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The GMAT Essays—How They're Evaluated, and How to Score Points with Yours

In this Q&A you'll learn how the GMAT essays are rated by the readers and by "E-Rater"—and what your essay scores mean to the B-schools. Then you'll learn how to prepare for the GMAT essays, and how to organize and compose essays that will make a distinctly positive impression on the readers.

Q: What are the similarities and differences between the two GMAT essays, and which writing task do test-takers find more difficult?
A: Sections 1 and 2 of the GMAT consist of two distinct Analytical Writing sections:
Analysis of an Issue (30-minute time limit)
Analysis of an Argument (30-minute time limit)
These two sections share three features in common:
1. You’ll use the same built-in word processor for each.
2. Your time limit for composing each essay is 30 minutes.
3. Most of the scoring criteria are the same.
But in terms of the ideas and analysis involved in the two essays—they’re entirely different. The Issue section involves a one- or two-sentence statement, which is an opinion on a topic of general intellectual interest. Your task is to adopt a position on the issue—indicating the degree to which you agree or disagree with the statement—then defend your position with reasons and supporting examples. Your ideas are not evaluated based on their correctness, because there is no right or wrong answer. It’s like a political debate, in which you try to convince the reader that your position on the issue is the preferable one.
Your task in the Argument essay is entirely different. In this essay you’ll critique a paragraph-length argument, pointing out problems with the evidence and line of reasoning used to draw a conclusion. The Argument essay is an exercise in critical thinking—very much like the Critical Reasoning questions in the GMAT Verbal section, but in essay form.
As for which task is more difficult, I personally find the Issue task far more difficult, because it’s very open-ended; just deciding what to say and how to organize your thoughts I find very challenging. I’m more comfortable with the Argument task because it’s cut-and-dried: you identify reasoning errors and discuss them. But most test-takers find the Argument essay more difficult; so I think it’s a very individual matter.
Q: In your Issue essay, is it important which side of the Issue you argue for? Are GMAT readers likely to be swayed by your position on the issue at hand?
A: No. You can write a top-scoring Issue essay without adopting a firm position on the issue at all. In fact, the best essays are the ones that recognize the complexity of the issue, various perspectives and viewpoints on it, and the merits and drawbacks of different points of view. I think it’s a good idea to adopt a qualified position—pointing out that you agree with only one aspect of the statement, or that you agree with the statement only to a certain extent. Recognizing ambiguities in the statement, and breaking the statement into sub-issues, are both good approaches to demonstrating the sort of insight that earns points on the Issue essay.
Q: How are the GMAT essays evaluated? I assume there’s some degree of subjectivity involved. If so, how does the testing service minimize subjectivity in the scoring process—to ensure fairness?
A: GMAT readers, who are college and university faculty hired by the testing service for this purpose, evaluate your essays on a 0–6 scale. 6 is the highest possible score. One reader scores your Issue essay, while another reader scores your Argument essay. Neither reader is aware of the other’s score. The criteria for each score (0–6) are listed in the official GMAT Bulletin. What they boil down to, though, are four basic criteria:
1. Content—the strength, relevance, and persuasiveness of your ideas (and supporting examples)
2. Organization—how clearly your ideas flow and connect together from one to the next
3. Language—your facility with the vocabulary of the English language
4. Mechanics—grammar, syntax (sentence structure), spelling, and so forth
None of these four areas is most important per se. The testing service instructs the readers to evaluate GMAT essays holistically—to look at an essay as a complete package, without undue emphasis on any single criterion. So an essay that demonstrates competency in all four areas will probably earn a higher score than an essay that contains brilliant ideas but rambles incoherently from one awkward sentence to the next.
It might be useful here to draw an analogy to the scoring system for the multiple-choice sections of the GMAT. The scoring system for those two sections accounts for the range of cognitive abilities covered among your correct responses—so all else being equal between two test-takers, the one who demonstrates a broader set of skills will score higher. The same goes for the GMAT essays, even though it’s humans who are evaluating the essays, and no mathematical formulas are employed in the essay-scoring process.
Q: Aren’t the GMAT essays also graded by a computer program? How is this possible, and does this suggest any test-taking strategies for composing GMAT essays?
A: Yes, every GMAT essay is evaluated not only by a human reader but also by a computer program—which the testing service refers to as E-Rater. This program evaluates each essay for grammatical and spelling errors, syntax, repetitiveness, as well as sentence and paragraph length—much like the grammar-checkers and spell-checkers built into word-processing programs, except a bit more refined.
E-Rater obviously can’t evaluate your ideas or how well you’ve organized those ideas. But test-takers must not assume that content should be of secondary concern to mechanics in composing GMAT essays. The best way to think of E-Rater’s role is as a way for the testing service to flag an errant score awarded by a human reader. If E-Rater’s score for an essay differs from the human reader’s score by more than one point (on the 6-point scale), a second human reader will read and grade that essay, and the final score for that essay will be the average of the two human readers’ scores. Thus the testing service’s use of E-Rater should simply not enter into a test-taker’s strategy when it comes to composing GMAT essays.
