This is one of the biggest questions on the minds of most students is whether their current GRE score is sufficient, or if they should retake the test.
The answer to this question depends on various factors, and you should question yourself whether retaking the test is worth the additional time and effort. You cannot retake the test until 21 days after your previous attempt, which means your application is getting delayed by at least a month’s time. Which is why, if you in fact plan on retaking the test, you should be sure that it is worth the time and effort spent on it.
If you are confident of improving by at least 5 points, then you should think about retaking the test. Otherwise, you shouldn’t, since a difference of one or two points won’t make much difference.
You should also do a reality check and ask yourself a few important questions, like:
- How well did you prepare the last time? Can you do better this time?
- How was your test day? Did you do a lot of silly mistakes that you can hope to avoid the next time?
- What was your score, and how close is it to the average score of the university you are planning to apply to?
- How much time do you have before the application deadlines hit you?
Based on your answers to these questions, you should be able to decide whether you want to retake or not. When in doubt, it is always better to retake than regret later.