GRE (quant) a big deal for political theory programs?

[tebrown]

Hey folks,

Annoying GRE question, but here goes:

Just took the GRE: 163V; 158Q; 5.5AWA. Graduated from a small liberal arts school with a 3.997 GPA; 4.0 in poli sci dept.; double majored (second major was in English); completed fairly large senior honors thesis in the poli sci dept; will have great letters or recommendations (my profs were probably my best friends in undergrad, sadly enough); edited a campus political science journal my senior year; was active on campus in other respects; etc. 

My question is on the GRE score: I studied for ~ 6 months, and I think I left some points on the table as far as the quant score goes, but I'm pretty certain I peaked on my verbal.

Will the mediocre quant score eliminate me from consideration for the mid- / top-tier political theory PhD programs? Would scoring moderately higher (say, 161) be the difference maker? Is it worth it, in short, to retake to slightly bump up the quant?

Thanks!

[StrengthandHonor]

Hey, 

Sounds like we have very similar stats--I'm a 3.99 GPA Poli Sci & Econ double major from a small lib arts school. Large senior honors thesis, great LOR, etc. I'm also looking at PT Ph.D. programs. 

I'd suggest taking the GRE again, if you get the chance. I did 168V, 158Q, 5.5AW my first time. Second time, I just pulled up a hand full of points (170V, 161Q, 5.5AW). Admittedly, PT programs usually don't emphasize the quants score, but the three points from 158 to 161 moves your score from 70th percentile to 80th. What schools are you looking at?  Take a look at those programs and see what their median GRE scores for admitted students are. For most of my schools, medians were like 165V, 158Q. That boost might take your score from being "just below average" or "average" to being stronger, compared to your competition. For me, the slightly higher score gave me a lot more confidence in my file.