GMAT Strategy

I wrote my exam on the October 23 and I have finally decided to look at my score report today (I know, better late than ever, eh?). I got 5 on the AWA part. Is that good? I know the score is out of 6, but according to my score report I only scored 55%. I can't see how that's a good score.

The AWA scoring is pretty strange. The great majority of people score 4.0 or above. Even 6.0 is something like 85th percentile now!

A 5.0 is a fine score - you have nothing to worry about. The general rule is that 4.0 or above is sufficient, and there's really no difference, admissions-wise, between a 4.0 and a 6.0. Basically, a low score might be a red flag, but a top score won't usually help.

Thank you for the clarification.

Yeah, don't worry about the percentage. A 5 is highly competitive!

Hello,

The score report shows only one score for AWA. Isnt individual score for Issue and argument reported ?
Do the schools (to which you have selected to submit scores) recieve this same averaged score ?
I came to know that the schools are able to view the essays you have written. Is this true ?

I didn't even really finish my 2nd essay and hardly developed the position and I got a 5. So I don't think they really look at it extensively.

Hey guys,

Keep in mind a few things about the AWA:

1) The GMAT will be downsizing the AWA (eliminating one essay) to make room for the new reasoning section. That should indicate its relative importance on the test - it's a lot more "pass/fail" than anything, so if you're above a 4 you're in good shape.

2) Even if schools could see the actual essay topics (they can't), because of the relative importance of those essays they really wouldn't want to take the time to read them. They're already requiring you to write (and themselves to read) 3-6 essays with your application on topics that are of supreme importance to them (Why do you want an MBA? What are your career goals?), so there's not much value in their reading an additional essay about why you think a letter to the editor contains faulty logic. The score is sufficient.

3) Just like your quant and verbal scores don't indicate your performance on individual questions, the AWA score is one score that covers both essays - it's just a "section score" like the others.

Now, this isn't to say that the AWA doesn't have value - keep in mind, also, that the GMAT is keeping part of it when it makes its changes. And for nonnative speakers, especially, adding a particularly high (5.5 or 6) score is one more way to differentiate yourself from your peers. So it does have value, but its relative importance ensures that schools are pretty happy with one numerical score to gauge your progress, and that's it.