GMAT Examples: AWA

June 01, 2008

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is rarely a student's top priority when preparing for the GMAT, but it isn't something you should ignore, either.

For the most part, the specific topics the GMAT gives you do not themselves require preparation. You should spend time thinking about how best to structure AWA essays and how to manage your time (30 minutes per essay), but not so much focusing on the particular prompts the test might give you.

That said, you can see every single essay topic that you might face on test day:

• Analysis of Argument topics
• Analysis of Issue topics

I don't know how much of an advantage it would be to spend the time to go through all 50+ pages of essay topics, but if nothing else, it gives you realistic practice prompts for any essays you might write before sitting for the exam. If you're looking for more information on the AWA section, I wrote an overview that you can find here.

About the author: Jeff Sackmann has written many resources for GMAT preparation, including the popular Total GMAT Math, Total GMAT Verbal, and GMAT 111. He has also created explanations for problems in The Official Guide, as well as 1,800 practice GMAT math questions.

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