desired programs. Next, you’ll want to check the ETS data for prospective graduate students in your area . The linked document includes score distributions on Verbal, Quant, and Analytical Writing scores for test-takers who stated they were interested in pursuing specific fields. Using this document, you can look up the score distribution for students in your prospective graduate area.

Continuing with our Hortense example, let’s look at the score distribution for students going into Education. She’s interested in going into Curriculum and Instruction, so we’ll check those numbers. We can see what percentage of prospective students in this field scored in different score ranges.

Here’s the data for Verbal and Quant:

A very competitive score for a given discipline would be within the top 5% of applicants (remember, this is applicants, not people who’ve been accepted). A competitive score would be in the top 20%. An average score would be in the top 40%. A less competitive score would be anything below the 50% mark.

So, for education, a very competitive Verbal score would be somewhere within the 160-165 range (select the top number to be safe, so, 165.) We know this because the top 1% of applicants score in the 165-169 range and the next 9.1% score in the 160-165 range, so the top 5% score has to be somewhere in the 160-165 range.

A competitive score—top 20%—would be in the 155-159 range, so we’ll make 159 our competitive score benchmark. An average score—top 40%—would be in the 150-154 range (so we’ll make 154 our average benchmark). Scores below 151, the average Verbal score, would be less selective.

Now, we need to align this information with the selectivity rankings we had for our schools. You’ll need a very competitive score for the most selective schools, a competitive score for selective schools, an average score for average schools, and a less competitive score for less competitive schools.

So, returning to Hortense, let’s note down these Verbal score benchmarks in our chart.

Now let’s check Quant scores. The top 5% of scores is again somewhere in the 160-165 range, so we’ll note 165 as our target for most competitive schools. A top 20% score is in the 155-159 range, so we’ll note 159 again for selective schools. A top 40% score is in the 150-154 range, so 154 is our target again there. A 149 is the average, so anything below that would be a less selective score.

Let’s note this all down in our chart.

To get a preliminary goal score, take the top score from each column in your chart. This should put comfortably in the appropriate score range for all of your given schools. So for Hortense, she should be aiming for a 165 on Verbal and a 165 on Quant for her top Education programs.

This process gives you a preliminary number to work with—but because we got this number through a lot of MacGyvering and circumstantial reasoning, there are a couple other things we should consider and strategies we can use to try to verify.

Here’s a blank, printable chart for you to fill out (click for PDF):

Step 3: Consider Which Section Is Most Relevant

In setting goal scores for Verbal vs. Quant, consider which section is more relevant to the program. For example, if you’re applying to engineering or physics programs, the most important section is Quant. If you’re applying to Comparative Literature or English, Verbal is more important.

For the most part, the score distributions released by ETS you used to set your preliminary benchmark will reflect this already—prospective applicants to more quantitative programs will have higher Quant averages, and prospective students to more verbal-heavy programs will have higher Verbal scores.

Even so, you can probably afford to get a couple points lower than your preliminary score in the less important section—especially if your score on the more important section is particularly strong. Returning to our Hortense example, if she got a 167 on Verbal and a 162 on Quant, she probably doesn’t need to retake her test for a higher Quant score and is still a competitive applicant.

That said, there are some programs where both sections are highly relevant— say, science writing or business school. In this case, sorry, you’ll have a little less wiggle room and will really need to aim for the benchmark scores on both sections.

Step 4: Use Message Boards for Verification

As a final step, I recommend checking Reddit or GradCafe to see if you can get guidance from current students or recent alumni of your program of interest on the necessary GRE scores. They may be able to tell you their own scores and credentials, which will help you get a slightly more precise idea of what GRE score it takes to be a successful applicant. If you notice that successful applicants to your program seem to consistently report higher or lower scores than your preliminary benchmark scores, you can adjust accordingly.

With these guidelines and the magic of program rankings and ETS scoring statistics, you can get at least a general idea of what goal score is appropriate for you.

