The Bench - What is the lowest quantitative score I could get away with?

[Chilton_Manhattan]

Hi! I recently took the GRE, and my results were abysmal: 159V/143Q/4AW. 

I am interested in applying to a MPP/MPAffairs program, and I got a strong leadership/public service background (AmeriCorps VISTA member, was awarded a renowned national scholarship focused on public service, extensive volunteer experience), a 3.87/4 GPA, studied abroad (Latin America) and got great LORs ( both academic and professional). 

I understand that I should retake the test, but there are three main considerations: all my mentors (which include an alumnus of a top 5 program which is my dream school) suggests I apply with this score; my financial situation is prohibitive, which makes it hard for me to invest in resources such as Magoosh or Manhattan Prep, or postpone my application cycle; and my quantitative background is complicated (I attended a STEM-focused high school, but haven't touched a math book in +7 years), so I'm afraid I won't be able to achieve a +12 point improvement in the quantitative section (to hit 155, the quantitative benchmark I keep finding in the forums for top rated MPP/MPA programs). 

My question is: Can a strong personal profile overcome these results? Is it possible to be admitted and receive some kind of financial aid in a top rated MPP program with these scores?

If it's not possible, I would consider retaking the test, but I would have less than a month to study. Would it be possible to achieve such a dramatic score increase without having the fundamental mathematical knowledge to begin with? 

Thanks for your input! 

Edited November 19, 2015 by Chilton_Manhattan

[brown_eyed_girl]

You've left out info about how much you studied before taking the test, which makes a big difference in terms of whether you can improve significantly in a short amount of time. If you didn't study much or at all, then retaking makes a lot more sense than if these are your results after you studied seriously for 3 months.

As for not wanting to invest a lot of money, there are a lot of inexpensive or free GRE materials out there - personally I had a Princeton Review book (I think around $15) and used free Magoosh materials (free vocab app, free trial of website) and took free practice tests on the ETS powerprep software. Do you mean that you already used the free resources and you think you'd need to turn to alternatives to improve? 

As for whether to apply with these scores, I can't advise other than to say you should first check whether the departments you're interested in have minimum cutoff scores. You don't want to apply only to learn your app was discarded based on a low quant score. Beyond that, you can also ask the depts how heavily the GRE is weighed.