Should I retake a 166Q/164V GRE for top 10 master's programs?

[hcms1]

I recently took the GRE and got a score of 166Q (90th percentile) /164V (94th percentile) /4.5 AWA. I have a very good GPA (not to be braggadocios) and I think I can get some solid recommendations for master's programs in applied math and statistics, so I'm aiming for top programs.

However, most of the top 8 or so programs have median/average accepted GRE scores of 168Q or higher, which seems ridiculously high. I'm not quite sure how to feel about my 166Q since it's right on the 90th percentile, so I feel that it may be just slightly low for these programs but otherwise a very good score. So considering this, should I retake the GRE just to increase quant score by 2 or more points? I feel like the marginal return might not be all that great, but I would like to get into good programs.

I'm also domestic/US citizen so I'm not sure whether that's a factor in my application and how adcoms look at my GRE score.

I'm quite new to the graduate application process and have no reference point from family or many friends that have gone to STEM master's.

Thanks for any insights!

[hnn12]

8 minutes ago, hcms1 said:

I recently took the GRE and got a score of 166Q (90th percentile) /164V (94th percentile) /4.5 AWA. I have a very good GPA (not to be braggadocios) and I think I can get some solid recommendations for master's programs in applied math and statistics, so I'm aiming for top programs.

However, most of the top 8 or so programs have median/average accepted GRE scores of 168Q or higher, which seems ridiculously high. I'm not quite sure how to feel about my 166Q since it's right on the 90th percentile, so I feel that it may be just slightly low for these programs but otherwise a very good score. So considering this, should I retake the GRE just to increase quant score by 2 or more points? I feel like the marginal return might not be all that great, but I would like to get into good programs.

I'm also domestic/US citizen so I'm not sure whether that's a factor in my application and how adcoms look at my GRE score.

I'm quite new to the graduate application process and have no reference point from family or many friends that have gone to STEM master's.

Thanks for any insights!

Don't bother retaking the test. Your score is good enough for any master programs in Statistics. GRE score is used by adcoms to sweep out applicants with very low score rather than to differentiate among qualified applicants. Given that you have very high GPA and solid letters of recommendation, I think you are in good shape to get into a top 10 master program. It is difficult to give you a more thorough assessment without additional information such as your undergrad institution. 

[hcms1]

18 minutes ago, hnn12 said:

Your score is good enough for any master programs in Statistics. GRE score is used by adcoms to sweep out applicants with very low score rather than to differentiate among qualified applicants. 

Yeah I was kind of thinking that adcoms differentiating between 166 vs 168 GRE quant scores seemed a bit too scrupulous to the point of being almost ridiculous. But again, I have no real reference point, so I wasn't sure. Thanks for the answer though!