GAMSAT Essay: All’s well that ends well
A student once gave a twelve page long essay to his Professor for evaluation. The student was seriously befuddled when he received the evaluated essay. There were absolutely no corrections made, just a brief remark in red: “So?” Clearly the Professor had not understood what the student had been trying to say in his write up. A good conclusion wraps up the entire essay. It is crucial that your GAMSAT Essay is summarised well. So, how do you write a concise conclusion which is also effective enough to impress the GAMSAT examiner to give you a good score?
Students often seem to lose patience when it comes to writing the conclusion for their essays during a test. GAMSAT is no exception. You may have expressed the best of ideas in your essay but summarise them well at the end. Tie up the loose strings. Go back to what you started with in the first place. What were the points you had sought out to discuss in the introduction? Were you arguing for or against a motion? Have you successfully taken a stand? Answer the question: “So?”
Don’t just recap, synthesise. Show the examiner that the points you made during the course of your essay had a purpose. The body of the essay should not consist of mere ramblings. Your GAMSAT essay needs to have a flow that gradually leads to a concrete conclusion. Don’t just list the points the examiner has already read through the body of the essay.
Look at the big picture. A good conclusion can never be too specific. If your essay began about something general and went onto discuss something really specific, make sure the conclusion goes onto a generalisation. The reader must receive something from your write up. Your GAMSAT essay should not give a vague and empty feeling at the end.
Leave a lasting impression:
- A good score on your GAMSAT essay is dependent on it. A good and easy way would be to end with asking a question. What does the reader think about the issue discussed? Does he agree with your viewpoint?
- End with a quote. Knowing a nice quote is indeed really useful for the GAMSAT essay. You cannot find a more succinct closure for your essay.
- Take the reader by surprise. We all know of the famous O’Henry twist at the end of the tale. While you are not writing a short story during GAMSAT, you most certainly can surprise the examiner with an effective line at the end of the essay. An oxymoron or something humourous that instantly connects with the examiner.
It is not just important to know how to end an essay, it is equally important to know when to end it. The timing is crucial. When you have said it all and you know it, just finish it. A good GAMSAT essay is a real confidence booster. So make sure that not just the cake is good, but the icing is lip smacking too!
