DogsArePeopleToo

Hi dreamchaser,
As a general rule, Grad Schools expect you to have taken the GRE and submitted your application by the application deadline - so even if it takes a few extra days for your Official Score to be sent in, then they're often fine with that. Many Programs receive so many applications that it can take weeks (or months) for the Admissions Committees to properly read through them all, so it would be surprising for a School to 'ding' you because of the time that it takes for ETS to process your report.
Thankfully, there's actually a really easy way to find out how the specific Programs that you're interstate in address this issue - ASK them directly.
GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,
Rich

A deck has 52 cards, with four suits, with each suit evenly distributed (13 each). 

It's good to also read this page on the Quant section: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/quantitative_reasoning On that page, they link to a PDF that explicitly defines all the assumptions and conventions: https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_math_conventions.pdf
Playing cards are not mentioned on these pages at all. I don't remember any such question in my exam (but it was a long time ago). I would think that this means ETS should not ask about such things, since playing cards aren't exactly the same internationally and it's an international test. But good to keep what the above poster said in mind, just in case.

Good question.
The test-makers strive to create questions without cultural bias. So, they'd never assume that everyone knows the composition of a deck of cards. 
If a question about a deck of cards were to appear on the test, you'd be given all of the necessary information about the deck. 
Cheers,
Brent
 

For these mpp/mpa applications they're also often asking for resumes instead of CVs. I would imagine part of the answer lies in how long your resume is currently.
For those who are more experienced, I know an mpp resume can go over a page, but would y'all recommend ensuring everything fits on two pages? 

List it under its own heading as "volunteer" and/or "related experience." My resume has the headings - Education, Leadership (Residence Life, mentoring, etc.), Relevant experience (observation, undergrad practicum, research), volunteer, work experience (jobs that I was actually paid for), skills (other languages spoken, computer skills, familiarity with certain software programs, etc.). 

Hi afgun_haund,
Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores. Since you're still early-on in your studies, instead of thinking in terms of "how many more questions do I need to answer correct...", you should put your analysis into WHY you got questions wrong. While practice test review should be a bit more detailed than what I'm about to show you, here's an easy way to get started:
After reviewing this MST, how many questions did you get wrong:
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math that you just didn't know how to do?
3) Because the question was just too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
Those details will help to define what you need to focus on going forward.
GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Here's what the last 10 directors of policy planning did for their higher education:
Jonathan Finer (current): JD from Yale, MPhil from Oxford David McKean: JD from Duke, MA from Fletcher Jake Sullivan: JD from Yale, MPhil from Oxford Anne-Marie Slaughter: MPhil from Oxford, JD from Harvard, DPhil from Oxford David Gordon: BA from Bowdoin, PhD in political science and economics from University of Michigan Stephen Krasner: MA from Columbia, PhD from Harvard Mitchell Reiss: MA from Fletcher, JD from Columbia, a higher degree from Oxford Richard Haass: MPhil and DPhil from Oxford Morton Halperin: BA from Columbia, PhD in IR from Harvard Gregory B. Craig: MA from Cambridge, JD from Yale As you can see, the director of policy planning requires a lot of academic study, and law is a very prominent academic path. (Also very prominent is Ivy-league schools or the Oxbridge).
But more than a type of degree (law vs MA), these people have a lot of degrees, mostly from prominent schools. 
Obviously, millions of people have many degrees from prominent schools, so I'd also look at their professional careers.
In all, if you have the right career path to get you to DoD or State, I'd advise that you do a JD. It's a professional degree that qualifies you to practice law, unlike MA degrees that don't do that. A JD is also far more versatile and can open up more opportunities than an MA.
So, if you have the time, patience and (scholarship) money to do a JD, I'd opt fort hat. I'm obviously biased because I'm inclined to do a JD, but you can't deny its prominence in the list above and the fact that it opens up more doors.