A Good GRE Score: The Final Word

Many people talk about a “good” GRE score as though this is an absolute concept. While it’s true that your GRE score can be compared to all other test-takers via the GRE percentile chart , the most important thing about your score is that it sets you up to be a viable candidate at the programs you are interested in.

Here are some things to consider when trying to figure out what’s a good GRE score for you:

• Program level: Master’s or PhD—In general, GRE score for PhD applicants are higher than those for Master’s applicants. This makes sense as PhDs are more competitive.
• Program discipline: Different disciplines will have different score expectations, particularly in which section they consider more important. Verbal scores are more important for humanities graduate programs, while Quant is more important for science and math programs.
• How important the program considers GRE scores: Even within the same discipline, some programs will emphasize GRE scores more than others. You can typically get an idea of this from admissions websites.
• Program competitiveness: The more competitive the program, the higher your GRE score needs to be!
• The rest of your application: If you are hoping that your GRE shores up a weakness in your application (like a low GPA), it’s important to get a high score to show that you are ready for graduate-level work.

Ultimately, you’ll want to set a goal score before you take the GRE. There are two ways to set a goal score, based on whether or not the programs you are interested in provide GRE information:

If the program provides GRE information:

• Find any available GRE information online.
• Record it in a table.
• Identify the highest score in your table for each section and then add 2 points. That’s your goal score!

If the program does not provide GRE information:

• Check program rankings and selectivity: the most highly-ranked and selective programs in a given discipline will expect a near-perfect or perfect score on the most relevant section.
• Cross-reference program selectivity/ranking information with ETS data on discipline-specific student GRE score data to get a preliminary benchmark goal score.
• Consider which section is more important—you can generally afford to have your goal score on the “weak” section be a little under the preliminary benchmark, particularly if your score on the more important section is on the higher side.
• Finally, check sites like Reddit and GradCafe to see if you can get guidance from current and recent students on their GRE scores, which will help you verify and/or refine your preliminary goal score.

What’s Next?

Learn more about how the GRE is scored .  Then check out our complete guide to the score range of the GRE . And get more details on the  lowest possible GRE score and the highest possible GRE score .

Wondering more about GRE score percentiles? See our guide . Or maybe you want to know more about GRE average scores . We also have guides to average GRE scores by major and average GRE scores by school .

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Ellen McCammon

Ellen is a public health graduate student and education expert. She has extensive experience mentoring students of all ages to reach their goals and in-depth knowledge on a variety of health topics. View all posts by Ellen McCammon

Comments are closed.

MBA Programs That Accept GRE

The journey to an MBA has taken a welcoming turn, with numerous MBA programs that accept the GRE general test. My experiments have shown that this shift not only broadens the horizon for applicants but also aligns with the diverse backgrounds MBA programs now seek. Through my research, I discovered a wealth of MBA programs that accept the GRE, offering a beacon of hope for those, like me, preferring this test over the GMAT. My experience also led me to valuable resources for test preparation, including insights on the best GRE tutors and best GRE prep apps , which I’m eager to share. This article is my way of guiding you through the maze of MBA admissions, armed with your GRE scores. I invite you to join me as I share the fruits of my research, aiming to light your path to the right MBA program.

Why the GRE for MBA Is Important

In my journey to demystify the admissions process for MBA programs, I’ve realized the critical role the GRE plays in diversifying the candidate pool. An MBA that accepts GRE scores opens its doors to a wider array of talents and perspectives, breaking the traditional barriers imposed by the sole reliance on the GMAT. My experiments have shown that this inclusive approach not only enriches the learning environment but also allows candidates with strong verbal and analytical skills to shine. Furthermore, in my quest for optimal preparation, I encountered numerous resources, but articles on the best GRE practice tests stood out. These practice tests, meticulously reviewed in our articles, serve as a cornerstone for preparing candidates to meet the rigorous standards of MBA programs. The significance of the GRE for MBA admissions cannot be overstated—it’s a gateway to opportunities in prestigious programs, ensuring that every candidate’s potential can be fully realized.

Is a GRE Score Required for an MBA in the US?

