GMAT Writing Tips
- The GMAT essay section is an important factor in the test.taking test image by Petro Feketa from Fotolia.com
The GMAT is a standardized text taken by potential business school students. If you are planning on furthering your education with an MBA, you will have to take the GMAT. It shows admissions committees at business schools how qualified you are for advanced business and management studies. The GMAT consists of a verbal section, a quantitative section and an essay. - The analytical writing assessment section of the GMAT consists of two 30-minute sections--two essays in total. One is an analysis of an argument and the other is an analysis of an issue. For the argument you are not supposed to give your opinion on the subject, rather you are supposed to find fault with the reasoning of the argument being given. It is not whether you agree or disagree with the opinion--it is whether the opinion is well argued or not. For the analysis of an issue essay, you will be given pros and cons on an issue and this time you will be expected to form an opinion and argue it well yourself.
- Four qualities are expected in well-written essays. The reader will want to see you demonstrate a critique of the argument or issue, develop your ideas in a clear and rational way, properly organize your argument and use good grammar and syntax.
- Break down the 30 minutes you have for each essay in the following way. Firstly, spend approximately five minutes brainstorming and coming up with an outline before you begin writing. This will ensure your writing will have better organization than if you just started writing. From there, spend about 20 minutes writing your essay. It is expected to be anywhere from four to six paragraphs in length. When there are five minutes left on the clock, try and be finished writing. This way you have time to proofread and edit. A well thought out essay can be ruined by bad spelling grammar.
- Essays should generally be structured into five or six paragraphs. This gives you room to write an introduction and a conclusion, with three to four main ideas forming the body paragraphs. Use your brainstorming and outline time to come up with the main points you would like to make and then expand on those points in the body paragraphs.
- Some additional things to keep in mind are that you should use transition words often as this allows your reader to follow your organization more easily. Use specific examples, too. Do not throw in big words just because; with such a short time to complete your essays keeping it simple is okay. Double-check your grammar and punctuation and vary your sentence lengths. Be sure you are not writing run-on sentences or too many short sentences.
