Chance of getting into top schools?

Graduate School
1

I posted this in the GRE questions thread as well, but just to get some more advice wherever possible:

What are my chances? Should I retake GRE?

Looking to apply to top M.S./M.Eng Programs in Electrical Engineering.
Considering:
-Stanford
-Berkeley
-UIUC
-Cornell
-Georgia Tech
-CMU
-Princeton

Major - Electrical Engineering
Undergrad GPA - 4.0
GRE - 160V/169Q/3.5AW

Published as second author in IEEE Conference Paper during undergrad

I only took the GRE once, two weeks ago. I regret not practicing more analytical writing. How will schools view my 3.5 AW? Is there an automatic system that will slash my application before it’s considered by a human, or is it too low even when people consider my application as a whole? I’m not looking forward to studying the GRE again, as I have applications/statements/LORs to put together as well as this semester’s school work… But if it’s essential then I will.

Should I retake the GRE? How do I look?

Thank you!

2

For Engineering, the quantitative score is the most important and you have done very well there. For the verbal, your score is at the 86th %ile and that is good too. The question is whether the schools you have on your list have a minimum level for quantitative, verbal or both combined. If you meet that minimum, you should be among those considered fully and you should not worry about taking the exam again. If you are not at the expected level then you should consider taking it again to try to raise your verbal but a better option would be to consider applying to a less selective program as a safety and see what happens with the ones you list. It is tough to make much of an improvement in your scores as they are very good already.