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TLDR:Got my GRE score 2 days ago. 165V+ 170Q, 4.5 AW. Should I retake to be more competitive in top 10?

 

wordy version: international student but undergrad at US. My advisor who served as our school’s adcom chair last year and another professor said 4.5 is ok. But just asked a third professor, very well-known, she seemed a bit concerned. She wrote “since you will be applying with a US undergrad, you might be unlucky and have your folder compared with others that are also from the US and have much better writing. So, for the very top places, it might make a difference”

 

I can do it a second time, but not sure if I can do better in AW, or even the other 2 for a second time.

 

thanks for your help! I love this forum!

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AW scores are borderline irrelevant in admissions for an Econ PhD. You have already achieved a verbal score of 165 and maxed out the most important thing(your quant score). The advice you have been given is rather misleading. You are better off trying to make your application stronger in other areas (i.e research). A quant score above 165+ will get you through the first phase of the applications process and other than that it becomes irrelevant.
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^ There’s nothing this applicant can do to substantially improve their profile in the short amount of time they have before the deadlines, especially with factors like “research experience”

 

Personally, I’d reassure you that GRE scores are good enough and that you should worry about other things, but if you’re the type to torture yourself over the “oh god what IF I had done better in writing” kind of mentality, then you should retake it for the sake of your mental sanity (unless you have competing obligations on your time. Have you figured out your NSF yet? The marginal value of your time would be much higher on the NSF than on the GRE)

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I agree with other posters. On this topic, your third professor is misinformed.

 

The U.S. average AWA score is 3.9. Econ applicants won't be significantly higher than average in this part. The median score for top 20 econ applicants should be 4.0 or 4.5. Your score won't weigh you down - assuming it has any weight in admissions.

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