GRE General Test is one of many factors in admission and is definitely not the most important factor. If your undergraduate University is not very reputable and your own academic record is not stellar, then the importance of scoring well in GRE increases.
Most Universities do not have a GRE cutoff. But at the same time no University likes to admit students with very low GRE scores. 1300 is a score with which you can be admitted to most of the good US Universities. If your target is a good Engineering program, GRE Quant should be 750.
For getting into Universities ranked below 50, 1100 is a decent GRE score, if your academic record is good. Again, it is more important to have a higher quant score.
Some Universities post last years minimum or average GRE score in their FAQ pages. Be sure to read that before deciding on where you want to apply.
We do not recommend retaking GRE, but if you scored less than 650 in quant or 350 in verbal, you may think about studying more and retaking the GRE later.
GRE Cutoff Scores for Top Engineering Programs:
| University | Average V | Average Q |
| Stanford | 541 | 769 |
| MIT | 552 | 767 |
| UIUC | 542 | 765 |
| UC-Berkeley | 551 | 760 |
| CALTECH | 530 | 773 |
| U of Michigan | 533 | 765 |
| Cornell | 568 | 768 |
| Purdue-W Lafayette | 535 | 741 |
| Princeton | 556 | 777 |
| USC | 460 | 769 |
| UC Los Angeles | 470 | 770 |
| Carnegie Mellon | 562 | 770 |
| GATECH | 515 | 754 |
| U of Texas Austin | 539 | 756 |
| Columbia U | 498 | 749 |
| Wisconsin Madison | 600 | 741 |
| U of MD College Park | NA | 767 |
| U of Minnesota | 580 | 746 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 556 | 771 |
| UC San Diego | 529 | 758 |
| NCSU | NA | 747 |
| Ohio State | 541 | 751 |
| Rensselaer | 507 | 742 |
| U of Washington | 547 | 726 |
| Rice U | 532 | 757 |
| VTECH | 540 | 745 |
| Penn State | 523 | 755 |
| U of MA - Amherst | 536 | 732 |
| Northwestern | 561 | 766 |
| Texas A&M | 512 | 747 |