Also, I think these salaries are a little optimistic, especially for a second-tier grad.
I make a bit more than 61k, but I work in the private sector, graduated from a first tier school, and had some solid work experience before going back for my degree. I also had to negotiate for my salary.
Getting those USAID jobs is quite hard, and getting those UN jobs is almost impossible. I have friends who work for USAID contractors, with the hope of eventually working for USAID, and they're making in the upper 40s and low 50s - and expect to do so for a few years. That kind of salary is quite hard to live on in DC even without a loan payment. I do have some friends who've gone abroad, but I haven't discussed salary with them too much.
 
 
 

Here's what the last 10 directors of policy planning did for their higher education:
Jonathan Finer (current): JD from Yale, MPhil from Oxford David McKean: JD from Duke, MA from Fletcher Jake Sullivan: JD from Yale, MPhil from Oxford Anne-Marie Slaughter: MPhil from Oxford, JD from Harvard, DPhil from Oxford David Gordon: BA from Bowdoin, PhD in political science and economics from University of Michigan Stephen Krasner: MA from Columbia, PhD from Harvard Mitchell Reiss: MA from Fletcher, JD from Columbia, a higher degree from Oxford Richard Haass: MPhil and DPhil from Oxford Morton Halperin: BA from Columbia, PhD in IR from Harvard Gregory B. Craig: MA from Cambridge, JD from Yale As you can see, the director of policy planning requires a lot of academic study, and law is a very prominent academic path. (Also very prominent is Ivy-league schools or the Oxbridge).
But more than a type of degree (law vs MA), these people have a lot of degrees, mostly from prominent schools. 
Obviously, millions of people have many degrees from prominent schools, so I'd also look at their professional careers.
In all, if you have the right career path to get you to DoD or State, I'd advise that you do a JD. It's a professional degree that qualifies you to practice law, unlike MA degrees that don't do that. A JD is also far more versatile and can open up more opportunities than an MA.
So, if you have the time, patience and (scholarship) money to do a JD, I'd opt fort hat. I'm obviously biased because I'm inclined to do a JD, but you can't deny its prominence in the list above and the fact that it opens up more doors.

It really varies greatly depending on where you work (even within the US) and what organization you work for.
Generally, MPA/MPPs end up mostly in the public or nonprofit sector. For US salaries of employees in these sectors, you can see this and this (chart below).
But if you work for an organization such as USAID, for example, you can expect to be paid roughly $10K-25K more than any employer in the US. This is because you'll typically be employed abroad. Any of USAID's major contractors such as IRD, TetraTech, DAI, Counterpart, etc. also pay very well. If you live overseas, you also generally get housing, security, meals, transportation and fully- or pratially-paid R&R.
If you are lucky enough to end up in the UN and work overseas, you get similar royal treatment. The UN also pays you thousands of dollars in "hazard pay" on top of your salary if you work in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, CAR, South Sudan, etc. (or anywhere else that the UN considers "hazard" deployment). Some UN employees get two-week R&Rs for each six weeks worked.
Additional degree in computer science is a plus, but in my experience not a major plus factor in the industry I described above. In this field, you need program management, paper chasing, multicultural experience, etc.
Hope this helps.
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Chart below from MPADegree .org
Chart below from 
 

I urge everyone to save the 4 real ETS practice tests (2 in book, 2 in Powerprep) until your last month or few weeks of studying.
 
Those tests are simply invaluable.  They exactly simulate the difficulty of the real test and give you a perfect picture of the types of questions asked, the level of inferring you have to make in verbal, etc etc.
 
You should only take them when you are confident in your vocab + know all the math concepts.  You should not use one of those tests for an initial diagnostic score, but rather as an accurate assessment of how you might actually perform on the real test.
 
This strategy of saving real practice tests has allowed me to score near perfect SAT and GRE scores.
 
Another super strategy is to somehow mark your wrong answers on your test without actually knowing what the correct answer is.  On Powerprep it's really easy because you have the option of revealing of the correct answer.
 
It's really important that you discover the correct answer to a question YOURSELF.  You learn a LOT more when you figure out why something is wrong vs. when a book simply tells you that your answer is wrong and gives you the right answer.
 
This is my last post on the forum.  Please do not waste those ETS tests!