The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is how business schools evaluat

　　e your writing skills. The AWA section has two 30-minute essay questions. On

　　e essay is the "Analysis of Issue,"swheresyou state your opinion on an issue

　　.. The second is the "Analysis of Argument,"swheresyou analyze the reasoning

　　in an argument. The two essay types require completely different strategies.

　　How the E-rater Is Used

　　Before February 1999, two human graders would grade your essays. If th

　　ey disagreed, it went to a third grader. Under the new system, a human and t

　　he E-rater will grade your essay. If the human and E-rater agree on a score,

　　that’s the grade your essay will receive. If they disagree, a second human

　　will grade the essay to resolve any differences.

　　The computerized grading system pressures human graders to follow the E

　　-rater’s strict standards. Human graders are aware that there is a computer

　　double-checking their work, and they are more likely to follow the E-rater’s

　　strict grading parameters.

　　How to tackle the Analytical Writing Assessment

　　Students tend to under-prepare for the AWA section. This is ironic becau

　　se it is the one section on the GMATswheresa small amount of preparation can

　　make a huge difference on test day. You don’t want the issue of your embarr

　　assing AWA grade coming up during a business school interview. To beat the A

　　WA, you must learn how to write in a highly disciplined and concise manner.

　　Be particularly concerned with structure. Clearly divide your essaysintosthe

　　introductory paragraph, two to three content paragraphs, and a conclusion.

　　Take time out before you start writing to set up an organizational structure

　　.. Our Essay Guide includes sample essay templates for the Issue and Argument

　　essays.

　　Use transitional phrases such as "first," "therefore," and "because" to help

　　the computer identify concepts between and within the paragraphs. Make sure

　　you spell these transition words correctly so that the computer may identif

　　y them (the E-rater does not have a spell-checker built-in).

　　Be a conformist. The E-rater is not programmed to appreciate individuality,

　　humor, or poetic inspiration. The E-rater will be comparing the style and st

　　ructure of your essay to that of other high-scoring essays. If your essay lo

　　oks like the high-scoring essays in the E-rater’s memory banks, you will get

　　a high grade; if not, you will get a low grade. Our Essay Guide has 20 samp

　　le high score essays to help you get a sense of the proper writing style for

　　the AWA.

　　Clearly state your critique in the Analysis of Argument essay. The Analysis

　　of Argument question will show you an essay that is loaded with logical fall

　　acies, such as the unwarranted assumption or the fallacy of equivocation. Th

　　ese are buzzwords that the E-rater detects to see if you have correctly iden

　　tified the argument’s logical flaws. We include all the common logical falla

　　cies in our Essay Guide so that the E-rater can tell that you have correctly

　　critiqued the essay.

　　Know the essays and how to answer them. In our Essay Guide, we have all of t

　　he 275 real GMAT essay questions and 20 selected sample answers to those ess

　　ay questions. This will give you a feel for the essay questions and how they

　　should be answered.

　　Write in effective "American" style. Both the human and the E-rater will det

　　ect poor writing style. The E-rater’s memory banks have essays written in Am

　　erican grammar/style, which is slightly distinct from the English used outsi

　　de of the United States.

　　Practice, Practice, Practice. Try to do the essays in the 30-minute time fra

　　me. That is half the challenge. Always practice under timed conditions on a

　　computer or take our practice essays for grading.

　　Our Essay Section & E-Rater Guide is designed to prepare you for the test. W

　　e’ve also used experience from years of grading thousands of practice essays

　　through our essay grading service. The guide is based on information from e

　　ssay graders and developers of computerized essay grading technology. Based

　　on our observations, students who use the Essay Guide score about two points

　　higher (on a scale from 0 to 6) than those who do not. Here’s what the Essa

　　y Guide contains:

　　1. AWA Basics

　　Analysis of Issue: how to tackle it .

　　Analysis of Argument: how to identify logical fallacies commonly used in ess

　　ay questions, such as the unwarranted assumption or the fallacy of equivocat

　　ion.

　　How international students should prepare for the essay section.

　　10 Most Common Errors: over the thousands of essays we have graded, 10 error

　　s keep recurring.

　　2. How the E-Rater Works

　　How the E-rater program works.

　　What not to do: 7 common errors writers make with the E-rater.

　　3. Organizational Tips: How to Structure Your Essays

　　Pace schedules for each essay type so that you get everything done in time.

　　Templates for each essay type to help structure your essays.

　　4. How to Write Effectively

　　Basic rules of grammar that you must know.

　　How to write effective and concise arguments.

　　Writing drills & exercises to test your writing skills.

　　5. Answers to the Real Essay Questions

　　How to see all of the 275 real AWA questions beforehand. You may see every p

　　otential essay question before test day.

　　Read sample answers to the real essay questions (20 sample essay answers). U

　　se these to get an idea about how you should write your essays.