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Until now, we have discussed numerous techniques and strategies to score a perfect 6.0 on the AWA section. But, we think it would be beneficial if you have all the probable mistakes at one place, so you can safely avoid them all at once. Here are the 27 mistakes that you should strictly avoid while writing your AWA essays. Now, some of these points may sound repetitive since we have already discussed a lot up until now, but think of this as a checklist that can help you figure out the danger zones and
possible pitfalls.
1. Writing a cliché ridden essay
While using cliché phrases and sentences may seem like an idea choice for anyone writing an essay, it would more often than not be detrimental to someone writing the GRE. Understanding the fact that hundreds of
thousands of students write the same essays every year, you should try and be a bit different, a bit unique. Using the same examples that everyone
uses really won’t help you much, because it only looks like you have lifted those lines from someone else’s passage or an online journal. So, try to use your own examples, and your own sentences while writing the AWA
essays.
2. Not citing the original author
Sometimes, it would really help if you can use a killer essay quote or two, in your AWA essays. But it is important to remember that you should cite the original author, lest there is chance that you might come off as
pretentious. Whenever you are quoting someone’s lines, it is customary to give them the credit. Doing this will not only reinforce your image as a trustworthy individual, but also gives the grader an impression that you are an intellectual person. After all, only uber-smart people can remember great quotes along with their authors’ names.
3. Writing mixed-up paragraphs
If you remember what we discussed about writing and organization in the previous chapters, you should recollect the fact that you must allocate
separate paragraphs for every idea or point that you are writing about.
Often times, test takers tend to stuff a paragraph with two or three ideas, and end up mixing it up pretty badly. This can often cause confusion, not only to the grader, but also to you. Discussing more than one point in a single paragraph is not at all recommended. Dumping all ideas into a
single paragraph is a very bad idea, and shows poor organization. So, make it a point to not mix up paragraphs.
4. Giving away too much in the intro
The most important aspect about writing an article or an essay is to avoid giving away too much information in the very beginning itself. Don’t
believe us? Ask any content marketer. The key to writing exceptional
essays is to keep the reader intrigued until the last word. This is one of the reasons why we hate our textbooks but love fiction novels: the latter simply keep you interested until the end. So, you might want to implement the
same strategy when writing your essays. Do not give away too many key points, or at least your main idea, in the first paragraph itself. There are separate paragraph for that.
5. Using irrelevant examples
Just as we already discussed multiple times throughout this guide, avoid using irrelevant examples as much as you can. Sometimes it is fine to make up your own examples, but remember that they should be very relevant to the rest of the essay. So, as much as you can, try and come up with strong
and concrete examples to support your point of view.
6. Not summarizing effectively
One of the more overlooked mistakes in writing is that many test takers tend to not summarize their essays properly. A perfect conclusion
paragraph not only includes the main idea or point of view that you chose to side with, but also has a neat summary of all the points that have
already been discussed in the previous paragraphs. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to write them all over again, but a quick conclusive line about each paragraph would do you a world of good.
7. Introducing new points in the conclusion
Yes, this happens quite often, and is one of the major reasons why many are not getting close to that perfect AWA score. Sometimes, you finish off writing the entire body of the essay, and move on to the conclusion
paragraph. As you are writing it, you are struck with a new point or an
idea that you think should be on the essay at all costs. So, what do you do?
You somehow try to fit that point somewhere in the conclusion paragraph, and you think it will add to your existing robust set of points. But guess what? You haven’t backed it up properly anywhere in the essay, and hence the entire point sounds irrelevant or insufficient at that point of time. So, avoid introducing new ideas or points in the last paragraph. Be content with what you have already written.
8. Writing immediately
If you have read the previous chapters thoroughly, you would understand that there is a step by step process that you need to follow in order to get closer to the 6.0 score. But, a majority of the students give in to the
temporal pressure, and start off writing as soon as they read the question.
