How much weight is given to the Analytical Writing section?

[eliotrosewater]

I'm curious about this because I did not do nearly as well as I would have hoped on this section. I was a philosophy major in college and analytical writing should be one of my strong points. On test day I suspect I overthought one of the two questions and produced a poorly organized essay. I got a 3.5/6.0, so my score isn't awful, but it certainly isn't good either, nor is it reflective of my actual writing ability.

Do admissions committees for MPP/MPA programs tend to give a lot of weight to this score? My other GRE scores and GPA are pretty well in line with the averages at the schools I'll be applying to, so this will be the one hiccup for me.

[nickel]

Someone with Eliot Rosewater as a screen name should be a great writer!

It's hard to say how much weight adcomms give the AW score (at least for me, an applicant). It likely varies between school and candidate. While you could retake the GRE and try to boost that score, it's important to remember that it is just one part of the application. They'll likely get a better idea of your writing skills from your SoP and any other required essays, so make sure you take the time to do your best writing there. Assuming your deadlines are in January, you'll still have time to retake the GRE after finishing your essays (another assumption I'm making is that you still have work to do on your essays).

Anyway, take it for what it's worth. But from what I've heard of adcomms, the SoP is a crucial differentiator.