UPDATE: The new version of the GRE, started on September 22 - 2023, The "Analyze an Argument" task is gone, so focus on preparing for the "Analyze an Issue" task instead. Critical thinking and coherent writing are still important.
See also Shorter GRE AWA Guide - How many words do I need for the essays?


The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section on GRE consists of 2 parts:

• Analysis of an Issue Essay - 30 minutes. This writing assessment measures the test taker's ability to analyze the issue and take a position (agree or disagree) and state it convincingly with supporting evidence.
• Analysis of an Argument Essay - 30 minutes. This writing assessment measures the test taker's ability to formulate an appropriate and constructive critique of a specific conclusion based on a specific line of thinking.

The AWA score is an average of the two independent ratings. Scores average from zero to six, in half-point intervals for each task. Writing scores are computed separately from the scores for the multiple-choice sections of the test and do not affect the Verbal, Quantitative, or Total scores.

The AWA is the most underestimated section on the GRE. Test takers worldwide believe that mastering the AWA is an easy task to accomplish in just a few days of study. If you want to score a perfect 6.0 on the AWA section, your success will depend on good planning, structure, and writing style. Thankfully, several templates can make the task relatively quick and easy. As with the Verbal and Quant sections, scoring well on the AWA part of the test requires the same amount of confidence, persistence, and practice. Therefore, you’ll examine a flawed argument and the scoring system is designed so that your responses to each of these essay questions are scored on a 6-point scale, in 0.5 increments, with 6 being the highest score and 1, the lowest.

GRE AWA Scoring Guide
AWA Score	Label	Percentile	School Reaction
6.0	Outstanding	91	"Good Enough!"
5.5		77
5.0	Strong	57	"Good Enough!"
4.5		38
4.0	Adquate	20	"Probably Fine!"
3.5		10	"Umm, less fine..."
3.0	Limited	6
2.5		4
2.0	Seriously Flawed	3	"Who wrote the application essays?"
1.5		3
1.0	Fimdamentally Defficient	3
0.0	No Score	0

Source: Manhattan Prep


As you can see, the goal is to get at least 4.0 on the AWA! However, that is only the 19th percentile so if you are a non-native speaker and you want to put AdCom's concerns about your writing skills to rest, a higher score is recommended! Moreover, the situation becomes complicated if the AWA score is terrible and the same student produces an outstanding, well-written application essay, letter of intent or else to impress the committee. This can be a potential red flag that someone has cheated on the application.


The key elements Graders look for in your AWA

1. Cognizability
   This means literally that your essay must be clear, who grades your essay should understand it right away. They will have the time neither to scrutinize your sentences in order to grasp the meaning nor to check your spelling if not in the minimum part. Remember: the graders have only two minutes on average per essay; therefore, spending more time on that will be certainly detrimental in their job. So, make sure you have solid points and clear logical reasoning that can be easily understood.
   
2. Anatomy
   The architecture of your essay must be fluent, easy, even passionate in its unfolding. Hypothetically, it should put a smile or a wow on the mouth of who reads the same from the head down. This way, every paragraph reads like a separate story, and the essay graders can easily scan through your entire response effortlessly. The transitions are smooth, and there aren’t any sudden twists in your response, it will make the grader’s job a whole lot easier.
   
3. Sentences length
   One sure method of making an essay dull, lifeless and monotonous is to have all its sentences of the same length. To sound smart, you should consciously try to vary the lengths of your sentences. While some of your sentences could be fairly long with three or four subordinate clauses, others must be short with just five or six words. The changing rhythm of your writing will give your prose a snappy, intelligent tone, and will keep the reader alert and interested. Instead of all sentences as narrative ones, you should also try to introduce, in key places of your essay, an interrogative (which is like a question) and an exclamatory sentence.
   
4. Vocabulary
   As most in life, a balance is advisable. Your writing does not have to be complex such as Hemingway was writing, with an obscure jargon or a twisted vocabulary; on the other hand, the essay should be neither from an elementary level nor heavy vocabulary driven. The AWA is not testing how much vocab you have in your arsenal. Of course, if the prompt talks about a feasible plan from a company to increase the market share, you will not write about how to plant crops. I.E. As long as you use sensible reasoning, proper grammar, and as long as you can defend your point intelligently and use precise vocabulary to convey meaning effectively, you should be alright.
   
