Importance of GRE

[HarryMing]

I'm an international student from China who recently graduated from UCLA with a 3.5 overall GPA, and a 3.8 statistics major GPA, and am going to start my statistics master's program at Columbia University this Fall.

I plan on applying to a PhD's program in statistics after I graduate from Columbia but I don't know if I should retake my GRE

I have a 170 (98%) on Math, 163 (92%) on Reading, and a 4 (56%) on writing. I am preparing for my GRE Math subject test but I don't know if I should retake my general GRE because I only got a 4 on writing. My dream schools are: 

Stanford
Berkeley
Chicago
Harvard
Washington
Columbia University

Since those are all competitive universities to get into for a PhD in statistics, I'm conflicted because I don't know how much getting a 4 on my writing matters?

I really appreciate every advice. Thank you all in advance.

[Apogeee]

I think you are on the low end of average scores for writing for Stanford, but still in the range of acceptances. You could consider taking the test again if you are planning to take a writing course or work with a tutor to help study. If I were you, I'd take a course and take it again, but I'm not you, and that's important! Great job on your math score.

 

[SAH]

I think you're fine.  Those quant and verbal score are amazing!  I'd work on other aspects of your application instead of trying to "fix" an already great GRE. 

[summer2016]

If you want to improve your writing score, I think you should take a writing class or find a tutor as somebody suggested above. I'm an international student too, I'm considering to retake GRE to get a better score in math (it is 163) because I didn't manage time well during the math part. But I don't think my verbal (153) would improve because verbal and writing need a longer time to actually improve. 

[HarryMing]

Thank you all very much for your suggestions! I really appreciate it!

[Residuals]

Your answers are at the departments sites. Read below from Chicago statistics PhD admission. There is no worry about improving your scores:

" We have no minimum for the GRE. Most applicants score above the 90th percentile of the quantitative section of the GRE. We are less concerned about the verbal and analytical writing sections. "

Edited July 3, 2016 by arima