apply this year or next year?

[doctor-to-be]

I graduated with my master's (in clinical social work) in late 1990s, and am trying to get into a doctorate program. My GPAs were great. I have an incredibly outstanding current and historical employment track in psychiatry. I've heard that doctorate psychology (Psy.D) admissions are extremely competitive. Because of my age I plan on applying only once and to just 1 school. Their cut off qualifying score for math and verbal general GREs is combined 305. If I get a 305-310 (second test is scheduled for the beginning of Dec.), would that be good enough to apply? Or, would it be better to give myself more time to prepare for the GREs in order to get a 315-320? I shooting low because despite preparing A LOT for a little over a month, I've been struggling a lot more than expected, and got only a 297 on the first real GRE.

[JoePianist]

As long as you meet the GRE cut-off score, you should be fine especially since you have such a relevant employment history in the field already. However, with how competitive Psy.D programs are these days, you really should consider applying for a few more schools. I'm currently working as a post-baccalaureate research assistant in a clinical psychology lab at a public university, and I'm also in the middle of filling-out applications for Ph.D Clinical Psychology programs myself. My research mentor suggested for me to aim applying for 8 schools, since many of these programs only accept less than 10 new students out of hundreds of applicants per year.