Should I retake the GRE?

[Rapang]

Hi,

I just took the GRE today and got a 160 (86%) on the verbal and 157 on the quantitatve (77%). Im planning to apply to PhD anthro programs with an emphasis on Environmental Anthro for the fall of 2013. My undergrad gpa is 3.2 at UW-Madison and my major gpa is around 3.7/8. I'm applying to Yale, Stanford, University of Georgia and U of Washington. Should I retake the GRE to improve my Verbal? Or should I be fine? I'm a little more worried that it won't be high enough to get me into Stanford or Yale. I know the GRE is not the main factor in admissions, but I was just wondering.

Thanks,

Ray

[aberrant]

Numbers are not the only factors to get into grad school -- your personal statement, research experience, and recommendation letters are very important as well (if not the most).

I'm not sure why you only "worried" about not getting into, specifically, Stanford or Yale. Obviously, I'm not an Anthropology major, but I would expect that competitive applicants for these schools would have a higher GPA (including your overall/undergrad). In other words, while your GRE might not be as good as those who are considered "competitive" by the schools that you have mentioned, your GPA might hurt your more -- assuming that you do not have outstanding, extremely strong recommendation letters to even out your "numerical disadvantage(s)".

ps1. not much info on Stanford Anthro's Ecology and Environment track @ the result search. However, the person (international applicant) who got an interview had 4.0 GPA, (I guess) +80% verbal and quant.

ps2. there isn't "Environmental Anthro" at Harvard (as far as I can see from the dept. website).

Edited June 23, 2012 by aberrant

[Rapang]

In terms of my GPA, while it is about a 3.25, my last two years have been considerably strong and show consistent improvement. I'm not only worried about not getting into those two, but since those are my top two choices, they would be my more immediate worry, but I understand what you're saying. With this "numerical disadvantage", would you agree that it may be beneficial to retake the test and shoot for a 90% verbal?

Thanks a lot!