GMAT Essays (AWA)

I'm happy to answer your question.

I'm intrigued by your post. Is this a question from a practice GMAT, as a practice prompt for the Analytical Writing section? Or is this a question you are answering in some context other than the GMAT, for example, in an essay to a business school?

Assuming it's the former, I'm a bit surprised, because GMAT prompts tend to be on topics which one can address readily with widely known facts & ideas. You are not expected to have specific knowledge of the prompt. Having said that, let's assume we had this prompt on the real GMAT.

Name one current issue (economic / social / political) that Asia is facing and identify a couple of strategies that you feel may adequately address the issue.

Well, look at it this way --- think of some of the most obvious things about Asia that virtually everybody would know. Think, for example, if you asked a grade school child or a teenager: tell me one fact about Asia. Start with that kind of approach. For example

1) Fact #1 about Asia --- there are a whole heck of a lot of people there. Perhaps the problem is population growth, the solution could be birth control, education of women, etc. Are you familiar with the One Child Policy in the People's Republic of China? That could be relevant to mention as well.

2) Fact #2 about Asia -- the US just finished one war there (in Iran) and is currently occupied in another (in Afghanistan). Problem = war, or terrorism, or however you want to frame it. Solutions proposed could go in a number of different directions (diplomacy, more bombs, etc. etc.)

3) Fact #3 about Asia --- they get hit by tsunamis. Maybe talk about the recent tsunamis (in Thailand in 2004 and more recently in Japan). Solutions --- flood control? put nuclear plants on mountain tops so they don't get flooded? This may require a little imagination: it's hard to prepare for a tsunami!

Those are a few ideas, the first drawn on a fact that almost anyone would know, and the next two drawing on items that have been prominent in the recent news. If you are really not familiar with these stories in international news, then I would say: read up. To write a successful GMAT analytic essay, and more importantly, to compete intelligently in the modern business world once you have your MBA, you need to know what's happening around the globe. I enthustastically recommend the Economist magazine, one of the most intelligent periodicals in print, and/or reading a highly respected newspaper like the NYT or WSJ.

Most important, though, I would say: keep it simple. Start with: what are the most basic facts I know about Asia? That, in and of itself, should form the core of your essay.

I hope that was helpful. Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mike