Poor AWA Score.. Is it worth retaking?

[ilminskiy]

Hello

I am an International Student (Turkish) and currently doing PhD in my country. I am applying to over ten PhD programs for Comparative Politics. They include some top-notch schools, mid-tier ones as well as a few third-tier schools..

I took the GRE test last year and my scores were v:159, q:166 but the AWA:3,5.

Do you think if I should retake the GRE test? I believe I could improve all of these score a little bit if I compromise from my time spared for handling the other parts of my applications.

[TheBumChikiBum]

IMHO : 

You don't really need to retake your GRE. Just focus on your application package as a whole.

[fuzzylogician]

As long as you have a good TOEFL score, I wouldn't bother. Do make sure your SOP and writing samples are well written, and run them by a native speaker if there is any doubt. 

[ilminskiy]

Thank you very much for your responses. I heard before that some schools have awa cut-off of around 4.0. My TOEFL was 105, I guess not that bad.

[fuzzylogician]

I think the myth of the strict cut offs might be a bit exaggerated. Schools might have (strong) preferences, but even if they are looking for students with AWA scores above 4.0,  if they find an otherwise excellent candidate with a 3.5, I don't think they will immediately exclude him/her. They will look at the AWA score in the context of the rest of the application -- is the TOEFL score low? Does the student's writing seem weak? Do their LORs say they are good writers? The approach is more holistic. (Of course, if you *know* for a fact that you are applying to a school with a strict cutoff score that's higher than yours, that's a different story.)