Low AWA 4.0

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priyank12: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 26; Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:25 am

by priyank12 » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:22 am

Hi,

I have a gmat score of 740. But my AWA is 4.0. I thought i did very well in AWA, but to my surprise I only scored 4.0.
How will this affect my applications. I have devoted lot of time in writing my essays and they are in very good shape. Now will low AWA create a doubt in adcom committe about my essays.
Overall I want to know how will AWA score 4.0 affect my applications, should I consider writing gmat again ?

Thanks !!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant | Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:22 am

Paxton Helms - Kaplan: MBA Admissions Consultant; Posts: 290; Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:36 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Washington, DC; Thanked: 28 times

by Paxton Helms - Kaplan » Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:25 am

Hi and thanks for your note. Yes, a 4.0 is a bit surprising but I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially given that you have a 740.

My take on the AWA is that it red flags people whose GMAT essays are very different from their application essays (i.e., did somebody ghost write the application?!?) and it gives a pretty accurate assessment of how somebody writes under pressure.

The scoring of the AWA is pretty narrowly defined. They have a very specific set of criteria that they use and if you deviate even slightly you can get hammered.

So...my guess is that you probably over-answered the question and overlook some essential things that they are looking for but that it is not obvious that they are looking for.

In short: I think you're fine. The only thing that you may want to do is briefly mention in the supplemental section that you were surprised by the low AWA score and have great confidence in your skills as a business writer.

Keep me in the loop about your thinking and let me know if you have any more questions.

Paxton

Paxton Helms is an MBA admissions consultant for Kaplan Admissions Consulting. He earned his MBA from UCLA and specializes in helping clients that are applying to top twenty and "reach" programs. He can be reached directly at [email protected].

To begin working with Paxton immediately, follow this link and request him specifically: https://www.kaptest.com/GMAT/Admissions- ... lting.html

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