160Q - enough for top Engineering programs?

[Cyrone]

So I completed my 1st GRE about a month ago with 3 weeks of preparation, in preparation for Civil/Environmental Engineering at some top schools. I'm not sure what to think of my score - I'm in the top 20% in terms of mathematical ability. My main school I'm focusing on now is UC Berkeley, and since I'm coming from a university with similar prestige (U of I Champaign) I feel that it should be a smooth transition.

But I have no real statistics on UCB, nor do I see anyone else talking about them..

With a GPA of 3.22/3.4/3.58 (total/grad/major) is this a long shot?

- Cyrone

[midnight]

I found this (though I'm not sure exactly where the author acquired that info, and s/he also misspelled "Berkeley," so...):

http://www.newgre.org/admissions/good-gre-scores-engineering-programs/

So, does that mean I can ignore the verbal score?

In short, no. Many engineering graduate programs stress that while they’re looking for very high quantitative scores, they are also seeking out well-rounded applicants with the ability to communicate. Candidates with low verbal scores will not be appealing to engineering graduate schools, no matter how high their quantitative score is. Several of the engineering programs at University of California-Berkley, for instance, say candidates who are applying should have both verbal and quantitative scores above the 85th percentile. On average, the top 50 graduate schools were looking for verbal scores at or above the 70th percentile. Ideally, you should be aiming for a verbal score no more than five points lower than your quantitative score.

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Honestly I think you should retake to boost both just to be on the safe side and to offset your GPA a bit, but I'm sure others here can offer more insight!

[Cyrone]

Haha, that is funny that they misspelled Berkeley, but damn, that is slightly disheartening if not incredibly useful link you provided. I haven't studied at all since I last left the GRE a month ago, hoping that the prestige of UIUC would be enough to funnel me through. I have just a few days to decide..