157/169/4.0 retake for engineering applicant?

[dxvforte]

Hi, im applying to a material science and engineering phd program.

I got a 157/169/4.0 (73%/ 97%/ 54%)

on my GRE. Should I retake it?

PS. Im an international applicant

[dxvforte]

Im going to apply for top 10 schools, so what percentile should i aim for?

[DropTheBase]

International students accepted to Top 10 engineering/matsci programs usually have very high Quantitative scores (but usually lower Verbal scores, nice job!).

 

It might be worth trying to raise your quanitative score, but this depends on how the rest of your application looks. It might not be necessary.

 

DTB

[Arcanen]

You didn't specify which scores were for which component. If you listed as V/Q/AW, no need to retake. If it's Q/V/AW, you absolutely need to retake.

 

Assuming the latter:

 

Different schools use the GRE in different ways, but you'll get automatically cut from a bunch of schools on the basis of your GRE before the rest of your application is read (because adcoms typically don't want to read 1000 applications, 3000 letters of recommendation, 1000 personal statements etc, they'll often sort by numbers e.g. GPA and GRE and cull an enormous proportion of the applicants before they are even truly considered). It's certainly possible to get into good programs with poor GRE scores, if those schools don't use a GRE cutoff, don't place much emphasis on the GRE and you are otherwise an exceptional candidate. But that's a very specific set of circumstances that won't occur in many places, and so you shouldn't let yourself by falsely reassured by tales of how this and that person got into a good school despite their scores. Remember, grad school admissions are tough, low single digit acceptance rate tough (my doctoral program had a 3% acceptance rate for example). The vast majority of people get rejected from all the top schools they apply to. A 157 quant score? Very likely to get your applications to top engineering programs binned.

 

If the 157/169/4 is V/Q/AW, you're good to go. You'll pass any GRE "cutoffs" and your application will be valued on its other merits.

[MikKar]

I'm assuming that you're score is V/Q/AW

 

Maybe you can push your Analytical Writing score to 4.5/5.0, but your scores are otherwise fine.

[dxvforte]

yea, it's V/Q/AW score.

 

I was kind of worried about my verbal score because it isn't above 160.

and getting a 169 kind of bothers me.

 

I'll retake it once more and try to bring my verbal and aw up.

 

But thanks for the advice everyone: I guess it's not a "totally bad" score

[MikKar]

No it's pretty strong actually. The point is : you're above potential cut-off scores that schools use to remove applications (as Arcanen mentioned earlier). I think that the only potential weakness is the AW score, as generally the really top schools use 5.0 as the cut-off.

 

Again : a better score doesn't mean you're actually better at AW, it just means you're a better GRE taker. But the higher scores will reduce your chances of having your application turned down because of cut-offs.

Edited August 12, 2013 by MikKar

[C&C]

It's not a bad score at all, so congrats! Retaking it certainly won't hurt either. It'll show the programs that you're applying to that you're a serious and dedicated applicant. I'm sure you'll do even better next time!

 

[Arcanen]

 the really top schools use 5.0 as the cut-off.

 

Not in engineering. Many top engineering applicants are international, and getting high AW scores with English as a second language is difficult. The only "cut-off" for the AW are scores that show that your English really isn't at the level required to successfully complete the program (e.g. AW<2.5)

 

Retaking it certainly won't hurt either

 

 

I disagree. Your Q score is good, which is all that really matters for engineering programs. Your verbal and AW are both at or above the expected level for engineers also. Given this, retaking could "hurt" since you're spending time on something for little to no benefit given that your scores are past any cutoffs, which detracts from the time you can devote to other aspects of your application. It would be different if your scores were catastrophic (i.e. 157 was the Q score), but it's not the case here.