2nd Round - What to focus on?

[NRestrepo93]

Hey guys, 

I'm getting ready to send out a bunch of new applications after not getting into any of my choices last year. I was applying to very competitive programs so it's understandable I guess. However, I have been checking average GRE scores online and realized that my quant score is slightly below average ( v: 166, q: 157, AWA: 5.5). My top choice this year is Duke, where the average GRE quantitative score of last year's admitted students was 160. 

I guess my question is: should I try to get a better GRE score or should I focus on other aspects of my application? 

I'm also applying to other countries (and deadlines are looming quite closely) so I'm just not sure whether investing a month in intense, GRE prep is worth it. What do you guys think?

 

Thanks very much for the help! 

Nico

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

I'm not in sociology so I'm not sure, but will 3 points really make that big of a difference? I suppose it's a 10% difference in percentile, but I don't think studying for a month to improve 1 section of the GRE by 3 points is necessarily the best use of your time. Remember, to get an average admitted score of 160, they accepted students with scores both above and below this threshold (unless they're basing it on mode, and that would just be weird, or if they only accepted students with scores of 160...). Instead of worrying about 3 points, I would focus on making my SoP, CV, and writing sample shine. In my not completely informed opinion, your scores are good enough they won't exclude you from a program, but no one ever gets accepted on the strength of their GRE alone. 

[infovore]

I am in a very similar boat, my Quant score is 156, which is slightly lower than some of the programs I'm applying to. I went in knowing I hadn't really studied enough for that section, and I feel confident I could get a higher score if I really poured a lot of energy into it. But looking at the average scores and such I came to the decision that it's better for me to focus on making the rest of my applications as polished as possible.