<p>I am an international student from South Korea and have a Bachelor’s degree in Japanese studies from his country.
I speak Japanese perfectly (hold JLPT Lv.1 perfect score) , have HSK Level 5, and speak Intermediate level of Spanish.
My English exam scores are TOEFL 92 and GRE Verbal 158 / Quantative 160
I want to use my Bachelor’s degree as much as I can, so what the Master’s degree I found was Economics.
Which graduate school in Economics major can I apply for without educational background in the field in California with my TOEFL and GRE scores?
I have CSUF, CSU LB, and USF(University of San Francisco) in my mind due to my lack of educational background in Economics.</p>
<p>It is hard to imagine that ANY credible graduate program will admit you with zero background in economics. Your TOEFL and GRE scores are the smallest part of your application, and will not overcome a complete lack of economics coursework or research.</p>
<p>Realistically, you need to at least complete some undergraduate-level courses in Economics just to show that you understand the field and have some ability. Without that, I would estimate that your chances anywhere are going to be astronomically low.</p>
<p>Oh ~! Of course, I have some background in Economics. I got a certificate in Economics in my country without taking any classes at undergraduate school level and since there prerequisite courses I am suggested to take such as Calculus and at least intermediate micro and macro economics.
What do you think about my TOEFL and GRE scores? Is it good enough to apply for graduate school? or?
Do I need to make the scores better ? </p>
<p>
… so what does this certificate mean, and how did you get it? A certificate without associated coursework will not likely hold much value in grad admissions.</p>
<p>
Economics is highly quantitative so you will probably need several calc courses to be ready for a grad-level econ program. You will also need more than just micro and macro econ as well - you are going to be expected to be prepared for a narrow and advanced specialty in economics, so you will need at least some advanced coursework related to that specialty, which will in turn likely involve even more basic and intermediate courses. Now you can do some of this in the grad program, but certainly not all of it.</p>
<p>
For the TOEFL, most departments consider this on a pass/fail criterion and usually publish the scores. So check the department websites and if necessary call/email them. USF only requires a 79, for example. Your score is in the 67th percentile for grad students - not great but not terrible, and probably good enough. Probably.</p>
<p>As to the GRE, your scores are solid but not overwhelming. For econ, your quant GRE should be higher, but you are not applying to top-top schools so it may be okay. If you do decide to retake it, focus on improving that score.</p>
<p>First of all, I am curious about why you are only look at programs in California. The way to choose a graduate program isn’t to look at where you want to live and only choose programs there, unless there’s some compelling reason for that (you’re working full-time there or have family to care for). You pick programs that are a good fit for you - especially for an MA program, which is only 2 years.</p>
<p>You are not a very competitive applicant for an MA in economics. MAs are graduate degrees; the whole point is to build upon some knowledge acquired from undergraduate coursework. A certificate earned with no coursework is pretty meaningless to graduate programs.</p>
<p>USF’s economics program only requires two semesters of calculus, micro and macro, and a semester of statistics. Cal State Fullerton requires one semester of calculus, but four semesters of economics (intro and intermediate of both micro and macro), a semester of statistics, and at least one additional elective in economics. CSU-Long Beach explicitly says that they prefer someone who majored in economics, but they may accept people who minored or took extensive coursework in the field; they also require four semesters of micro and macro (intro and intermediate), a semester of calculus, and a semester of statistics. Note that these are the minimum requirements, and each program - especially the relatively inexpensive Cal State programs - are probably quite competitive and most successful applicants likely have better backgrounds than that.</p>
<p>So if you have no coursework in economics, it doesn’t matter what your GRE and TOEFL scores are like; you’re not admissible to these programs.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, though, your quant score is a bit low for economics programs. I would think a quantitative econ program (especially the CSU programs) would expect at least a 165.</p>