<p>i'm planning on doing my masters in engineering at princeton/mit/stanford...</p>
<p>are GRE's important for masters candidates? I hear they don't really matter for students that wanna pursue a PHD- but how about masters? What is the difference between PHD and masters admissions to top engineering schools regarding the importance of GRE scores,GPA,research experience,etc...</p>
<p>GREs in my opinion definitely seem to matter more for MS programs. Research is crucial for phD admissions only. Those three schools require top GREs,GPAs and most importantly excellent letters of recommendation from reputable faculty. PhD admissions are even harder. And why Princeton exactly? (it has lay prestige but other schools are loads better at engineering not to mention its harder to get into than Stanford or MIT due to size, especially if you don't have connections)</p>
<p>GRE scores won't matter much for most programs in engineering. As long as you don't score horribly, you'll be fine. It's not like the SAT's where it's critical for admission into undergrad. </p>
<p>Overall, the criteria for MS and PhD programs are similar, except the standards are higher and research is emphasized for PhD programs. It's also significantly easier to get into the MS programs if you're going in unfunded.</p>