This will only lead to chaos in the next few minutes, as you will find your head clogged with ideas. So, give it a minute or two, and think about what you are going to write, before you start typing.
9. Not ideating correctly
A poorly presented idea is as good as an idea not presented at all.
Whatever point it is that you are trying to make, you should make it
correctly. An improper presentation, or a poorly organized idea will only make your essay sound more amateur that anything else.
10. Taking too much time for ideation
As straightforward as it can it, time is the most valuable resource on the GRE. Taking too much time just to gather ideas is not at all good for your score. Almost all the essays you will see on the GRE are quite simple to criticize, and anyone with decent practice can crack the code easily. So, in order to avoid wasting too much time trying to ideate, you should do a bit of practice at home.
11. Not sticking to one side
We’ve already said it out: Go negative! There is no way an average GRE test taker can write a perfectly balanced essay response in under 30 minutes, which is why most of them tend to sway towards a particular side. You should follow suit, if you want to score higher on the AWA
section. Not sticking to any one of the sides shows that you are too afraid to stand your ground, or that you are too confused to pick a side. Neither of this is a good image for you, so always pick a side no matter what.
12. Not using templates/structure
There are a few basic structures for writing the AWA, and adopting them would be a good idea, since you don’t have to reinvent the wheel all over again. We have already done most of the hard work for you, and provided some basic structures and templates that you can easily follow. If you can’t make good use of them, at least try to create your own organization or
structure. Otherwise, your essay response ends up being too clumsy to understand.
13. Not being specific enough
Whichever side you choose to take, or whatever point you are trying to
make, be specific. Never try to beat around the bush and expect to get away with. You are not a politician. Never use vague statements that only lead the grader to more confusion. Be very specific about your opinions, and have a clear idea of what exactly you are going to write, even if it might sound a bit negative, or a bit harsh on the author.
14. Using complex words just for the sake of using
To paraphrase Maya Angelou’s epic quote, ‘You should use a word only if you know what it exactly means.’ Keep this in mind at all times. Do not use a word just for the sake of using, and end up sounding like a novice writer who is trying to impress people he doesn’t know. Instead, use nice little words that sound simple and professional enough to get you a good score.
15. Not using transitional words
Your essay should read like a story. Every paragraph that you write should have a smooth beginning and a smooth ending, thus making the entire
essay readable. This can only happen when you use transitional words and phrases that are like bridges linking one paragraph with another. Not
using transitional words can make your prompt sound abrupt and hence, not perfect.
16. Not sounding confident enough
Whether it is an Issue essay or an Argument essay, you are asked to give your opinion. Which means, you are entitled to write whatever it is that you have in mind. Nobody is going to argue, or disagree with you, so there is no need to get defensive at all. Using words such as ‘I think’, ‘in my
opinion’, ‘perhaps’, ‘Maybe’, etc., will give the reader the impression that you are not confident enough to put your ideas forth. So, be more
confident, and more authoritative when you are writing your opinions.
Write like an expert editor of a newspaper, not like a newly recruited
17. Using the word ‘I’ very often
While it is perfectly alright to sound like an expert, it is not alright to sound narcissistic and repetitive. A lot of students use the word ‘I’ way too often that it puts the reader off. Yes, everybody already knows that it is you who wrote the essay and that all the ideas presented in the essay are yours.
There is no point in saying ‘I think this’, or ‘I would do that’ etc. A few times is fine, but too many times isn’t welcome at all.
18. Using the same sentence structure over and over again
If you remember what we said earlier, sentence variety is as important as anything else. Using monotonous sentence structures or repetitive phrases throughout the essay is a pretty bad idea, since it tells the reader that you, as a writer, lack variety, or creativity. So, try to rephrase the same
sentences and write something else that means the same. Like many other
things in life, this comes with a lot of practice.
