Importance of GRE Score.

[karang820]

I recently gave GRE exam and scored 320. I want to know how much important the GRE score is valid in MS application.

Does it matter if I have a higher GRE score or just clearing a cutoff is sufficient? 

What about funding? Does GRE score matter if we want to apply for funding?

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi karang820,

What were your Quant and Verbal Scores on your GRE? I ask because certain Programs place more of an emphasis on one section over the other (while others prefer a more 'balanced' pair of scores).

As far as your other questions are concerned, do you know which Schools/Programs you want to apply to? Once you can put together a list, you can research your options and get a better sense of how competitive your Scores are. You should also be able to find some additional information about Scholarship possibilities.

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich

[karang820]

Hi Rich

Thanks for the reply.

I got 163 in Quant and 157 in Verbal. I want to apply in civil engineering, so what do you think would be the relative importance of the sections. 

I am aiming for Berkeley / Stanford / UIUC / UT Austin. Their website generally says that they donot have a cut off requirement. Yet it has been noticed that generally average score of the students entering the institutes is around 325-330.

Regards

Karan 

 

 

[ShadowFairy]

Hye, those are exactly the scores I got for the GRE (5.5 in analytical writing)!  And I got into Stanford's Masters program in mechanical engineering which is consistently ranked #1 (or 2). Would that give you some perspective as to how relatively important GRE's are compared to the rest of your application?

[GREMasterEMPOWERRichC]

Hi karang820,

While an applicant's GRE score is an important part of the application, it's not the only part. Highly-competitive Programs are going to take a really good look at your entire application, so you have to have more going for you than just a high GRE score. Your scores are strong, so you should apply to any Programs that interest you. Since you asked, I would suspect that an Engineering Program would prefer a higher Quant score to a higher Verbal score, but that's a generalization.

GRE Masters aren't born, they're made,

Rich