Q: Given that E-Rater checks spelling, doesn’t the test discriminate against poor typists, especially considering the time pressure involved during the test? For that matter, aren’t slow typists, as well as people who are not proficient at using word processors, at an inherent disadvantage when it comes to the GMAT essays?
A: Yes, and that’s one of the chief complaints about the GMAT essay sections. Slow and inaccurate typists are at an inherent disadvantage. But I think it’s important not to make more out of the spelling issue than you should. The testing service has assured test-takers that they will not be penalized for occasional misspellings, and that spelling problems will adversely impact your score only if those problems substantially interfere with the reader's understanding of your ideas, Besides, a human reader can tell the difference between words that are inadvertently misspelled—such as the word "between," which very often I inadvertently type as "bewteen"—and words such as "fallisy," instead of the correct "fallacy," which show that the test-taker is a poor speller. E-Rater's computerized spell-checker is also programmed to make this sort of distinction, at least for commonly used words.
GMAT readers will pay far more attention to your diction—how you use words—than to how you’ve spelled those words. And don’t think for a second that the GMAT readers won’t notice poor diction; Since E-Rater cannot detect most kinds of diction errors, the human readers will be looking closely for two types of diction errors:
Improper word choice—for example, the use of "between" where "among" is proper, or vice versa
Improper word usage—the use of vocabulary in context that shows that you misunderstand the word’s meaning
No matter how impressive a GMAT essay might be otherwise, if it contains frequent word-choice and usage errors it’s unlikely to earn a score of 6—or even 5.
Q: Speaking of word usage, what about vocabulary level? Is it to a test-taker’s advantage to impress the readers with a strong vocabulary?
A: Only to a point. There’s nothing wrong with demonstrating a strong vocabulary in your GMAT essays, by using the sorts of words that only well-read, highly educated people are likely to use. But don’t overdo it; using too many such words can wave a red flag to the reader that you’re attempting to use high-brow words as a smokescreen—to divert attention from what is otherwise a poor essay. Also, if you use high-brow words you’d better be sure you know what the words mean and that you’re using them properly in the context of your essay. In other words, your diction had better be proper. Otherwise, in your attempt to impress the reader you’ll shoot yourself in the foot instead.
Q: What you just said raises another point—about writing style. What is the proper voice for GMAT essays: formal or conversational? Also, do GMAT readers appreciate creativity—the use of humor, puns, irony, and so forth?
A: Avoid an informal or conversational voice; keep your sentences formal. Also, do not use the GMAT essays as springboards for demonstrating your sense of humor. And don’t even consider using colloquialisms—such as "shooting yourself in the foot"—even if you think you’re using them cleverly in the context of your essay.
One of the most common GMAT-essay missteps, especially in the Issue essay, is to conclude with a cute or clever quote or pithy remark. For example, many of the Issue topics relate to business ethics, and GMAT readers encounter many, many essays about such topics that conclude with the following sorts of remarks:
"Ethics should be left to philosophers and theologians; making money is what business is all about."
"It all boils down to this: What goes around, comes around!"
"Someone once said that no good deed goes unpunished, and that is certainly true when it comes to the motives of a business leader."
"The reality is that if Microsoft can get away with it, then it’s ethical."
Big mistake! Last-minute, so-called "brilliant" keystrokes of genius such as these will make a distinctly negative final impression on the reader, who is looking for persuasive, insightful ideas—not banality.
Avoid puns and sarcasm as well. For instance, my sarcastic use of the word "brilliant" to describe pithy concluding sentences would be entirely inappropriate for a GMAT essay.
Q: You indicated that one of the basic criteria for scoring GMAT essays is organization. In preparing for the test, should test-takers devise some sort of organizational template for each of their two essays?
A: Organizational templates are useful only up to a certain point. Consider first the Issue topics, which are designed as springboards for you to recognize and discuss pros and cons relating to the issue at hand. This design suggests to me two basic alternatives for organizing an Issue essay:
1. In each paragraph you discuss a distinct reason for your agreement (or disagreement) with the stated opinion.
2. You begin by discussing the strengths, or pros, of the stated opinion (indicating each reason in a separate paragraph), then discuss its problems, or cons (again, one per paragraph).
With either template, in each paragraph you should support your main point with persuasive and relevant examples and sound reasoning. And both templates should incorporate a brief introductory paragraph and a brief concluding, or summary, paragraph.
For the Argument essay, developing and implementing an organizational template is more straightforward. In each paragraph you discuss a distinct problem with the argument. (Most such problems have to do with unsubstantiated assumptions that are needed in order for the argument’s conclusion to be readily inferable.) And each paragraph should connect logically from one to the next. This usually isn’t a problem; in most cases, you can just discuss the problems in the order they arise in the argument.
