Essay Writing & Spelling Mistakes!

[shaif.ghani]

Hi,

I have a quick question to the Instructors. On the GRE essay writing exam, can the graders dock you for making spelling mistakes?

Thanks!

Best,
Muhammad

[raj]

Hi,
The testers use e-raters which can easily detect spelling mistakes. Although some spelling errors are fine, but too many go down badly.

_________________
http://www.spanedea.com

[jen]

Hi, this is Jen (instructor). Here's the official word from an ETS publication intended for university administrators evaluating GRE scores -- scroll to page 17:

http://www.ets.org/gre/institutions

The short version:
- "Analytical logic" is more important than mechanics/grammar
- The essay is looked at as a rough draft, so some errors are expected/overlooked

If your writing can be easily understood, I'd put more effort towards improving your argumentation and writing MORE, faster (on any topic) than towards improving spelling/grammar.

Sincerely,
Jen

[shaif.ghani]

That's a great hlep!

Thank you Jen - much appreciated :)

Best,
Muhammad

[tommywallach]

Jen is always glad to help (and she has immaculate spelling).

-t