This is an excerpt of a youtube video about how to write a GRE issue essay. The author of this guide is Greg Mat.

First of all, let’s explore the structure of an issue essay:

Introduction

  • Hook (generalization, anecdote, interesting fact, trend, quote, etc.) ○ Introduce the topic (nothing more). Don’t write your thesis or supporting ideas!
  • Shift to prompt ○ Makes your essay more cohesive; an abrupt shift to your thesis is awkward
  • Thesis (most important part of the essay, by far) ○ This baby is the boss that controls everything
  • Outline (Tell your reader how you’re going to structure your essay) ○ Doesn’t have to be overly detailed

Body Paragraphs

  • Topic sentences that introduces supporting ideas ○ That is imperative that this introduce the overall idea of the paragraph and that it supports your thesis.
  • Example ○ You need a good example here, preferably from history, politics, economics, etc. If not possible, think of a good hypothetical. I don’t want to hear about Uncle Bob.
  • Development/Explanation ○ You need to develop this idea. You need to explain how your supporting idea connects to your thesis. You need to explain why this matters.

Conclusion

strong thesis route:

  • Introduce a counterpoint that someone from the other side might use to argue against your position
  • Shut down that counterpoint and explain how it doesn’t apply and doesn’t hold water
  • Rephrase thesis and wrap this baby up

moderate thesis route:

  • Explain how this issue is very complex and that there are no easy answers.

Example Question

College students shoudl be encouraged to pursue subjects that interest them rather than the courses that seem most likely be lead to jobs.

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 developping 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.

Model Essay

The choice of one’s college majors is not a trivial one. In fact, it is not uncommon for entering students to reminate on this decision for months, perhaps years, and then, once a decision has been made, immediately begin to second guess it.1The prompt recommends that students not belabor this point too long and simply choose a path that conforms most closely to their interests and skills. 2 In my opinion, I strongly agree with this suggestion and argue that students look inward rather than outward when choosing college courses for three reasons.3

To begin, the job market is ever shifting, and one decade’s “hot” job is another decades’s dying one. Thus, to choose one’s professioin based solely on the availability of work is to take a short-term perspective, one that will likely backfire. 4 For instance, in the 1950s through the 1980s, nuclear engineering was a rapidly growing field as many of the most powerful nations on Earth were not only designing and manufacturing nuclear weapons, but hundreds of nuclear power plants as well. Consequently, nuclear engineering graduates were able to find high-paying work almost immediately upon graduation. However, because of issues related to not in my back yard and recent nuclear accidents like the well-publicized Fukushima disaster, many countries are moving away from nuclear power in favor of other green technologies. Students who chose nuclear engineering in the 1970s because of the “abundant” job prospects were certainly facing a different job market in the 1990s - and this market has only worsened throught the 2000s. 5 The above example illustrated that the job market is highly contingent upon unpredictable factors and that, if one assumes it is static, he or she is likely to get burned at some point in the future. It seems absurd to think of now during the current technological boom, but will the software engineering industry still possess dizzying job prospects in the future? History tells us that it will not. 6

Further, even if we assume that the job market is not dynamic, that it is as unchanging as gravity, one should still pursue his or her interests because our happiness level plays a crucial role in how effectively we work. 4 For instance, if a student who is passionate about horst training “pragmatically” chooses the path of computer programming becasue of the plethora of lucrattive job oppotunities, she runs the risk of finding herself in a field she abhors and a job she finds no satisfaction in. She might go to work each day, sit at her desk, adn stare at her computer screen with the horse wallpaper, wondering what could have been and the career path she could have chosen. She might complete her programming tasks haphazardly and submit subpar work. 5 Research has consistently demonstrated that, perhaps above all other factors, happiness has the most direct effect on work efficiency. In other words, worders who find personal satisfaction in their craft not only work faster, but produce higher qualify products and services as well. Thus, on a macro scale, governments should enourage their populations to pursue their passions because, long-term, doing so leads to a more smoothly functioning economy not bogged down by worker discontentment. 6

Of course, some argue that in our increasingly globalized economy competition for jobs has skyroceketed and thus it is imperative that we pursue practical paths. 7However, isn’t that precisely why we should following our interests? If we do so, we’re likely to do the best job possible. We’re likely to compete at the highest level. We’re likely to carve out a niche for ourselves in this “increasingly globalized world”. People who ignore their inner voices do so at their own peril. 8

  1. Hook. ↩

  2. Shift to prompt. ↩

  3. Thesis. ↩

  4. topic sentence that introduces supporting idea. ↩ ↩2

  5. example. ↩ ↩2

  6. explain and develop. ↩ ↩2

  7. strong route: introduce a counterpoint. ↩

  8. shut down the counterpoint and rephrase the thesis. ↩