Short answer from experience: it will not significantly affect your applications.

Top business schools (HBS, Wharton, Stanford, MIT) will focus mostly on your GMAT/GRE score rather than the writing part. I have several friends who are doing their MBA at top business schools that skipped the writing part of the GMAT exam. My suggestion is:

a) if you already have taken the exam (GMAT/GRE) with a high score, no need to retake the exam. Business schools will not give a lot of importance to the writing score and they will consider also your general experiences in evaluating the results (e.g., having international experience)

b) if you are about to take the exam (GMAT/GRE) you should take the writing part and try to do your best. In most schools, you will have to at least show your overall results, so it is always better to have a good grade

I hope this helps! Happy to go more into details in pvt :)

Also, most top business schools accept both GRE and GMAT exam of course (I see some confusion in the comments)

It's of small relevance indeed. 

Basically, this of this entire application process as being a few dozen levers that you can work. 

Your scores are just one of them, and in fact, one of the smaller. 

By comparison, two of the biggest are how well your CV is written (as opposed to the actual experiences you have) and whether you have a referral. 

So with limited time and multiple levers available, you should rather focus your efforts on those which matter the most. 

A couple of articles to help you with this:

Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals

If you need extra help, do reach out. 

Best,
Cristian

Is this for application to MBB? No one asks for GRE scores as part of the application process

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• I would highly advise you to focus on strengthening other aspects of your applications rather than retaking the GRE.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your application files, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Congratulations on your GRE result. As previously mentioned, retaking the writing part will make a marginal difference to your application (this is a great example of the 80/20 consulting role).

Instead focus your remaining energy on polishing your CV and your essays to make sure they best represent you and your professional goals!

Happy to support you on your journey! Goodluck!

Yousef

This is really minor, almost being irrelevant. MBAs care about the global score, not much about the writting part (sure, they don't want to see a 2.0 in there, but as long as you do the bare minimum - which you did - it is perfectly fine).

Agree with the rest of the coaches here. I would focus on other areas to improve your application.

All the best,

Florian