<p>So I will be up front about this. My GRE scores are horrible. Verbal 490 and Quant 370. I am considering applying to an M.A program for my field </p>
<p>I have a very good undergraduate GPA for 3.4 overall and 3.85 Major GPA as well as one year of research experience in my social science field and psychology as well. </p>
<p>I have 3 wonderfully written letters of recommendation from professors who know me very well. </p>
<p>I realize that my scores in the GRE are extremely poor, but there are still a few schools for which I may still have a shot at getting in. </p>
<p>North Dakota State University
University of South Dakota</p>
<p>As well as some for profit schools like the University of Phoenix, Alliant, etc. </p>
<p>Would going to a public school like NDSU or USD - University of South Dakota…not University of San Diego - be an infinitely better alternative than going to a phoenix or perhaps Redlands school if my goal is to become a community college instructor?</p>
<p>My question may seem rather ingenuous however, I do realize the reputation and lack of credibility that a degree from a school like Phoenix or Alliant holds. That being said, some schools from Midwestern states like NDSU and USD are not very well known. Would they really be a much better alternative?</p>
<p>You should really study/test prep for the GRE and go back and take the exam again, then apply at a later date. Your GPA/rec letters should get you in much better schools, but those scores are absolutely impossibly killer.</p>
<p>The sad thing is I studied for about a month and a half for those scores. 
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<p>You should have seen my baseline… Literally 7 problems correct on the math section. </p>
<p>I am considering taking a year off after I graduate in December and just study for the GRE and apply for 2014. It would mean 1 year of doing basically nothing except studying but I could always move back home and probably improve my GRE score to at least a 550v and 450 quant.</p>
<p>You don’t need to spend a year studying for the GRE. If you spent a month and a half and only got those scores, I would simply say that you need a better study technique, and an investment in test prep classes or tutoring would probably pay great dividends. Good graduate schools in psychology expect verbal scores in the 600 range.</p>
<p>Yeah, Currently I began studying again for the revised GRE, getting slightly higher (153 verbal) in my practice tests. I am using the prep books like Princeton Review, and this time I bought an online prep course (Magoosh). </p>
<p>The only reason why I said I would need to take a year off is because in order to apply for the fall of 2013 most graduate programs will want you to have your application in by the beginning of or mid February. Basically if you can’t get the application in by then I believe you have to wait until the next year’s application period.</p>
<p>You have plenty of time between now and then. It’s only September. :)</p>