You are welcome to NehemiahPrep Blog. Hope you did enjoy our previous posts, well today we want to talk about the different sections on the GRE but just in case you missed our last post on what you need to know about the GRE click on this link http://nehemiahprep..com.ng/2016/01/what-you-need-to-know-about-gre.html

Our focus today is on the Analytical Section of the GRE. You will be writing two essays in this section: Issue and Argument Essays for 30 minutes each. The analytical section will be graded by two readers and the grades will be ranging from 0 to 6, the latter, 0, been the lowest and 6 the highest. Let me secretly tell you this, if you are aiming the top schools in the U.S or anywhere in the world where GRE is required, then a 5.5 or 6.0 will be pretty good . But if your school is not like the Harvards of this world, then a 5.0 or 5.5 will be fine or better still check out what’s your school GRE Essay score requirement.

I need to also let you know how the average score is been calculated. As earlier said, two readers will read each of your essays and if we say one of the readers scored you 4 and 5 on the two essays and the other reader scores you 5 on both essays then your average score will be (4 + 5 + 5 + 5)/4 = 19/4 = 4.75 which will be rounded up to 5.0 (now you know you need to improve on your writing skills). Even if your average score was a 4.25, it will be rounded up to 4.5.

But if we ask ourselves what exact skills are the readers of your essays looking for? The question is simple, basically they are in look out for your fluency, command of English and lastly, organization skills. So if you desire a good score, you will have to improve on these basic skills. Let’s now consider these skills one after the other.

Fluency Skills

Fluency is how easily you can communicate your ideas in writing (yes writing! since we are talking about essays) or on paper. The way and manner you are able to use English language will determine your fluency level. If you are used to writing short sentences before now, you will have to step up to writing complex sentences and also learn to use vocabulary well enough in your sentences. These are what will make your essay weighty and attract good ratings from the readers.

Command of English Skills

Command of English skills includes punctuation, spelling and grammar usage. Let me quickly tell you this, you need not to be too worried about the spelling error(s) in your essay that is if it’s minimal as the two essay readers are not necessarily after your error check but in a case when it’s too much, then it will certainly affect you score. Additionally, NEVER abbreviate when writing your essays. NEVER!

Lastly your sentences must be grammatically correct and logical enough so they can pass your intended messages to the readers. To improve your grammar skills, there are lots of materials, including books, on the internet that can help you with that.

Organization Skills

If you know it and you cannot organize it well enough, then you don’t know it. Organizing your essays is key and a must if you are serious about getting a good score. Your thought process must be well-coordinated and flow through a continuous pattern. A new paragraph should well connect with the previous one making it easy for the readers to flow along easily.

Don’t jump from one thought line to another, allow it flow and connect because if you do, your essay might just become boring to the readers and I’m very sure you do not want that to happen. If you are struggling with organizing your essays, then try pick up books that can teach you good writing styles and before you know it you will begin to experience drastic development and improvement in your writings.

In summary, you can always improve on your essay and get a high score but you should also practice writing a good number of essays before your exam date. You can find list of sample analytical essay topics on ETS website, download it all for free.

Hope you did enjoy this piece, If you seem to have any question or you need further clarifications please do drop a comment below.
Written by Adewale Olisa,
Admin, NehemiahPrep Blog