No minimum cut-off
Most top-ranked graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering have no minimum cut-off scores for GRE. Therefore students should not strive for perfection– nevertheless a competitive GRE score is still expected by all good programs. However some programs like the University of Washington’s Mechanical Engineering course requires a minimum level on the GRE.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering requires the following minimum GRE scores: Verbal: 150 (143 if English is not native language) & Quantitative: 155
Quant score matters most
“We encourage all students to apply as we review application packages as a whole. However, our program is competitive and successful applicants tend to score very well on the GRE, especially the math section.” – Stanford’s Mechanical Engineering Department.
Nearly all Mechanical Engineering programs require an 90% or above GRE Quantitative score – verbal scores on the other hand are not that important. Anything above 150 on the verbal section is a safe score to apply.
Good GRE scores are necessary, but not sufficient to get into any top US university – excellent recommendation letters, and well-crafted applications are just as important. A good GRE score is no guarantee for an admission but a bad GRE score is definitely going to get you a rejection from most programs.
Therefore for improving your admissions chances in a good Mechanical Engineering program, strive hard to
1. Get a good GRE score (165+ QUANT & 150+ VERBAL).
2. Build a well-rounded application
3. Publish research
4. Attend international conferences
5. Gain solid research experience
6. Get involved in extracurricular activities
Below are the average GRE scores and universities for mechanical engineering.
Rank | Name | Average GRE (Quant Score) |
---|---|---|
1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 166 |
2 | Stanford University | 167 |
3 | University of California—?Berkeley | 165 |
4 | California Institute of Technology | 169 |
5 | University of Illinois—?Urbana-?Champaign | 166 |
6 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 164 |
7 | University of Michigan—?Ann Arbor | 166 |
8 | Cornell University | 165 |
9 | Princeton University | 167 |
10 | Purdue University—?West Lafayette | 164 |
11 | Carnegie Mellon University | 166 |
12 | University of Texas—?Austin (Cockrell) | 165 |
13 | Johns Hopkins University (Whiting) | 166 |
14 | Northwestern University (McCormick) | 166 |
15 | Harvard University | 166 |
16 | Pennsylvania State University—?University Park | 163 |
17 | Texas A&M University—?College Station | 164 |
18 | University of California—?Los Angeles (Samueli) | 166 |
19 | University of Maryland—?College Park (Clark) | 164 |
20 | University of Pennsylvania | 165 |
21 | University of Wisconsin—?Madison | 164 |
22 | University of California—?San Diego (Jacobs) | 166 |
23 | Virginia Tech | 162 |
24 | Brown University | 165 |
25 | Columbia University (Fu Foundation) | 167 |
26 | Ohio State University | 164 |
27 | University of California—?Santa Barbara | 165 |
28 | University of Florida | 163 |
29 | University of Minnesota—?Twin Cities | 164 |
30 | University of Southern California (Viterbi) | 166 |
31 | Duke University (Pratt) | 164 |
32 | Rice University (Brown) | 166 |
33 | Yale University | 168 |
34 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 164 |
35 | University of Washington | 163 |
36 | University of California—?Davis | 163 |
37 | University of California—?Irvine (Samueli) | 164 |
38 | University of Colorado—?Boulder | 162 |
39 | Northeastern University | 162 |
40 | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—?New Brunswick | 163 |
41 | University of Notre Dame | 163 |
42 | Boston University | 164 |
43 | Case Western Reserve University | 164 |
44 | Iowa State University | 167 |
45 | Michigan State University | 162 |
46 | North Carolina State University | 164 |
47 | University of Virginia | 164 |
48 | Vanderbilt University | 163 |
49 | Lehigh University (Rossin) | 165 |
50 | University of Delaware | 169 |
51 | University of Illinois—?Chicago | 160 |
52 | Arizona State University (Fulton) | 162 |
53 | Colorado School of Mines | 160 |
54 | Drexel University | 160 |
55 | University of Connecticut | 163 |
56 | Washington University in St. Louis | 165 |
57 | Clemson University | 158 |
58 | Dartmouth College (Thayer) | 164 |
59 | Tufts University | 162 |
60 | University of Arizona | 162 |
61 | University of Massachusetts—?Amherst | 163 |
62 | University of Pittsburgh (Swanson) | 162 |
63 | Washington State University | 161 |
64 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 164 |
65 | Michigan Technological University | 162 |
66 | New York University (Tandon) | 164 |
67 | Oregon State University | 160 |
68 | University of Iowa | 161 |
69 | Colorado State University | 167 |
70 | George Washington University | 163 |
71 | Missouri University of Science & Technology | 156 |
72 | Stony Brook University—?SUNY | 165 |
73 | University at Buffalo—?SUNY | 162 |
74 | University of Central Florida | 160 |
75 | University of Cincinnati | 161 |
76 | University of Houston (Cullen) | 161 |
77 | University of Tennessee—?Knoxville (Tickle) | 160 |
78 | Brigham Young University (Fulton) | 162 |
79 | Louisiana State University—?Baton Rouge | 159 |
80 | Oklahoma State University | 160 |
81 | Stevens Institute of Technology (Schaefer) | 161 |
82 | Texas Tech University (Whitacre) | 159 |
83 | University of Nebraska—?Lincoln | 161 |
84 | University of Utah | 161 |
85 | Auburn University (Ginn) | 163 |
86 | Embry-?Riddle Aeronautical University | 157 |
87 | Illinois Institute of Technology (Armour) | 160 |
88 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | 159 |
89 | Syracuse University | 162 |
90 | University of California—?Riverside (Bourns) | 162 |
91 | University of Kentucky | 160 |
92 | University of Rochester | 165 |
93 | University of Texas—?Dallas (Jonsson) | 162 |
94 | West Virginia University (Statler) | 157 |
95 | Florida A&M University -? Florida State University | 157 |
96 | Kansas State University | 162 |
97 | Mississippi State University (Bagley) | 158 |
98 | University of Kansas | 161 |
99 | University of Missouri | 161 |
100 | University of New Mexico | 145 |