GRE with only 3.5 AWA, what's the marginal benefit of retaking?

[zsljulius]

I just received my score online. I had Q:165; V:163 and AWA 3.5. I am an international student, so the verbal score is good enough for me. My Quant is ok but definitely not great. However, when it comes to AWA, I feel like I am far from the average for most Top schools. During my preparation for GRE, AWA had been the toughest part for me. I am just bad at timed essay writing. Moreover, I am not sure if I can do much better on AWA even if retaking the test. If you guys think I should retake, do you guys have any suggestion on improving AWA?

Thanks for your help

[aspievirgin]

AWA 3.5 is at the 29th percentile, and that's not terribly bad for an international student. If you're looking at top schools, I'd be slightly more concerned over the Q score (=790) than the AWA score. It's well-known that there's a lot of subjectivity in the AWA section. I've known great analytic writers (journalists; philosophers) who receive a 4.0 on AWA. And if you look at the profile threads, scores from 4.0 to 4.5 from top applicants (or 5.5-6.0 from rather weak applicants) are a fairly common occurrence.

Retake if you think you can improve the Q score significantly, or both the Q and AWA score marginally. I don't see the sense of a retake simply for a small chance of getting higher on AWA, unless it truly doesn't reflect your ability (but it seems that it does). Your time is better spent on crafting a well-written SOP, which adcoms will most likely read more carefully after they see your AWA score.

[zsljulius]

Thanks for your reply, Aspievirgin.
I think I will retake on August, since ETS now allows for the test taker to select which score to send. I will try to improve my Q and AWA. The low Quant score is also a surprise to me too, but I should be able to boost it at least to 168 next time.