Beyond these basic organizational approaches, though, I thinks it’s dangerous to try to create a preset structure for your essays—especially some sort of fill-in-the-blank template. This approach doesn’t allow for enough flexibility, and your essay can easily come off as canned or awkward. Trust me: GMAT readers know when a test-taker is relying on form over substance, and the readers won’t hesitate to lower your score accordingly.
Q: In preparing for the GMAT essays, should test-takers attempt to memorize model responses to as many of the official GMAT essay topics as possible?
A: The testing service has pre-disclosed its complete pool of about 140 Issue topics and 140 Argument topics at the GMAC web site. The computerized testing system will select your topics randomly from these pools. So memorizing model responses for every topic is not only an unrealistic exercise, but probably a futile one as well. In the 2nd edition of my book GMAT CAT—Answers to the Real Essay Questions, I’ve provided model essays for 250 of the GMAT essay topics; but I don’t suggest any reader memorize even a single one of those essays. Rather, my recommendation is to read as many of the essays as you reasonably have time for—in order to glean, in a more general sense, good ideas for content, organization, writing style, transitional and rhetorical phases, and so forth. There’s an osmosis process that occurs when you read many well-written GMAT essays; the elements that go into a good essay slowly become part of your own writing style, merely by repeated exposure to them. A good analogy would be the immersion method of learning a new language, by which you internalize a new language simply through continual exposure to it.
Q: You just suggested that test-takers develop an inventory of transitional and rhetorical phrases for the GMAT essays. What do you mean by these terms? Can you provide some examples of each type of phrase?
A: Transitional words and phrases are the ones that glue together the ideas of your essay—that help the reader follow your train of thought and line of reasoning, and recognize the organizational structure of your essay. I find that having an inventory of my own pet transitional phrases is especially useful for the Argument writing task—which calls for a linear line of reasoning. Here are a few examples:
"The argument depends on a series of unsubstantiated assumptions, which render it wholly unpersuasive."
"Unless the author provides better evidence that..., I cannot be convinced that..."
"Even if the author can substantiate all of the foregoing assumptions,..."
"In sum, the argument is unconvincing as it stands. To strengthen it the author must..."
Rhetorical phrases are designed to persuade—to aid you in arguing for one position over another in a debate. So they are especially germane to the Issue essay. Here are a few that I’ve used over and over in my Issue essays:
"I agree with the statement only insofar as..."
"Admittedly, the statement is not without merit—in that"
"However, the speaker ignores countervailing considerations which, considered together, render the speaker’s position largely indefensible...."
"In the final analysis, ... can be determined only on a case-by-case basis, taking into account..."
"The statement is fundamentally wrongheaded because it ignores..."
Q: Why is it important to develop your own inventory of transitional and rhetorical phrases—before exam day? How can test-takers learn to develop their own arsenal of transition words and phrases, and learn to incorporate them effectively into their GMAT essays?
A: Developing your own inventory of these phrases is useful in two ways. First, it speeds up the writing process considerably. From my own experience in writing Issue and Argument essays (and I can confidently say that I have more such experience than any other human being), the biggest time-waster during a timed GMAT essay section is to sit at the keyboard with your ideas in mind, but without the right words and phrases to get those ideas across to the reader. You can waste considerable time during the exam groping around for the right way to make your point. Secondly, effective use of rhetorical phrases lends persuasiveness and sophistication to your essays, thereby enhancing your score.
In order to develop a useful arsenal of transition and rhetorical phrases, I suggest going through the essays in my book, highlighting these phrases as you go. Then begin to incorporate them into your practice essays. I’m not suggesting that test-takers limit themselves to the phrases that I’ve used. You can adopt your own phrases to fit your overall style. In any event, be sure these phrases fit the grammatical and substantive context in which you use them. As I’ve already mentioned, GMAT readers can immediately spot form over substance, and will lower your score accordingly.
Q: In screening applicants, B-schools don’t factor in Analytical Writing scores during the first cut, do they? If not, why should test-takers take the GMAT essays seriously?
A: You’re correct that at most schools the initial cut is based only on combined Verbal-Quantitative score and GPA. But this is hardly reason for test-takers not to take the GMAT essays seriously. Think about it this way: B-school rankings are very important to most applicants, whose main objective in the process is to gain admission to a highly-ranked school. But the best school you’ll gain admission to is the one where you’ll be a borderline candidate, right? And when you’re near the acceptance-rejection borderline, where the school must make difficult choices between similarly qualified candidates, the admissions committee will look closely at your GMAT essay scores. So strong writing skills will set you apart from the many candidates who have high GPAs and Verbal-Quantitative GMAT scores.
Besides, with the growing number of foreign applicants to U.S. B-schools, writing and verbal skills are becoming an even more important factor for B-schools in the admissions decision. Why not the contrary, so as not to discriminate based on nationality of ethnicity? Think about it. If the B-schools respond to this trend by placing less emphasis on English communication skills, the admission process would be reduced to seeking the best mathematicians. And strong quantitative skills is only a small part of what successful MBA students and success in business management require.