Profile Evaluation - Low AWA

[hidden]

Hi,

I just took the GMATs for the first time this December, and was incredibly disappointed at my AWA score. My GMAT Scores are as follows:

- Quant - 48 (78%)
- Verbal - 44 (97%)
- Overall - 740 (97%)
- Integrated Reasoning - 8 (92%)
- AWA - 3.5 (10%)

I also have a 3.95 undergraduate GPA at a mid-tier business program. I have never had a problem with writing before, and did quite well in undergraduate and high school writing courses. I have no idea what went wrong! Based on my other stats, will the AWA score hinder my chances at getting into a top MBA (or PHD) program? (Please note that I do plan on paying to get the essay re-scored before I go through the process of taking the exam again.)

Thank you for your input!

[awaratr]

Hi, I understand your situation having scored a 3.5 myself when I took the GMAT. My advice on re-scoring will be to analyse and give it a deep thought, if your essay deserves better as re-scoring may actually end up de-grading the score further. A helpful indication is the tool available on www.gmatawa.com which though not super accurate gives you a fair idea of where your awa essay stands. Anycase while preparing for your second attempt you need to give special attention to AWA, which is very possible, I was able to score a 5.5 on my next attempt.

[hidden]

Thank you for your advice. My concern is not HOW to re-take the AWA but rather at what score do I HAVE to re-take the exam in order to be a candidate for top schools. From my understanding the rest of my statistics are pretty competitive, but I don't want the writing score to give schools an excuse to take me off their lists. I've read elsewhere that the AWA is not important compared to the verbal and quantitative GMAT sections, but I'm looking for some advice for this specific case as the score I received seems really low.

[mili]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about the AWA score. To be honest, the AWA isn't weighted heavily, and if the rest of your profile outside your GMAT is strong, I wouldn't worry about this. It won't make or break your application. I would be sure that your essays are very well structured and cohesive, though.

You should note that your quant score is slightly low for top schools, too -- usually we recommend scoring in the 80th percentile or above on each section. Depending on your risk tolerance, this would be a better reason to retake the GMAT (and hopefully bring up your AWA score at the same time). Up to you!

Good luck,
Mili

Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com

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