Throughout my deep research of the prerequisites for MBA admissions in the US, one question frequently emerged: Are GRE scores for MBA admission a universal requirement? The answer, I found, varies by program, but an increasing number of institutions now welcome GRE scores as part of their application package. This shift reflects a broader understanding of the GRE’s ability to assess the diverse skills and knowledge bases potential MBA candidates bring to the table. In my pursuit of excellence and preparedness, I also sought out the best resources to bolster my application, leading me to the comprehensive Kaplan GRE review . The insights gleaned from this review not only enhanced my test preparation strategy but also underscored the importance of the GRE in the MBA admissions landscape. While not every MBA program mandates a GRE score, those who do accept it recognize the value it adds in identifying well-rounded candidates capable of thriving in a competitive business environment.

Good GRE Score for MBA?

In my quest to understand what constitutes a good GRE score required for MBA admission, I’ve realized the answer is nuanced and varies by program. However, a closer look at the GRE cut-off scores for various prestigious B-schools provides a clearer picture. Alongside this exploration, I delved into comparing test prep resources, notably in our articles on Prepscholar vs Magoosh GRE , which offered invaluable insights into optimizing my study strategy. Here’s a summary of the average GRE scores across top business schools, shedding light on what you might aim for to position yourself competitively:

Stanford GSB USA

• Average Quant Score: 162-166
• Average Verbal Score: 163-167
• Analytical Writing Score: 4.5 – 5.0

Harvard Business School USA

• Average Quant Score: 163-167
• Average Verbal Score: 165-169

INSEAD (France/Singapore)

• Average Quant Score: 157-161
• Average Verbal Score: 160-164
• Analytical Writing Score: 4.0-4.5

London Business School UK

• Average Quant Score: 160-164
• Analytical Writing Score: 4.0 – 4.5

Indian School of Business, Hyderabad/Mohali (India)

• Average Verbal Score: 157-161

This breakdown not only helped me set tangible goals but also underscored the importance of choosing the right prep tools, as detailed in our comparative analysis of Prepscholar and Magoosh GRE. Understanding these benchmarks is crucial for anyone aiming to understand the MBA admissions landscape successfully.

Top MBA Colleges Accepting GRE in the USA

The quest for the ideal MBA program led me to find out which top colleges in the USA welcome the GRE for MBA admissions. This search was not just about listing schools but understanding how each embraces scores within their selection process. It has become a passport for aspiring MBA students, offering a path into prestigious programs that recognize the value and diversity test-takers bring. Below, I’ve compiled a table that reflects my findings, presenting top MBA colleges in the USA that accept GRE scores, aiming to guide fellow applicants towards making informed choices about where to apply.

This table is a starting point, offering a snapshot of the diversity and excellence within MBA programs accepting the GRE. As I checked my options, I also turned to resources that could bolster my application. These top institutions not only look for high scores but also value the unique backgrounds and perspectives each student brings, making it an important step towards achieving your MBA aspirations.

Reflecting on my journey through the landscape of GRE-accepting MBA colleges, I’ve grown to see the expansive opportunities it unlocks for MBA candidates. This investigation, from pinpointing the significance of strong GRE scores to identifying leading MBA programs that value the exam, has shed light on a crucial aspect of business education’s evolution in the USA. An increasing number of colleges now open their doors to diverse talents by recognizing the varied strengths GRE test-takers bring.

To my fellow MBA aspirants, this information stands as a beacon. Recognize that these institutions look beyond your scores, valuing the unique perspectives and skills you offer. Your application represents a blend of experiences, aspirations, and academic achievements, with it acting as a key component.

As you proceed, I encourage you to engage directly with program specifics, contacting admissions counselors, and connecting with alumni to enrich your understanding.

Approaching the MBA application with your GRE scores is not merely about fulfilling a criterion; it’s an opportunity to highlight your varied abilities in a manner that resonates with admissions panels. Armed with precise preparation and a thorough understanding of what GRE-accepting MBA colleges seek, you’re well-prepared to embark on a transformative professional journey. The path has been charted, the opportunities laid out; the next step is yours to take.

