70 Sample GRE Essay Topics for You to Practice

Are you a candidate who desires to pursue your higher studies in a foreign universities? If yes, then you will have to score high in the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). GRE is a popular graduate admission test conducted for candidates who wish to complete their graduate or MS studies abroad. This test is conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Most importantly, the test scores are also accepted for admission by many universities and colleges across the world. GRE is one of the largest assessments that are composed of various sections. Out of many sections, Analytical Writing is an important section with high weightage. Here, in this blog post, let us have a closer look at the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) and some sample GRE essay topics.

Are you a GRE test taker who wants to understand more about the GRE analytical writing section? Do you need help to strengthen your analytical writing skills? If yes, then continue reading this blog post.

An Overview of the GRE Analytical Writing Section

The GRE Analytical Writing section is a section in the GRE test. In this section, you will be asked to submit your answers to two different types of analytical essay questions as mentioned below.

1. Analyze an Issue
2. Analyze an Argument

The total time duration allotted for the entire section is 60 minutes. But you will have to use a duration of 30 minutes to answer each question.

The analytical writing section is mainly included in the GRE test to assess your critical thinking ability and analytical skills. Also, in this module, the selection panel will also check how effectively you have addressed complex ideas without deviating from logical points.

Here is detailed information about the two question types and their variations.

Analyze an Issue

This question will mostly evaluate your critical thinking ability on a particular topic. Also, it examines how well you have shared your ideas about it in writing. So, when answering the GRE issue analysis essay question type, you will have to put forward your views about the issue that is given in the question.

Actually, for analyzing an issue task, you can find nearly 6 variations in the question. Therefore, before you begin answering the question, first read the question carefully. Next, get a proper understanding of the information or instructions specified in it. Finally, after receiving a clear idea, prepare a compelling essay with your own perspectives on the central issue according to the instructions specified.

Remember, the panel would expect you to write an analytical essay as per the instructions given in the question. If you fail to stick to the instructions, then getting high scores on the GRE test will become hard.

As per the official website of ETS, listed below are the 6 varieties of instructions that you can find in analyzing an issue task. But in the GRE General Test, you will be asked to write an analyzing an issue essay on any one type of instruction.

Variety 1: Agree/ disagree with a statement

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Variety 2: Agree/ disagree with a recommendation

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

Variety 3: Agree/ disagree with a claim

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Variety 4: Agree/ disagree with a claim and its basis

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reasons on which that claim is based.

Variety 5: Which view aligns with your own?

Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.

Variety 6: Explain your views on a policy

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

Analyze an Argument

This question will test your ability to analyze, understand, and evaluate arguments as per the instructions mentioned in this question. So, when answering this question, make sure to analyze the argument given in the question based on logical validity. Remember, for this question, you need not share your personal opinions. When you analyze an argument, you should examine it with logical reasoning and supporting evidence.

Like, analyzing an issue task, analyzing an argument task also comes up with different types of instructions. Therefore, before you start answering the GRE argument analysis essay question, carefully go through the argument. It will help you get a clear understanding of the instructions specified in the question. Once you get a better idea about the question, critically analyze and evaluate the given argument logically. During evaluation, strictly adhere to the instructions specified.

While you read the argument in the question, be certain to focus on the following.

• What evidence is given in the prompt paragraph?
• What is claimed in the prompt passage?
• What is assumed, without proof in the essay question?
• What is not stated, but necessarily follows from?

According to the official website of ETS, in the GRE argument analysis essay question, you can commonly find the below-mentioned 8 varieties of instructions. But out of them all, you will be questioned to write an argument analysis essay only on any one type of instruction during the GRE Test.

Variety 1: Evaluate an Argument and Evidence

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

Variety 2: Examine Assumptions and Implications

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions, and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Variety 3: Evaluate a Recommendation and its basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

Variety 4: Evaluate the likely results of a Recommendation

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

Variety 5: Evaluate Advice and Questions

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the advice.

Variety 6: Discuss Alternative Explanations

Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.

Variety 7: Evaluate a Prediction and its basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.

Variety 8: Evaluate a Conclusion and its basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be addressed in order to decide whether the conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to the questions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

List of Sample GRE Essay Topics and Ideas

Are you searching for the sample GRE Essay Topics to practice? Don’t worry! From the ETS pool of issues and arguments, we have selected and listed some specific sets of GRE Essay topics of various difficulty levels here.

To develop your critical thinking and analytical thinking skills, practice all the sample GRE analytical essay questions.

Popular GRE Essay Topics

1. Art museums should be free and open to the general public.
2. How is happiness related to new experiences?
3. Learning and exploring is human nature.
4. A leader should promote innovation and change.
5. The quality of life is based on how developed a city is.
6. Leaders should be elected and not selected.
7. Excellent and creative filmmakers should be hired to create films to deliver complimentary public messages.
8. Students should finance their education with part-time work while they study.
9. Scientific fields of study need stronger critical thinking ability than other areas of study.
10. Developing country leaders should focus on modernization.

Simple GRE Essay Prompts

1. The effectiveness of a country’s leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country’s citizens.
2. The general welfare of a nation’s people is a better indication of that nation’s greatness than the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists.
3. It is more harmful to compromise one’s own beliefs than to adhere to them.
4. Educational institutions should actively encourage their students to choose fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers.
5. To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.
6. In any field of inquiry, the beginner is more likely than the expert to make important contributions.
7. There is little justification for society to make extraordinary efforts – especially at a great cost in money and jobs – to save endangered animal or plant species.
8. Unfortunately, in contemporary society, creating an appealing image has become more important than the reality or truth behind that image
9. Government officials should rely on their own judgment rather than unquestioningly carry out the will of the people whom they serve.

