~Lowish verbal but high writing score- retake?

[TsarandProphet]

Hi guys,

I am planning to apply to Ivy-League programs in history, and my V and Q scores are 161, which I guess is quite low for the Ivies, but my writing score is 6. I wonder if my writing score will make up for the kind of low verbal score or not. Does anyone have any insight on this?

[SherpaPrep]

You should check each programs averages specifically. 

However, in my experience the writing score is often the least important part of an applications package. It's impressive, but it won't move the needle. 

Best,

Tae@SherpaPrep

P.S.- I'm a GRE instructor and Application consultant for a prep company in DC with 10+ years experience. 

[I_Charge_by_the_foot]

I'm with sherpa, check the average of the program. You want to aim for those at a minimum. 

On top of that, a perfect score on any of the sections is impressive and will raise an eyebrow, however, the sections that matter most is Verbal and Quant. Note, some school don't even publish their writing scores. You could, perhaps, mention it in your SOP, but I don't think that's a place to discuss any negatives.

Depending on the program (and its average), I'd probably just retake it. For example, my AWA score is the only consistent score during all THREE of my sittings for the GRE... I bet yours wont waiver much, if at all, between 5.5-6.0.