I'm working on applying to several linguistics PhD programs for Fall 2017, specifically for historical linguistics/language documentation (with an emphasis on linguistic geography).
I just took the GRE and got a 157 (67th percentile) for quantitative and a 168 (98th percentile) on verbal (I expect my essay scores will be similarly high).
I understand that linguistics grad applications are typically considered quite holistically, and overall I do feel good about my position - I have pretty good grades (3.76 GPA), I have good relationships with the three professors writing recommendations for me, I'm confident that I'll be able to write myself strong statements of purpose, and I've begun emailing and building relationships with professors at the schools I'm interested in. (A potential weak point is the fact that I don't have a bachelor's in linguistics - I have a Geographic Information Science B.S., a Political Science B.A., and a linguistics minor.)
So it doesn't seem particularly imperative for me to retake the GRE to get a quantitative score more in the range of the 75th-80th percentile, but I have the nagging worry that someone with similar qualifications and interests will edge me out on the basis of their higher quant score. Is this a realistic concern? Obviously it's ultimately up to me, but would it be a worthwhile investment to study more and retake for a higher quant score?