A 321 is above every field average ETS publishes. This page is about which programmes that actually opens, and where the split matters most.
This is the range where a GRE score stops being a hurdle and starts being an asset, provided the split lines up with the programme. A 321 clears every published field average; whether it clears your programme's expectations is a narrower question.
Good, with one thing to check. A 321 beats every published field average; whether it beats your field's expectation on the section they care about depends on your split.
A 321 is above the reported average in all 8 fields, from Physical Sciences at 314 down to Education at 301. No field average is a constraint on this score.
The averages tell you where the middle of a discipline sits, which is useful right up to the point you pick specific departments. After that, only their published numbers matter.
Nobody at a graduate department opens your report and looks for 321. They look for the section their programme cares about, and that number is not visible from the total.
The distance between the best and worst version of a 321 is the difference between the 26th and 99th percentile on a section. That is not a rounding detail, it is a different application.
An even 321 means 161V and 160Q, and those land at the 86th and 50th percentiles. The asymmetry catches people out constantly — it comes from who takes the test, not from how it is scored.
There is little here worth chasing. The score clears every field average, and the realistic upside is a few points nobody reading your file would weigh differently.
The one exception is a lopsided split. If the section your field actually reads sits well below its average, targeted work on that half can be worth it — the whole test does not need repeating.
The one thing worth checking at a 321 is whether the split fits the field. The GRE percentile calculator gives the real percentile for each section, which is what your programme is looking at.
Check your section percentilesOnly retake if your weaker section is below your field's average. The total is already doing its job.
Rarely worth it. The total already clears every field average, and a few more points would not change how a committee reads the file.
Above the 313 engineering average, yes. The number that matters more there is your Quant score on its own, against 163.
For most programmes the split matters more. Departments read the section relevant to their field, and at a 321 the published section figures span the 26th to the 99th percentile depending on distribution.
You get two percentiles, not one. A 161 Verbal is the 86th; a 160 Quant is the 50th. ETS deliberately does not combine them.