Carsen Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Hi I have my GMAT on the 22nd of July (just 2 more weeks to go). My preparation has been good till now, focussing on the Math and the Verbal, while ignoring the AWA. Can anyone share a good AWA template with me, please. thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Hi Carsen, I am a bit reluctant to post this information as I haven't had the chance to edit it or add as much content as I'd like to. I wrote this back in 1998, but it's still valid today. I'm kind of a perfectionist in writing my materials, and I always find things I'd like to change. However, I realize that you may find something useful here. If you do think it's useful, I do have some more material I could post. Just let me know. So, here it is, and please let me know whether this is the kind of thing that is helpful for you. :) A Template Approach to the GMAT Essay You will be given an essay topic that ETS expects to be debatable. In other words, about half of the people will agree with one side, while the other half will agree with the other side.ETS will not give you a topic that most people agree on. For example, you will not see a topic asking you to give your opinion on the value of education for children, nor on whether or not the government should have programs to decrease the number of the drug users. However, you might see an essay topic asking you to give your opinion on school vouchers, for example, or you might see a topic asking you to pick whether you think it is primarily the government's or the family’s responsibility to prevent drug use among children. In general, do not take one side of the argument completely. A good rule of thumb is to argue your opinion at about 60 percent or 70 percent. I should emphasize this—even if you believe you are one hundred percent correct, you should still pretend that you are 60 or 70 percent correct. Although the GMAT essay scorers are trained to forgive certain mistakes given the time constraints of the essay, ETS can be very picky. Pay attention to your grammar, spelling, and logical sequence, just to name a few. How can you improve your score? ETS also looks for sentence variety and ability to use language. I will show you some simple ways to do this—really, it's not that hard! OK, here we go. One Way First of all, you have to figure out why they chose this as a topic. Remember—not everybody will agree, in fact it should be about 50/50. This is your hint. Try to find about five points for and against each side (ten points total). Don't worry if you think that your points are stupid or trivial. The important thing right now is just to get some ideas down on paper, to start your brain working. Second, figure out which side you are going to take. Duh. Third, start writing! Don’t worry about an introduction or a conclusion right now—they are the hardest to write and everybody gets hung up on them. Just get your ideas down first. Next, make sure you have about three or four paragraphs. You should be thinking about adding some examples now. Try to make one personal, maybe from your country and another one either international or American (the idea is that most educated Americans will have heard about the topic before). Don’t make your examples too personal! Imagine your prospective boss is reading this. Now, go back and spice up your language—add something witty, an illustrative anecdote, a rhetorical question, even sarcasm or irony. Also, try changing the order of some of your sentences, i.e., put the subordinate clause first. Almost done! Write your intro and conclusion! Last, check grammar and spelling. Voila! A perfect essay! Template Okay, let’s try the essay now. First Paragraph: Introduction The issue/belief/idea/opinion that ______________________________________ is an interesting/controversial one. This issue is increasingly important in this age of ___________________________. Many people believe _________________________, but these people overlook _________________________________________________. Furthermore, _____________________________________. In this essay, I will argue that __________________________________________________ _______________. Second Paragraph: Support There are many good reasons for ____________________________. However, it cannot be ignored/overlooked that ___________________________. A classic example of this is ___________________________________________ . Try to add something interesting in this paragraph. Make sure you use a few complicated structures—try putting a subordinate clause first. Like this: While many type of professional promote the notion that _____________________________, I believe the opposite should be argued given the current situation/status/ of ____________________________________. Conclusion I have argued _______________________. This view will become increasingly dominant in the coming century given ________________________________. Many of these issues can never be resolved to everybody’s satisfaction, but in the long run, promoting ________________________________ will lead to the betterment of all involved. Finally, _____________________________ increased something like global cooperation, cultural understanding, blah, blah, blah can only result from this, resulting in ______________________________ for everybody. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sibs Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 thankx erin. this is fantastic. has anybody got any template for analysis of argument ? thankx in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOCON Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Thanks Erin. Yr template is really useful. I'm also taking GMAT in Dec.I begin to write AWA, but I don't know how shld i start now.Anybody can help me,give me some guidelines for my reference. Thanks in advance :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurdip79 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Very good template Erin I am just about to start my preparation you gave me a good guiding light and i can work on it Moreover can u give some advice for beginners like me I feel i can target maths section easlily for verbal do i need to read any word list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmatpank Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 hi Eric,This is simple, non confusing but very good template. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menonan Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Erin, this is simply awesome stuff. I am giving my GMAT in 2 weeks and just have started studying hard. I am giving one helluva fight. Such posts are the best that I can get at such a crucial time. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meng Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Thanks, Erin. Great stuff there. These are the stuff newbies Find most useful. I plan to take my GMAT in 3 months time. Currently, I am preparing a study plan to take me to D-day. One question would be which preparation course to sign up for insights? Thanks!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minhduc062007 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Point Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 It looks really good... Im definitly gonna start my approach to the AWA with this template...Let´s see how it works? By the way, one question, does anybody knows weather this template is still valid nowadays?? The thing is that the template was posted in 2004 and I just wonder if is still applicable.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devangkhokhani Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Thanks a lot erin.. This template is really going to help a lot.. We can surely amend the template a little bit as per our understanding and use it.. Cheers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
going4it Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Very Niiice. Im taking my GMAT tommorow and am using this template since I havent dedicated much time to AWA. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimslick Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 this is awesome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ani.aaryan Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Cool dude nice template :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want to crack gmat Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 this is a really good approach. i have read the template that is being currently used in the princeton review and this seems like a good way to frame your AWA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGMATpro Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Here is an AWA Essay Template that I came across and used. It worked for me. Let me know if it works for you: http://www.platinumgmat.com/about_gmat/awa_essay_template Also, make sure to check out the examples in the 11th edition official guide (you can preview at Amazon.com). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinase26 Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi Errin, Thank you very much for your awesome template. I have one question, if lot of candidates follow this template, do you think ETS people will give lower score? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eg4982 Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 I am taking the test in the next couple of weeks (Oct. 2008) and am wondering if this template is still valid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aoao Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Thank you for giving me a tip for the AWA! I am taking the GMAT exam soon so that I will work hard with this template! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkachi Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 this will be good review..thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinksind Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Thanks, nice work. Hope it works for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ve_boss Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Without this template I scored : 4.5 (GMAT) / 24 (TOEFL) With this template I scored : 5.5 (GMAT) / 30 (TOEFL) Thanks Erin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrisa07 Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I have seen a number of different templates and Erin's is definitely one of the best! Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackyork Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I did have a 'template' as a reference when i practice TOEFL and GMAT essay questions. But I didn't 'copy' it when I was taking the tests. The template is right here: Persuasive Essay Outline for AWA Issue Questions - Free-Essay-Topics & How-To Please be careful when you use it. Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khopdi_number1 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Thanks everyone. I'm always afraid to use templates since the essay reviewers are completely aware of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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