Mobbyf

I just took the GRE and got a 790/520 and analytical writing of 4.

I was hoping to apply to PHd programs at top 10 EE universities (i.e. MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc).
I'm not too happy about my GRE scores, but i think its kind of late to retake it by now.

I am an undergraduate at UCLA in EE, with GPA 3.96/4.00.
I've done some research every year with one publication, although the publication is not in the field I am going into (IC). I've also done internships every summer.
My letter of recs and statement of purpose will probably decent but not exceptionally eye-catching or anything

How much do the verbal and writing weigh into the whole admission decision? From what I hear, most applicants have high GPAs, so admissions base their final decision on the GRE scores =T. Should I focus on applying to lower ranked schools instead?

ilikedrit

790 = math, 520 = verbal, I assume?

If so, don't sweat it. Engineering --> verbal unimportant

High GPA will mitigate it anyway.

"Most applicants have high GPAs"
That doesn't mean as high as 3.96. I think "high" is generally regarded as anything above a 3.7, and a 3.96 is very high.

Thus, you should apply to some lower ranked schools if you would consider attending them, but I wouldn't scrap the higher ranked ones, since your chances aren't out of the water.

Slorg

From what I hear, no one really cares about the GRE. They obviously will screen out people with low math scores, and they sometimes use it to see how well international students speak English, but for the most part graduate schools don't care. MIT, for instance, doesn't even accept GRE scores.

I guarantee you a publication is worth way more than a 700 verbal or 6 on the writing section. Congratulations on the rest of your application - I wouldn't sweat it.

Stickid

Chill out.... Your did great on the Q and fine on the V. And your GPA is really good. I dont think there is a point to retaking the test in order to get your verbal up a few points, and your quant really has nowhere to go but down.

sarbruis

"From what I hear, most applicants have high GPAs, so admissions base their final decision on the GRE scores =T."

There's absolutely no way this is true (sans the high GPAs bit). Research experience and LORs are like 50 times more important than the GRE with regard to decision-making. It's a standardized test ffs; it has virtually no power to predict how one will do in graduate school, unless you do exceptionally poorly, which you did not.