Profile Evaluation-Low GRE AWA

[izmir]

Hey everyone!

So I just learned my GRE scores a minute ago literally and my AWA score came lower than I expected. I am posting my profile and schools that I will apply. Can you please give me an idea on my chances of being admitted to these programs and also whether I should take the GRE again or not. I am an international student and getting the Verbal score I got was a real pain for me and I don't know if I can keep it on that level while trying to increase my AWA. Here is my profile:

Undergraduate Institution: low-ranked private university. (in the US)

Major: Political Science Minor: Stats and German

GPA: 3.98

GRE: V 160 Q 168 AWA 4.0

Letters of Recommendation: One from a tenured professor that I RAd for and very close with, one from a tenured professor that I took two classes with and knows me very well, and one from a non-tenured professor that I have a good relationship with. 

Research Experience: I RA'd for two quarters and I was awarded an undergraduate research grant for my summer research project which closely aligns with my research interests.

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Comparative politics and international relations. I am primarily interested in Authoritarianism-Terrorism

Additional Skills: I am proficient in Turkish and conversational in German.

My top choices are Yale, UMichigan-Ann Arbor, Cornell, Duke  

Thanks...

Edited August 10, 2017 by izmir

[guest56436]

It's not great but fine, 160/168 is a great score and that's all that really matters. Many profs don't even look at AWA.

[izmir]

14 hours ago, Comparativist said:

It's not great but fine, 160/168 is a great score and that's all that really matters. Many profs don't even look at AWA.

Thanks. I think the writing sample that I will submit might be a better indication of my writing than AWA. What do you think about the rest of my profile? What should I do to strengthen it?

[deutsch1997bw]

I wouldn't worry about it. Your profile appears pretty strong as it is.

[izmir]

21 hours ago, deutsch1997bw said:

I wouldn't worry about it. Your profile appears pretty strong as it is.

Thanks for the response. I looked at your profile and it seems like we have similar interests and similar profiles. Do you think the schools I mentioned are a long shot for me? Because I saw you did not even mention any of the schools I wrote above ?

[deutsch1997bw]

 

22 minutes ago, izmir said:

Thanks for the response. I looked at your profile and it seems like we have similar interests and similar profiles. Do you think the schools I mentioned are a long shot for me? Because I saw you did not even mention any of the schools I wrote above ?

All of the schools on my list have specialists in the politics of the post-Soviet world. Yale and Duke don't have anyone working on the area, and while Cornell has Bunce, but she is getting up there in age, and I'm not sure if she is supervising graduate students anymore.