NAT score of 68 — is that competitive enough for engineering admission?
Just got my NAT-IE results back and scored 68 out of 100. I'm trying to figure out if that's going to be enough to get into a decent engineering program. From what I've seen online, the cutoffs vary a lot by university — some top-tier schools like NUST and UET Lahore have effective cutoffs in the mid-70s when you factor in merit formula weighting, while others will consider you around 60–65.
My breakdown was pretty uneven: I scored well on quantitative reasoning (74%) but dropped on the engineering sciences portion, especially the physics-based mechanics questions (around 58%). The verbal section I've basically accepted — I scored 61% and I don't think that's moving significantly even with a retake. The test felt rushed and I left 6 questions blank in the quantitative section that I probably could've answered with more time.
I'm weighing whether to retake the NAT. The second attempt usually shows improvement if you're strategic about it, but it also delays my admission timeline by one cycle. If I'd consistently been scoring 72–74% on full-length practice tests beforehand I probably would've done better — exam day nerves definitely cost me a few points.
68 is workable for a lot of good programs but you're right that NUST and UET will be tight. The merit formula at most universities weights your FSc percentage heavily — if that's strong (85%+), a 68 NAT can still get you into programs that would otherwise feel out of reach.
I retook the NAT after a 64 on my first attempt and got a 73 the second time. The key difference was doing timed full-length tests — I wasn't doing those the first time around and it cost me on pacing. Six blank answers is a meaningful gap you can close with practice.
Don't only look at NUST and UET. COMSATS, GIK, and NED offer solid engineering programs and their NAT cutoffs are more in the 60–68 range. A 68 puts you comfortably in contention at those schools, especially with strong FSc marks.
The engineering sciences section is where most NAT-IE candidates lose ground. Physics mechanics and basic circuit analysis are consistent themes. Three to four weeks of focused problem-solving in those two areas is usually enough to move the needle 5–7 points.
A 68 is honestly right on the edge, and I know that's not what you want to hear. I scored a 65 my first attempt and didn't get into NUST, but what changed everything for my second attempt wasn't grinding more practice questions — it was sitting down after every wrong answer and really understanding why I got it wrong, not just memorizing the correct one. Like if I missed a physics problem, I'd trace it back to which concept I hadn't actually internalized versus which ones I was just pattern-matching from memory. That distinction matters a lot more than people realize.
So if you're retaking or applying to schools with slightly lower cutoffs, I'd say don't just do more mock tests. Spend the same amount of time reviewing your mistakes properly. It's slower and it's frustrating, but you stop making the same category of errors over and over. Honestly a 74 or 75 is very achievable from a 68 base if you're targeting the right weaknesses. Some of the mid-tier engineering programs are also worth a serious look — the difference in outcome between NUST and a good UET campus is way smaller than people think when you're actually in the workforce.
I was in almost the exact same spot last year, scored a 69 and got into UET Peshawar for civil engineering. The one thing that actually moved my score was drilling the analytical reasoning section specifically — I wasn't practicing it at all in the beginning and that's where I was bleeding points. Once I spent two weeks just doing timed sets on that section, everything clicked.
68 is genuinely workable for a lot of solid programs. NUST and UET Lahore are tough with their merit lists but don't sleep on UET Taxila or NED — they're great schools and your score is competitive there. Check the previous year merit lists on the university websites directly, they publish them and it's honestly the most accurate way to see where you stand.