The writing section of the verbal part of the GRE tests your ability to put together cogent thoughts in a limited time. Good writing skills are considered a requirement for graduate schools since you will be writing plenty of papers and thesis statements.

 

This part of the GRE tests your abilities to:

• Use proper grammar
• Write a compelling and well structured essay
• Use persuasive arguments to draw attention from the reader
• Analyze issues of current events
• Analyze and present a side of an argument

 

The topics are given to you by the examiner or by the computer, whichever method you choose to take your test. The topics will require deep analysis and the ability to take them from thought to paper while keeping proper grammatical sentence structure. It's during this part of the test that it is important to show off the vocabulary skills you've studied.

 

The total amount of time the student has to take the writing part of the GRE is seventy five minutes. The essays are broken down into two categories:

• Present your thoughts and perspective on an issue
• Present your analysis on an argument or debate

 

Both of these sections are timed separately, so the seventy five minutes is broken into two parts. The first part, presenting your thoughts, ideas, and perspective on an issue, gives you forty five minutes to focus on the essay. If you are taking the test on the computer, then you have an easier time to go back and delete or add comments

 

The second part of the writing section, analyzing a proposed debated topic or argument, gives you thirty minutes. The examination may be a current political topic or it may be a cultural issue. Whatever issue is given to you, it's important to sit back and think about the topic before writing. Put together thoughts and then present them on the paper once you have thought out your side of the argument.

 

The first part of the writing section of the GRE is composed of analytical writing. It tests and gauges your ability to write a clear, concise, and well structured thought. The exam is graded by the computer and actual human examiners. The computer checks for grammatical mistakes like spelling and improper sentence structure, verb tense, pronoun complements, and anything that is poor writing that can be picked up by the computer.

 

Human examiners will check your overall thought process, make sure the sentences are grouped in proper paragraph structure and the points you bring up are valid and complement the topic. They also make sure your writing is representative of what is needed when entering graduate school.

 

Each essay is scored between a zero and a six. However, the reported score from this section is only given with one, single score. If your goal is graduate school for the sciences, this part of the GRE is important since you may one day write for journals. Business schools and law schools may consider the writing part of the GRE more seriously.