Importance of an Old GRE

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I took the GRE four years ago. I did all right on it. The scores on the old scale were V=580, Q=710, and AW=4.0 and estimated new scale V=158, Q=155, and AW=4.0. I’ve noticed that my quantitative percentile has gone down from 71 to 64. I have two master’s degrees and a decent amount of research (undergrad GPA=3.2, master's 1=3.5 master's 2=3.6). This will be my third year applying to PhD programs (immunology and bioinformatics/systems biology programs). I’ve had interviews both years. I have been told that I’m qualified and my thesis ideas are great, but my ideas couldn’t be done at those universities. I was recommended to apply to another university. That university recommends having GRE scores in the 80th percentile or more on their website. However, I’ve been talking to the director, and I’ve been told don’t bother unless they are really low. I’ll probably ask later what the cutoff is before people actually read my application. I guess my question here is should I bother taking the GRE again?

[iowaguy]

Why not retake it to see how you do? You don't have to report it now anyway with "score select"... If you do better, you report it. If not, you report your old one...

[emmm]

Are you applying to enough schools? Do you need to be more flexible regarding what you are willing to research? It is competitive, so it is possible that you just have not had much luck with admissions, but maybe you are not looking at enough possible programs?

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I didn't know they changed how scores were reported, so I might retake it depending on how my practice test are. For the number of schools, I've been applying to ~6 a year. I might need to be more flexible with what I'm willing to research, but I don't want to end up in a situation where I hate what I'm doing either.