Is the lack of a GRE requirement indicative of a low level program?

[db757]

I am a senior history major who is graduating in December and I am just now looking at master's programs. I want to pursue an MA in East Asian Studies or history (I want to focus on post-war Japan with emphasis on the bubble period) and I was looking at Cal State schools. My professor recommended Long Beach State, San Jose State, and Sacramento State along with UC Riverside and UC Irvine, but I noticed that the Cal States do not require GRE scores. Does that mean that they aren't quality programs? I'm leaning towards CSUs because I am looking to save money and I have read that funding is hard to come by for master's students as opposed to doctoral students.

[peachypie]

In my opinion, yes.

[iphi]

I am a senior history major who is graduating in December and I am just now looking at master's programs. I want to pursue an MA in East Asian Studies or history (I want to focus on post-war Japan with emphasis on the bubble period) and I was looking at Cal State schools. My professor recommended Long Beach State, San Jose State, and Sacramento State along with UC Riverside and UC Irvine, but I noticed that the Cal States do not require GRE scores. Does that mean that they aren't quality programs? I'm leaning towards CSUs because I am looking to save money and I have read that funding is hard to come by for master's students as opposed to doctoral students.

 

Most Master's programs do not ask for the GRE. It is generally doctoral programs which require it.

[Dedi]

Most Canadian programs do not require GRE scores either. Standardized tests don't mean much, IMO. No Child Left Behind is an example of what education has come down to when standardized tests come into play.

I wouldn't say that they are a low level program. It's just that they consider other aspects of the application to be more important (which may even be a good thing).

[wuglife427]

MIT does not require GRE scores for linguistics PhD applicants. If they're not a top-quality program, I don't know what is. I don't know anything about the schools you mentioned or your field, but based on what people are saying about MA programs and the fact that the GRE has been shown to be unreliable in predicting performance, I wouldn't assume that Cal State schools are of poor quality.

[Vene]

CSUs do not have the same reputation as the UCs, but that doesn't mean the education you'd get is any worse. My opinion is that if you're paying for the degree focus more on controlling your level of debt to a manageable level than on getting in 'the best' university. Besides, masters degrees from top universities aren't necessarily a good value.

[bsharpe269]

Most masters programs that I looked at when applying actually did require it. I would not automatically discount a school for this though. I would do some more research on these masters pograms including their future placement in jobs or phd programs. This info would mean a lot more than whether or not the programs require the GRE.