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Analytical Writing Assessment

The Analytical Writing Assessment on the GMAT helps business schools analyze your writing skills.

The Analysis of an Argument question presents a short argument (usually 4 or 5 sentences) which makes an assertion or states a point of view or theory, and then gives evidence to support it. Your task is to write an essay that critiques the structure of the argument and explains how persuasive or unpersuasive you find it. You should not try to present your own point of view on the topic; instead present a critique of the author's argument. Consider the following questions:

  1. What's the conclusion?
  2. What evidence is used to support the conclusion?
  3. Does the writer make assumptions in moving from evidence to conclusion, and if so, what are they?
  4. Is the argument persuasive?
  5. What would make the argument stronger or weaker? (e.g. additional evidence, change in line of reasoning) 

GMAT Essay Scores

Each essay on the GMAT will be graded from 0-6, on a scale from 0-6 in increments of 0.5.. The score is different than your 200-800 point overall GMAT score. Essays are scored by a human grade and a computer grading system, and the two scores are averaged for your final score.

Essay Writing on Computer

Your GMAT test is taken on a computer. The software provided will have simple word-processing tools such as cut and paste - however there is no spell check function, so you must remember to check your work carefully. You will not be penalized for a couple of typos but you will receive a score penalty for a succession of badly-formed sentences or consistently poor grammar. Both US and UK English spellings of words are accepted.

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