GRE scores for Education Graduate programs

[scarletstudent]

Hello!

 

I am applying to graduate degrees in Elementary Education and Secondary Education for the Fall 2014 semester (so apps are due in a couple of months).

 

I have two sets of GRE scores which amount to the same thing but weigh out differently:

 

From 2009: Qualitative = 570 (translates to about 158, 78%), Quantitative = 670 (translates to about 152, 49%), Writing = 4.5 (78%)

 

From 2013: Qualitative = 154 (62%), Quantitative = 156 (65%), Writing = 5.5 (97%)

 

As you can see, I have average scores that make the minimum requirement for getting admission into a graduate Education program. I was always leaning towards sending my newer scores, but the more I do research the more I see that education schools expect a better verbal score and my 2009 test scores might be better for this.

 

To give you a bit of a background, I went to state school, have an average general GPA but an excellent major GPA, have a stellar resume (worked in academic publishing for a few years), got great recommendations, and wrote a winning personal statement. The schools I'm aiming for are in the Top 50. 

 

Any thoughts? Should I just send both tests (which automatically happens if I don't use the new Score Select option)? Do you think that would do any harm? The negative side is that it shows I didn't get any better at test taking, but the positive side is that my writing score improved significantly. 

 

Thanks for your time. Any opinions are appreciated.

[Loric]

They're so close i don't think it's going to matter but the higher writing score does look noticeably better - so if i had to pick only one set, it'd be that one. If you send both, it reinforces that your work in publishing increased your writing ability (per a standardized test, which i inherently don't trust... but you're going into education, so these people sort of have to.)

[Loric]

Also.. you mentioned a negative side.. which is..? You didn't learn words that arent commonly used in everyday speech or new math theories while not in a class dedicated to it because those have very little to do with the real world?

 

Who'd have thought..