GRE for Public Admin

[freebird1205]

I'm a current Public Admin major attending Florida Int'l University, and I recently took a practice GRE test through Kaplan, to see how I'd score going in cold and I scored a 150Q and a 156V. I hope to bring up my quantitative to at least a 158 and verbal to a 165 come test day. I plan to graduate on time next spring (April 2015) and I want to start comprising a list of solid MPA programs around the country, preferably either the West or the Northeast. My ideal choices would be Syracuse, NYU, GWU, USC, UC (Berkeley, LA), Columbia, Rutgers, U. of Illinois or Penn State. If my scores are good enough I'd apply to Ivy League as well, like Harvard, Princeton, or Cornell. My GPA is not so much to write home about (2.77) as of now; initially I was an Accounting major, screwed up on two classes my first semester in university, switched to Public Admin.

 

So with that being said, do grad schools consider different GRE scores to each individual program, for example, a different scale for graduate applicants in architecture vs graduate applicants in public admin? And will my GPA blight my chances of getting into grad school?

 

Do grad schools also weigh in personal statements (like using the degree for future use or to contribute back to society) and LOR's as deciding factors? Do they also weigh in prior family members of that alma mater?

 

Really appreciate the input!

Edited February 17, 2014 by freebird1205