Read more: Great Discursive Essay Topics for Students to Deal With

Latest GRE Essay Topics

1. Social anxiety disorder symptoms are mostly caused by negative experiences and a family history of anxiety.
2. Money laundering is one of the factors that contribute to terrorism.
3. People who return to school after a period of working might get more out of their degree.
4. Every nation should remove the caste system to ensure equality and inclusion.
5. Artificial intelligence, robots, and machine learning are transforming the commercial sector.
6. Political parties should support persons from lower socioeconomic strata.
7. The keys to success are obedience and discipline.
8. Teenagers confront a variety of issues, ranging from cyberbullying to sex to academic and peer pressure.
9. Rapid industrialization is one of the most effective strategies to transition from a developing to a developed country.
10. To maintain environmental sustainability, the government should transition to renewable energy sources.

GRE Essay Topics on Issue Analysis

1. Young people should be motivated to pursue long-term, realistic goals rather than looking for quick fame and recognition.
2. Politicians should pursue common ground and reasonable consensus rather than elusive ideals.
3. Students should always question what they are taught instead of accepting it passively.
4. People’s attitudes are determined more by their immediate situation or surroundings than by society as a whole.
5. The human mind will always be superior to machines because machines are the only tools of human minds.
6. Educational institutions should discourage students from chasing after fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.
7. Society should make efforts to save endangered species only if the potential extinction of those species is the result of human activities.
8. Governments should offer college and university education free of charge to all students.
9. Competition for high grades seriously limits the quality of learning at all levels of education.
10. Teachers’ salaries should be based on their students’ academic performance.
11. In most lines of work and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge.

Additional Issue Analysis Topics for GRE Essay

1. The increasingly rapid pace of life today causes more problems than it solves.
2. Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country.
3. College students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.
4. All parents should be demanded to volunteer time at their children’s schools.
5. People should try risky actions only after they have carefully considered their consequences.
6. The following appeared as part of an article in a Dillton newspaper.
7. The following appeared in a memo from New Ventures Consulting to the president of HobCo, Inc., a chain of hobby shops.
8. We learn our most valuable lessons in life from struggling with our limitations rather than from enjoying our successes.
9. In any field — business, politics, education, government — those in power should be required to step down after five years.
10. The best test of an argument is the argument’s ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
11. The effectiveness of a country’s leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country’s citizens.
12. To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards.
13. Knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today.

A Few More GRE Issue Analysis Essay Questions

1. Educational institutions should actively encourage their students to choose fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers.
2. True success can be measured primarily in terms of the goals one sets for oneself.
3. a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it are justifiable.
4. The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people’s efficiency so that they have more leisure time.
5. We can learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
6. Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little.
7. The best test of an argument is the argument’s ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
8. Educators should take students’ interests into account when planning the content of the courses they teach.
9. Formal education tends to limit our minds and spirits rather than set them free.
10. True success can be measured mostly in terms of the goals one set for oneself.
11. The most effective way to understand modern culture is to carefully study the trends of its youth.
12. Nations should pass laws to preserve any remaining wilderness areas in their natural state.

Read more: Latest International Relations Essay Topics to Consider for Academic Writing

GRE Essay Topics on Argument Analysis

Listed below are some sample GRE argument analysis essay questions taken from the official website of ETS.

1. The following appeared as a recommendation by a committee planning a ten-year budget for the city of Calatrava.

“The birth rate in our city is declining: in fact, last year’s birth rate was only one-half that of five years ago. Thus the number of students enrolled in our public schools will soon decrease dramatically, and we can safely reduce the funds budgeted for education during the next decade. At the same time, we can reduce funding for athletic playing fields and other recreational facilities. As a result, we will have sufficient money to fund city facilities and programs used primarily by adults, since we can expect the adult population of the city to increase.”

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

2. The following appeared in a memorandum from the planning department of an electric power company.

“Several recent surveys indicate that homeowners are increasingly eager to conserve energy. At the same time, manufacturers are now marketing many home appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners that are almost twice as energy-efficient as those sold a decade ago. Also, new technologies for better home insulation and passive solar heating are readily available to reduce the energy needed for home heating. Therefore, the total demand for electricity in our area will not increase – and may decline slightly. Since our three electric generating plants in operation for the past twenty years have always met our needs, construction of new generating plants will not be necessary.”

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

3. The following report appeared in the newsletter of the West Meria Public Health Council.

“An innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantly reduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. A study reports that in nearby East Meria, where fish consumption is very high, people visit the doctor only once or twice per year for the treatment of colds. Clearly, eating a substantial amount of fish can prevent colds. Since colds represent the most frequently given reason for absences from school and work, we recommend the daily use of Ichthaid – a nutritional supplement derived from fish oil – as a good way to prevent colds and lower absenteeism.”

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

4. The following appeared in a magazine.

Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin D and calcium – substances essential for building and maintaining bones. Many people, therefore, say that a diet rich in dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is linked to both environmental and genetic factors and that causes the bones to weaken significantly with age. However, a long-term study of a large number of people found that those who consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study had a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. Since bone fractures are symptomatic of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis.

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

5. The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a journal on environmental issues.

“Over the past year, the Crust Copper Company (CCC) has purchased over 10,000 square miles of land in the tropical nation of West Fredonia. Mining copper on this land will inevitably result in pollution and, since West Fredonia is the home of several endangered animal species, an environmental disaster. But such disasters can be prevented if consumers simply refuse to purchase products that are made with CCC’s copper unless the company abandons its mining plans.”

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Conclusion

If you aspire to get a high GRE score, then try attending GRE Mock Tests online. You may also find solutions for as many GRE AWA practice test questions as possible to improve your skills. Moreover, the list of sample GRE essay questions listed in this blog post would help you gain more familiarity with the module. Especially, while practicing, instead of sticking to one specific type of instruction, identify answers for all the types of instructions available.