Time and again, students ask us the important question, Are the two GRE Essays Important?
If you are looking for a simple answer then there is none because the GRE’s analytical writing portion may not appear as important as the other sections because it only carries 6 points.
Moreover, these 6 points do not add to your verbal section, which is scored separately on a scale of 130-170. This may make you wonder if you can skip the two essays altogether or maybe do them half-heartedly.
Don’t let that deceive you, though; you will be surprised how crucial a role the two essays play when it comes to your admission to your dream school.
Let’s go over the basics first. The analytical section of the GRE will always be the first section of the test. You will be required to write two essays, 30 minutes for each.
In one of the essays, you will “Analyze an Issue,” and in the other one, you will “Analyze an Argument.”
The analytical section is scored on a scale of 6 in 0.5 increments.
There is something to note here: suppose you finish the first essay in 20 minutes instead of the allotted 30. The 10 minutes that you saved will not carry to the next essay’s 30 minutes. Hence, we recommend that you take the whole time slot and go over your essay to make sure there are no mistakes.
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Let us now look at what makes the GRE essay essential and why you should care.
In this Article
Inaccurate Time Estimation
We often find that students who are overconfident in their writing skills skip the analytical section in their GRE mock exams when preparing for the exam.
This is a big mistake because the analytical section is an hour-long section of the GRE. In doing so, students don’t get accustomed to the GRE’s total length, which is 3 hours and 45 minutes. This can be a bit overwhelming on test day and will throw you off your game.
Setting the attitude for the rest of the test
Starting on the right foot is significant for your attitude and confidence for the rest of the test. As you already know, the analytical section is the very first section of the test. If you do well on this section, it will set a festive mood for the rest of your test.
You don’t want to doubt yourself or panic over your grammar, vocabulary use, or sentence structure as you are writing the essays.
It would help you tremendously when you don’t have worries in the back of your mind as you move onto the next section.
Personal statements and the Role of GRE Essay
As part of your graduate application, universities will require a written personal statement. Your statement generally includes an overview of your strengths, your work experience, your qualifications, and so on. It tells the admissions board what makes you stand out from the competition.
The problem is that Universities know that many students use third-party services to write their statements. This, of course, makes the whole purpose of the personal statement futile from the university’s point of view.
Imagine that you are a student who scored 3.0 on the analytical portion, but your statement is written immaculately. This will be a big red flag for the admissions office as they will suspect you of foul play.
Hence, it is far better that you practice for the analytical section before-hand. In case you choose to hire a professional for your statement, later on, it will not raise any suspicion.
Overall aesthetics of your GRE score report
Imagine for a moment that you scored a 168 out of 170 on the Math section. And a 165 out of 170 on the Verbal section. But a mere 2.5 out of 6 on the analytical writing section.
How would your score report now look? Of course, it wouldn’t look as pleasing.
So, while AWA score may not be a significant requirement of the program you are applying to, it makes your score report look ugly.
Moreover, scoring a 5.0+ on the two essays is far easier than scoring a 160+ on the Math or Verbal sections. Therefore, do take the AWA section a tad seriously and try to spend 3-4 days of your valuable prep time on them.
Extra pressure to do well on Language tests
If you are a non-native English speaker, you will most likely have to take one of the two language tests, TOEFL or IELTS.
If you do bad on the GRE writing section, your universities will require you to do much better on TOEFL or IELTS writing. This would add to your woes as you will now feel pressed while taking these relatively easier language tests.
And we all know that needless pressure can make you act in a funny manner on the exam day. So, to avoid that pointless pressure on your language tests, it is better to do well on the GRE AWA section.
The bottom line
In summary, there is no real reason why you shouldn’t practice for the analytical section as you would for verbal and quantitative. It builds up your confidence early on in the test, helps you get acquainted with the test’s duration, and keeps you out of trouble in the admissions process. Plus, it is the easiest part of the GRE to get a great score.