5. Language and Grammar
   Although negligible errors throughout the passage will not interfere with your evaluator for grasping the real sense of the essay, silly mistakes do. As soon as they will spot them. as a consequence, they will be more on the lookout for aftward errors or even intricate sentences that bring in confusedness and distort the AWA's fluency and cogency. Take time to proofread your essay, once you finish writing it.
   
6. Reasoning
   This bullet is more related to the intimacy, to the core quality of the AWA. Reasoning in its way, is more attached to the sense of purpose of your writing and less to the aesthetics. It shows your clear idea in its unfolding, how to explain your thoughts to counteract and as it turns out to nail the flaw, that is the central task you are trying to tackle. The reasoning is all about "What am I saying?? How am I conveying my ideas about ??.
   
7. Evidence
   You must corroborate your writing. You will ideally want to provide convincing evidence to back up your thesis. Search for direct or implied cues and connect them with the essay.

How Long Should My Essay Be?
Length matters on the AWA. As the analysis below demonstrates, you should aim to write anywhere between 350 to 600 words. For your reference, 500 words is a page of text written in single-space or 2 pages double-space.




One of the ways to sound smart while writing an essay is the appropriate use of what are known as ‘signpost’ words or phrases. Some of the ‘signpost’ words and phrases are: For instance: for example, however, on the other hand, although, unlike, yet, nevertheless, since and therefore.

Signpost words and phrases are valuable in many ways. They help the reader to follow your argument more easily. They make the purpose of every detail, fact, story or example which you use more obvious. More important, they make your essay sound well-organized. By emphasizing the structure of your argument, the signpost words prove that you have thought through the argument rather than rambling aimlessly from one idea to another and that you have got a plan and you are following it intelligently.

There is a significant increase in the number of words from a 5.0 graded essay and a 6.0 graded essay. Moreover, there is a close connection between essay length and the final score. Longer essays usually score better on every essay topic.

Here are probably my favorite websites and two among the best on the internet.

• Transition Words by MSU
• Transitional Words by Smart Words

Remembering that transition words and phrases aim to:

• transitions are phrases or words used to connect one idea to the next
• the author uses transitions to help the reader progress from one significant idea to the next
• transitions also show the relationship within a paragraph (or within a sentence) between the main idea and the support the author gives for those ideas
• different transitions do different things....

Essay Grading - Who Grades my Essays?
The Quant and Verbal scores on the GRE are available immediately after the test. However, the AWA score takes time. The reason is that a human reader grades the Essay. Originally 2 readers would score EACH of the essays to ensure consistency and quality. The essays would be re-graded if the reader scores were more than 1 point off. If they were close, then the average of the two would be taken. Today, one of the readers is replaced by the computer. The other one is still a human, and that is why it takes 1-2 weeks to get your AWA score back.

The following table is the official score assigned by ETS to the AWA



AUTO-GRADERS: Get Your AWA Evaluated





Issue Essay

The Analysis of an Issue essay tests your ability to “explore the intricacies of an issue or opinion and take a position informed by your understanding of those ramifications.”

Plan of Attack:

1. Read (1-2 min)
2. Brainstorm (2 min)
3. Outline (1-2 min)
4. Write (20 min)
5. Polish (3-5 min)

Issue Essay Structure
Essay Structure	Description
1. Introduction	Write an introduction explaining in your own words what the issue is about. Try to generate interest in the topic. End your paragraph with a thesis statement
2. Main body	Write 3 paragraphs to support your position. Each paragraph should introduce one point, explain it, and try to give a specific example. Use transitions.
3. Qualification	Qualify (moderate) your position 80-20 i.e. but, however
4. Conclusion	Draw the essay back to your thesis. Avoid repetition of language. I repeat, avoid repeating. Find something general to say that makes it clear that you have finished.

Templates for your AWA - Analysis of an Issue

Template 1

1. Introduction
2. First argument for the side you take
3. Refute your first take and argue for the opposite side
4. Second argument for the side you take
5. Refute your take again and argue for the opposite side
6. Conclusion

Template 2

1. Introduction
2. Argument for your side
3. Argument against your side
4. Argument for your side
5. Argument against your side
6. Conclusion: evaluate both sides and arrive at thesis

Bottom Line:






Useful and further resources for your AWA Essay

• List of ALL Issue Topics by ETS
• How to score well on AWA?
• Can I skip GRE AWA?
• GRE AWA Issue Essay Samples

source of the word count image: https://crunchprep.com/gre-analytical-writing-guide