Is a 159 GRE Quant too low for a mechanical engineering PhD?

boneh3ad
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 21:09:47 +0000

You have some rather odd school choices (Yale for engineering?), but the short answer to your question is that no, a 159Q on your GRE is not automatically disqualifying. It may be for some individual faculty members or programs, but on the whole, you can get into plenty of good schools with that score, and plenty of really good schools provided you have other aspects of your application that are good (and you do).

I am on the ME faculty at an R1 university, and my own personal preference is that I like to see 160 or higher, but it is hardly a dealbreaker. If you come in with good research experience and/or references and good grades, I probably am not going to care so much about your GRE.