Can GRE be accepted for MBA?

Yes, many MBA programs across the United States and globally now accept scores as part of their admissions process, offering flexibility for applicants from diverse academic backgrounds.

Do business schools prefer GRE or GMAT?

While some business schools have a traditional preference for GMAT scores, a growing number equally accept scores, valuing the diverse applicant pool it attracts. The preference largely depends on the specific program’s approach to admissions.

Is 324 a good GRE score for MBA?

Yes, a 324 is a competitive score for MBA admissions, placing you above the average for many top business schools and making you a strong candidate for most programs.

Is 317 a good GRE score?

A 317 is a solid score, competitive for many MBA programs, though it might be below the median for the most elite schools. It’s still a strong score that can be complemented by other application strengths.

Writer & Editor

Born and raised with French heritage, our featured author brings a unique European flair to his writing. With years of experience, he has honed his skills as a professional copywriter, mastering not only his native French but also English, ...

Relevant articles

The journey to an MBA has taken a welcoming turn, with numerous MBA programs that accept the GRE general test. My experiments have shown that this shift not only broadens the horizon for applicants but also aligns with the diverse backgrounds MBA programs now seek. Through my research, I discovered a wealth of MBA programs…

When you decide to pursue graduate studies, you’re undertaking a journey where your GRE score could be the compass that guides your path. This score, often a gatekeeper to prestigious programs, is more than just a number – it’s a reflection of your dedication, hard work, and potential. My experiments with GRE preparation have shown…

Choosing between the GMAT and the GRE for MBA admissions can feel like standing at a crossroads, with each path leading to its unique destination. In my journey through the maze of MBA admissions, I’ve guided these niches and emerged with insights and understanding. This article is your compass, designed to guide you through the…

Resume Writing CompTIA Certification on Resume: How to Put It [+Examples]

Resume Writing Can You Put Udemy On Resume?

Admission Consulting The Five Best Graduate School Admissions Consultants Reviewed

Don’t miss the chance to get into your dream school this year.

Get free insights for your resumes. Get 10% OFF all orders.

The GRE ® General Test

One test for graduate, business and law school

Select a step to learn more about your GRE ® General Test journey.

Getting Your GRE General Test Scores

What scores are reported.

If no questions are answered for a specific measure (e.g., Verbal Reasoning), then you will receive a No Score (NS) for that measure.

When will I get my scores?

Your official GRE General Test scores will be available in your ETS account  8–10 days after your test date. You’ll receive an email from ETS when they are available.

ETS will also send an official Institution Score Report to the score recipients you designated on test day at that time.

What’s in my official score report?

Accessible in your ETS account, your official GRE Test-taker Score Report is intended only for your information and personal records. It contains your:

• contact information (name, phone number and email)
• date of birth
• intended graduate major
• test date(s)
• GRE test score(s) and the associated percentile ranks
• authorized score recipients or fellowship sponsors and the scores reported to those institutions
• cumulative record of scores reported within the last 5 years

See a sample Test-taker Score Report (PDF)

If you wish to have a paper copy, you can print one from your ETS account .

What information is sent to institutions?

Official score reports sent to the institutions you designate include:

• your contact information (name, address, phone number, email)
• your intended graduate major field
• the GRE test dates and score(s) you choose to report with the ScoreSelect ®  option and the associated percentile ranks

They don’t include:

• any information concerning the other score recipients you have chosen
• any scores you’ve chosen not to report
• any indication that you’ve taken other GRE tests

See a sample Institution Score Report (PDF)

Photos and essay responses from each GRE General Test administration you select from your 5-year reportable history will be available to your score recipients in the ETS ® Data Manager as part of your score record.

How long are my scores reportable?

GRE scores are reportable for 5 years following your test date. See the exact date your scores will be reportable based on your test date.

You tested on [testdate] :

Your scores can be reported through [date] .

Your test date is more than five years ago and your scores can no longer be reported.