Hi,

As already mentioned by some people here, your GPA, recommendation lettersa nd Statement of Purpose are very important factors to get you into PhD. BUT since there are lot more people going for a graduate degree nowadays since the prospects of the job market aren't very bright, it has  become a lot more competative and a lot of schools are concentrating on GRE a lot more. Having said that, a lot of schools concentrate primarily on the Quantitative score rather than the Verbal score. Hence, you have an opportunity of getting a comparitively high Quantitative score and still getting in. Since I got the impression from you that you are yet to take the GRE, I think you should not try to get around it... but try your best to get good score on it. If you are having a problem with verbal (like I did) then concentrate on scoring good on the quantitative. Though most schools will not give you a cut off score, GRE is a huge determination of admission in grad. school.

 I think recommendations are also very important.. but not as important as the Statement of Purpose. You need to let the schools know that you are THE right candidate for the program. Once you are called for an interview.. be very confident and convince them that you are going to do everything possible to be successful in their program. Make them believe that picking you would be a decision that they would never regret. And wallah.. you will find yourself laboring day and night in a PhD program! Hope that helps. :)

P.S: If you need scholarships, assistantships or fellowships, dont forget to mention that in your application form and they will automatically consider you for it as long as they are ready to admit you and have the funding (which most places do).