Political Theory-Re-take GRE or wait rely on other facets of my application

[Anicca Writes]

So, I just gave the revised GRE Test on 2nd and since I am from India, the access to books on new gre which I had was for a limited amount of time. Nonetheless, in the end they showed my range in the old format and it was around 700 in quant and 530 in verbal(this hurts, since i don't really know what went wrong)....I have to wait till November for the new revised scored but I am confused about how to go about judging the score...should I give it again??

I have a B.A(hons) in political science with a 61%(first class) average score and an M.A in Development studies with a GPA of 4.56/6 (Grade A). I am planning to apply to P.hd courses in political science (with emphasis on political theory/political philosophy)...I was planning on applying at Princeton, Yale,  and Boston College. I also have work experience of around a year with few reputed international research organisations.

Can anyone suggest me how badly do I need to retake the GRE for getting through pol theory in the above mentioned colleges..also if someone could suggest me lower ranked places for good theory courses??

[CooCooCachoo]

I'm also looking to apply to Princeton, and the Politics Department website indicates that "in recent years, admitted students have typically had 700 or above on the quantitative and verbal sections of the GRE". That would mean your score on the verbal section is unfortunately not cutting the mustard. This might be all the more true if you are not even planning on doing any quantitative analysis in the PhD, which your research focus suggests. I haven't sat the GRE yet myself (since I haven't done maths in a long time, and am not naturally gifted at it, I need more preparation for the quant. part), but I have decided that I will not even bother applying to Princeton should I score lower than 700 on either section. If you have the resources (time-wise as well as financially) to allow yourself more intense preparation, then you seem to have a lot to gain from resitting.

In any case, best of luck!