Sample GMAT Essays - Waymarsh State College Prompt

The following is taken from a sample essay prompt (Analytical Writing Assignment Section) of the GMAT:

The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper: 

“This past winter, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 Waymarsh students evidently weren’t so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the state’s college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.” Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

You would often see the following instructions after reading the essay prompt:

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

No copyright infringement is intended.

Written below are some sample essays that would help you in your preparation: 

Sample Essay #1

The author of this argument states because only a small percentage of the Waymarsh State College student body protested at the State Capitol, the state legislature doesn’t need to worry about the appeals of protesting students. This argument is flawed for the following reasons.

First, the article does not state any information about protests from students attending other state institutions. Although the ratio of the number of participating students from Waymarsh is small, the overall percent of the state’s college students protesting at the State Capitol may be much larger. Therefore, the percentage of students from other colleges or universities in the state could be much higher than Waymarsh’s participating student rate.

Secondly, the author provides no further insight into other protests that may have occurred at locations alternate to the State Capitol and presumes if students at Waymarsh State College did not participate in the protest at the State Capitol they either stayed on-campus or left for winter break. Some students at Waymarsh could have participated in protests on the campus at Waymarsh State College. This would indicate that a higher number of students at Waymarsh actively participated in a protest of the proposed cuts.

Lastly, the article assumes only students who protest in person at the State Capitol are the only ones who disagree with the state’s plan to cut funding to college programs. Other ways to voice disagreement with a proposed legislation include calling or writing your state legislator. The author does not discuss how many students at Waymarsh or at colleges statewide participated in calling or writing their state legislators.

The author’s argument could be strengthened by discussing how many students from other state colleges or universities participated in the protests at the State Capital or whether protests occurred by the state’s college students at locations other than the State Capitol. Furthermore, the author could strengthen their argument by discussing in what numbers the state’s college students participated in calling or writing their state legislator to voice their disagreement with the proposed cuts. The argument in its current form is flawed.

Sample Essay #2

In this argument ,the author concludes that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students. To support this opinion, the author points out that the group of students who did not protest is far more numerous. In addition, he also reasons that it is more representative of the state`s college students than are the protesters.

At first glance,the argument seems somehow appealing, while a close examination reveals how groundless it is.We do not to look very far to see the invalidity of the argument.The argument is  problematic for the following reasons.

In the first place, the arguer assumes that the 12000 students who either stayed on campus or left for winter break were not concerned about their education. However,the author do not provide any evidence to support the assumption.The fact that 200 students took time and effort to traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs does not have anything to do with the opinion of the remaining 12000. It is highly possible that the 12000 students are also displeased with the proposed cuts,but too busy to complain. Lacking complete information about the attitudes of all students,the recommendation is completely unfounded.

In the second place, the evidence the author provide is insufficient to reach the conclusion that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students. One example is logically unfounded to establish a conclusion. The fact that only 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest is not a good indicator of the main trends,unless it can be shown that students  from Waymarsh State College are representative of all students. It is possible that students in other colleges are satisfied with the proposed cuts and do not show any resentment.In fact, in face of  such limited evidence ,the recommendation is highly suspected.

To sum up, it is imprudent for the author to conclude that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.

Because the evidence cited in the argument is too weak to lend support to what the author claims.To make the argument more convincing,the author should provide evidence that the 12000 who did not travel to complain were not happy with the proposed cuts and the students from the Waymarsh college are representative of all students in the states. Moreover,I would suspend my judgment about the credibility of the recommendation,until the argument provides concrete evidence to rule out all the possibilities I mentioned.

Sample Essay #3

The author of the editorial section indicates that only 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding, while majority of students stayed on campus or went on winter brake. The author concludes that state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.

The conclusion may well have merit. However, this poorly reasoned argument is based on questionable assumptions and premises. It lacks statistical data and is the result of generalization. I cannot accept the conclusion as valid.

First, it is not clear from the newspaper article how far is the state capitol building from Waymarsh State College. It could be that the trip requires substantial amount of money which majority of students do not have. In fact, difficult financial situation is the reason for the protest. Therefore, author's conclusion is wrong. Instead, it could be that all the students protest against proposed cuts in funding, while only 200 of them have sufficient funds to take a trip to capitol building. Newspaper article suggests that students protest happens during winter brake. Some students stayed on campus, while others left for winter brake. One can argue that students actually do have extra money, because they can leave for winter brake. However, the author of the article does not provide any information about relative numbers of students who stayed on campus and who left during winter brake.

Second, the article indicates that state legislature is planning to cut funding of several state college programs. It is not clear whether the funding of all college programs will be cut or only several selected programs. Thus it could be that 200 students who traveled to capitol building are enrolled in these selected college programs, which can potentially face the funding cuts. Thus, the author needs to provide specific information about the programs that can face funding cuts and about the number of students enrolled.

In sum, the conclusion may look appealing at first. The author looked over a number of points. If the author addresses the above points, he or she would have a better argument. As it stands, the logic has flaws and the argument is weak.

Sample Essay #4

According to a local news paper editorial, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in the funding for various state college programs, this last summer. The number of students who protested was outnumbered by the number of students who stayed in college or went on holidays.

As the number of students not participating in protest was far more numerous than students participating, the author thinks that the non participating students represent the State College. So he claims that the State legislature need not respond to the protesting students. Though the claim seems to have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument based on several questionable assumptions and solely based on the evidence he provides, we cannot accept the argument to be valid. The author needs to back up his argument with legitimate evidence and explicate his assumptions which he lacks in this argument.

First, the author states that the population of students participating in protest is very small compared to the students not participating in the protest. Therefore he assumes that the protesting population does not represent the voice of State College. Here the author fails to consider that this population of students participating in protest might be the representative students. Each student could represent a group of students who could not participate. The students participating in the protest might be representing a cub, house, society in the college. In this situation even the small number of protesting students could representing the entire college population. The author fails to consider this factor in his argument. Here the author can make his argument strong if he can clarify that the students participating do not represent any group of students from college and they speak only on behalf of themselves.

Second, the author states that 1200 students either stayed back in college or left for winter break, so this population of students are clearly not concerned about their education. The author assumes that to support a protest one has to be physically present in the protest. Nowadays due to the technological advancement it has become possible to support a cause even without being physically present in the protest. The author fails to consider that students staying back in college might be using college media or internet to protest against the state legislature. The power of social media and internet was clearly seen during Arab uprising, as the use of social media and internet had significant impact on the dethroning of the dictators. Even though the people were not able to protest physically, their protest through social media played an important role to put a pressure on the government. Now a days use of facebook and youtube has become quite common platform to protest against something. In addition to that, some students who left for winter break might be using the time to get outside support or might be using the time to make more people aware on the situation. If the students are working for the cause even without being present in the protest we cannot conclude that these students are not concerned about the cause. Here if the author intends to make his argument strong he should provide evidence stating that the students who have gone to the State Capitol building are the only students interested in the cause and the non participating students are not at all interested in the matter or are indifferent to whatever decision the State Legislature takes.

In sum, the author’s illogical argument in based on unsupportive assumptions and lacks legitimate evidentiary support which renders the conclusion invalid. If the author truly wants to convince the reader, he needs to restructure his argument, fix flaws in his logic, explicate his assumptions and provide supportive evidences. In failing to do so, the author is likely to convince very few people.