19. Not including a counter argument
Agreeing with the author to some extent will give the grader a great impression about you as a writer, but if you keep on agreeing with the
author’s points of view, without including any new information from your side, you will surely come off as someone without any knowledge about the given subject. Given the fact that almost all essays come from a wide range of topics, and that they don’t need any special prior knowledge, it would be bad if you cannot counter the author’s deliberately wrong point of view
along with your two cents.
20. Contradicting yourself
With so many arguments and counter arguments clogged inside your mind, and with the speeding clock on the screen, it is possible that you somehow contradict your own argument. Sometimes, when writing the
third or the fourth paragraphs, test takers contradict their own opinions or points of view that they put forward in the first one or two paragraphs.
This clearly shows that you get confused easily. So, don’t contradict your own statements, and always read what you have written.
21. Letting writer’s block take over your AWA
Writer’s block is when an author loses the ability to write something new.
This has happened to the greatest of writers, and will probably happen to you too, if you don’t practice well enough before the test. If you are
someone who is not used to writing a lot, then should start practicing for the AWA, unless you want to end up staring at the screen pondering how to begin the essay.
22. Affecting other sections due to mistakes in AWA
Also you already know, you will face the AWA section first. Don’t let the
AWA section set the tone for the rest of the test. Sometimes AWA goes great, and you’ll feel extremely confident (or overconfident) about the
remaining sections. Sometimes, you may not do well on the AWA and feel gusted about yourself, which affects the other sections. So, try to stay
unaffected by the result. Remember; you are the one who sets the tone, not a couple of essay questions.
23. Focusing a lot on grammar and vocabulary
Even though grammar and vocabulary are really important when it comes to scoring higher on the AWA, you should not overstress their importance.
Write whatever you can and as much as you can. Do not bother about silly grammatical errors or workaday vocabulary. Once you think you are done with writing, then go back and read everything, correct those grammatical mistakes, or replace those boring words with good vocabulary. But, do it only once you are done with the essay.
24. Writing unnecessarily long sentences
Mark Twain once said ‘If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.’ That shows how difficult it is to write short and concise sentences.
Anybody can write long gibberish in a short time, but it takes lots of
practice, time and talent to keep it simple. Now, even though you are not blessed with a lot of time during the GRE test, you should try to minimize your sentences to make them sound smarter. Don’t try to use filler words or phrases so you could increase the word count. Quality trumps quantity any day.
25. Using slang language.
Writing as if you are chatting with a friend is something that happens quite often during exams. Using chat language and shortened forms of words like u, hw, y, etc. is bound to happen, especially if you are not very adept at writing often. If however, you find yourself using these sort of words in your essay, your chances of getting a good AWA score will rapidly
decrease. So, it wouldn’t hurt to do a bit of practice at home before test day.
26. Attacking the issue task as if it’s an argument
Or vice versa. It is possible to get confused between an issue essay and an argument and test takers often mistake one for the other. This could be the gravest mistake you will ever make on the AWA section, because if you
cannot understand whether the given question is an Issue or an Argument task, then you cannot write a proper response at all. So, make sure you don’t get confused between the two essay formats or structures, and that you have a clear understanding of both the question types.
27. Not leaving time for proofreading
Proofreading is often neglected because test takers simply don’t have the time. They think they cannot afford to waste one or two minutes
proofreading the essay, while they can use the same time to write an additional sentence or two. But as a matter of fact, a perfect 400 word
essay gets a higher score than an imperfect 450 word essay. So, you should
rather focus on improving what you have already written, and try to spend at least three to four minutes on proofreading what you have written.
So, this is the most comprehensive list of mistakes that you can avoid on the AWA section of the GRE. With this, we come to the end of this ultimate guide. And if this were any other guide, we would have finished it here. But since this is an advanced guide for the AWA, we would like to give you
something special. Something that is exclusive to only you. In our bonus chapter, we would like to give you a bonus: A couple of super-secret
templates that you can use, if you want to speed up your AWA preparation.
CHAPTER 10