<p>I'm going to try to give the shortest version of my story possible by organizing it sequentially:</p>
<p>2002: Graduated small high school with very average grades (lack of motivation/maturity on my part)
2007: Graduated average, state school with degree in English/Writing (3.77 GPA) and decided on grad school
2008: Studied about a month and took GRE: 720V, 530Q, 5.5A (always been terrible at math)
2009: Worked for a while due to unfortunate life circumstances (death in family, loss of job, etc.)
2010: Decided to go back to original plan of grad school
Present: Accepted to Master's program at small, liberal arts school working on ecological issues from a social psychology perspective</p>
<p>Now, the future:
I've decided that when I finish my work here (in Spring of 2012), I want to continue on to a PhD researching Social Psychology (interested in Evolutionary Psych and Relationship Psych, so thinking UCLA, UCSB, UT, NY, Cornell, etc.). I'm trying to figure out what my assets and drawbacks require me to do.</p>
<p>Assets:
- Anticipating excellent (maybe perfect) MA GPA
- Anticipating excellent references from people who know my work and have some good connections
- Good V and A score on GRE
- Will be participating in research experiences during MA work
- Will likely be presenting at one or more conferences (though not necessarily a Psych conference)</p>
<p>Drawbacks:
- No previous degree directly in a Psych or Soc Sci field (meaning limited credit hours on my transcript) despite familiarity and experience in subject
- Small, interdisciplinary MA school (an asset in my book, but not to some) with no noteworthy rankings
- Horrendous Q score on GRE and poor math skills
- Hoping to publish, but nothing so far</p>
<p>Now my questions:
1. Do I retake the GRE? Is it worth the risk of one of my other scores falling slightly? Will such a low Q be likely to hold me back in these fields and these schools?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Though many Soc Psych programs do not require the subject GRE, do I take it to (hopefully) prove my subject mastery?</p></li>
<li><p>Anything else I should consider?</p></li>
</ol>