Phyl

Our utilities including electric are in that, the places without utilities included were in the $1400- $1500 range. Yes you can find some cheaper stuff further north but I wasn't going to live anywhere that I wouldn't feel comfortable walking home alone very late. I'm small and get hassled often enough in nice areas. I'll also amend city to mean Manhattan, my commute is pretty long as it is without having to come from another borough and prices close to subway lines weren't cheap enough to add the time.

Where would you like to work after school? I've been told that you should get your degree in the area you want to work since you'll be able to go to local networking events and it will be where your professors have the most connections. You'd have NYU as a "name brand" school even if Long Island isn't (and people in NY/NJ know about Long Islands library program). Where would you be able to get the most work experience in a library/archive? That matters more than the school your degree is from. Are there additional records management courses in the public administration program? How much of the public administration program would be applicable in a library/archival job? If I was in your position the difference in the cost would have to be pretty hefty to go to a program that is less related to what I want to do.

I commute through Penn Station to the Upper East Side and on class nights I get to Penn around 10:30pm -11ish. There are plenty of people around Grand Central and Times Square for it to be comfortable. I don't feel like it thins out enough to be a uncomfortable until around 12 -1am on weeknights and weekends are fine for as late as I've been out. I have a friend that commutes to Queens and she's never mentioned being uncomfortable. My boyfriend and I signed a lease on the East Side for a 2 room studio in April, we pay $1675 with all utilities included. Rents go up in the spring/summer and the folks who just moved in next to us pay over $2000 for the same space. It was the cheapest place we saw anywhere in the city. We used a broker which was expensive but I think ours was very very helpful in finding us a place for a really good price and that was much nicer than the places we were able to see on our own. We went and looked at places with 3 different ones and they all showed us different quality places that were around the same price which was really nice since we didn't know how nice of a place we could afford. Use common sense when meeting anyone or handing over money, we just had friends who should have know better lose money when they wired it to someone they found on craigslist. We had to use both my boyfriends parents as guarantors (they are both self employed so we needed both even though 1 + my boyfriends salary was more than the minimum). The amount of information that we needed from them (in my opinion) would be a whole lot to ask from someone who isn't family.

A friend of my boyfriend's mother recently graduated from there and liked the school enough to recommend it to me when I was applying. All that really stuck with me from there was that the website was really poorly organized. I think their admissions were rolling so I was waiting to here from my top choices before spending the money on the application.

Ah then New Brunswick would be too much of a commute. I was between Pratt and Rutgers. The sticking point for me was the huge cost difference but it's a really interesting program.

A fair amount of schools didn't even require it, although the higher ranked ones I applied to did. I didn't do fabulously (especially compared to a lot of other folks on here) on the GRE and had no problem getting accepted. I did however have a good GPA, undergrad (archival history) research experience, library work experience, good references and a personal statement that was really good (according a few librarians and my reference letter writers).

I can't speak to your GPA but I can say there are people of all different majors in my program. There's a heavier concentration of english/history/poli sci folks but there's plenty of people outside of that. Everything can be made relevant to library science, I'd think graphic design would have some computer skills, some artsy stuff, someone's got to design book displays or develop visual materials for different programs. Every major has to have some research skills, experience evaluating sources of information and collaborative work experience. When you write your personal statement, think about what you do and the skills you learned rather than the specific topics. There aren't very many BA in library science programs and really it's not necessary, I don't know anyone in my program with one and you need the masters degree to get a librarian job.

Are you in the NYC area? I commute from Manhattan to Rutgers in New Brunswick and it's not bad and Rutgers tuition is low compared to a lot of the other NYC area schools. If an MLIS program isn't possible for you, you could try to make all your internships and work experience tech oriented or see if the program will let you take some computer science courses to count toward your degree. Rutgers belongs to a consortium which allows us* to take online classes with other schools and some of those have been techy, so maybe other schools have something similar. *I've only heard of one person actually getting a slot in a course over 3 semesters.

MLIS programs tend to have more technology based courses. These classes are beyond just how to use a database and simple web design which are pretty standard across the board. MLIS programs tend to have things like interface design, metadata, digital library building and other more in depth tech based classes. The technology component is really important. If you take a look at job ads, there's a heavy tech component in a lot of positions and there seems to be a bit more demand for tech oriented librarians. There's a growing demand for technology in libraries, so there need to be librarians to meet it. I also think that the tech skills are something that can help a new grad get a position over a more experienced candidate without the tech background.

I exclusively use my gmail account and have my school email forwarded to it. I hate checking multiple email accounts, and it was a pain in the butt to make sure everything was switched from my undergrad email to my gmail. I'm in a masters program, so I knew I'd only have my school email address for 2 years at most, so when I attend networking type events I'd rather give out a more permanent address. My gmail is myfirstname.mylastname which I think is better for people to remember rather than firstinitalabbreviatedlastname. My email signature includes the school I'm from so I'm not losing that. Gmail also works a lot better and I prefer their search feature over the service the school uses so when I need to dig up something someone sent me last semester it's easier to find through gmail.

Most (if not almost all) employers require a degree from an ALA accredited school. If the school looses accreditation, even if *your*degree is accredited, I'd be concerned that an employer would see the school, and discard your application thinking you weren't accredited. On the up-side, I interned for 2 librarians that graduated from there within the last 5 years and they had nothing but nice things to say about the program.

Two cents from a Rutgers New Brunswick student: Parking is an absolute mess, and expensive ( I paid around $300, others in less desirable lots pay a little less). I know people that have parking passes but have to park on a different campus then take an hour bus ride to their campus. I also know people that park on the street, have to hunt for a spot and then run out every 2 hours to put more money in the parking meter. I recently moved, and can now use public transportation and it's significantly cheaper then having my car.

I wasn't offered funding at any of the schools I applied to, and I don't actually know anyone that receives any money from the department as a masters student in library science (info science I know a few that receive a little bit). This includes people with awesome GPAs, GREs and previous graduate degrees. It was my understanding that funding isn't really likely in a professional program. Everyone is on loans, their libraries pay for it, or they are paying for it by working outside of libraries. The department does offer 7 or 8 some small (like 1,000 to 5,000) scholarships. If you are male or a minority there's lots more available for you than white females. If you can't afford it you can't afford it. The rule of thumb around here is to only take out loans for the same amount as a years salary once you graduate. Combined with my undergrad debt I'm pushing it, but I'm young and don't have any other financial obligations. Could you come up with a plan b for a year? Work part time school part time? Opt for an online program? From the librarians/archivists I've worked with and taken classes with the name brand of the school matters way less than your work experience as long as the school is ALA accredited. I'm at the cheapest school I could get into (yay instate tuition). Sorry I couldn't be more optimistic for you.

There are differences between European archival theory and American/Canadian theory. Don't know the effect on the job market but I'd imagine that you'd want your education and experience to reflect the standards/practices in the country you would like to work,

Sure, feel free.