berniceys

Hello. I took GRE a year ago and got 620V, 780Q. I wasn't too thrilled with my verbal, but what was worse was my AW score-3.5. I'm currently doing a master in public policy and my GPA is so far good(4.0) and have some work experience in NGOs and private companies. I'm planning to take some methodology courses this summer to improve my research skills, so that I could start working on my papers, hopefully for publication or at least conference presentation in this fall. I have two semesters remaining and I'll be applying for a PhD in international security/regional studies(political science) next fall. Being very ambitious at this point, I'm thinking about applying to some top 20 schools and very much concerned with my GRE score stopping me from getting in. If I retake GRE this summer, I won't be able to take the seminar courses, which could hinder my paper prep. Plus I'm not too sure if I could improve my AW score much with just one month of preparation. Any thoughts or if I should retake the test, any advice for studying AW? Thanks.