Split Scores. Retake?

[ThePrincessBrideIsMyBible]

I took my GRE recently and split my verbal/math pretty heavily. I got a 159 on my math and a 170 on my verbal. I studied political science & international studies in undergrad and am interested in continuing in international relations. 

on the one hand I do think that I likely got a bit lucky on the verbal. Ive always been strong in this area and I was confident on most of the test but there were a solid couple of questions where I was definitely making educated guesses. So if I took the test again I'd be risking dropping my verbal GRE.

But on the other hand I could tell when I was taking the math that I just hadn't reviewed some stuff. There were several factorial problems and one trig problem that were straight forward, simple and which I just didn't remember how to do. I definitely didn't prepare for the math thoroughly and I am confident that with more disciplined prep I could improve my math score.

So theres the dilemma. I'm looking at programs that likely emphasize verbal over math. I could likely improve my math score but may slip in the verbal. Is the 11 point spread big enough to justify retaking?

[Tinaye]

In my opinion I wouldn’t jeopardize taking the test again. International Relations focus does not need such a high Quants score. 159 is not bad either. Focus on preparing a stellar application to accompany those great scores. If it was Economics focus then yeah the quant score will be slightly low. 

Overall, you are good to go with those scores. Focus on your applications. 

 

It will I’ll be good to know what strategy you used to have a good verbal score? 

 

all the best! 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Tinaye