mrkupe

I'd have to think that applicants straight out of undergrad are at a pretty strong disadvantage. Most MLIS programs are almost entirely composed around master's-level education . . .considering that there are a number of very well-qualified individuals applying to Ph.D. programs out of other disciplines, I'd have to think somebody out of undergrad would need some amazing qualifications. To be honest, I don't know why any department would take the risk associated with a student who has never had to deal with graduate-level studies when there are other candidates to be found.

I would not disagree with that. There are people who really aren't fans of the ALA accreditation process and how much weight it's purported to hold. It involves a lot of money and a lot of planning on the part of schools for something that isn't necessarily relevant to the direction that many LIS programs are taking. As noted in that FAQ, many of their graduates don't even plan on working in libraries, and you'll find that same sentiment at many LIS programs across the country. For schools that are on the iSchool movement, librarianship is just one of many different paths of study. These schools also have curricula and faculty bases that are evolving to meet the varied professional needs and desires of their students. Given the current financial restrictions on many departments, I suspect that anti-ALA sentiment will probably grow rather than subside in the years to come. Of course, when it comes to a school like SJSU which by and large produces librarians, they're not abandoning ALA anytime soon. Maybe that uneasy balance is for the best . . .Berkeley obviously does not have the money to hire the people they would need to justify ALA accreditation, and the program that they have at present does turn out people who contribute both as information professionals and researchers.

I would highly recommend that you take the GRE. One of the first rules of applying to graduate school is: never, EVER turn down an opportunity to burnish your credentials. You want to distinguish yourself from the competition as much as possible. If I were you, I'd begin by sitting down and figuring out some places that you might want to go. If you're serious about this process, you can do that much. Do your research and make a list of 5-10 places. Then go to their websites and check out their admissions profiles. You should have a good idea of what a prospective student to each of those schools looks like as far as GPA and GRE go. 3.2 is a respectable GPA (maybe you can play it up a bit with your major GPA?), but I think you will find that many schools tend to see higher GPAs from their average applicant, let alone accepted student. That might freak you out, but it shouldn't. Think about it - for every kid walking in the door with a 4.0 college GPA, taking somebody with a 3.0 GPA still leaves them at a healthy 3.5 average. What this should tell you, though, is that you might need to make up a bit of ground in other ways. A focused statement letter that shows you really want to go to School A and good recommendations go a long way. A good GRE score certainly won't hurt you, and it might help to drive home the point that you really are serious about graduate study. Even if you choose not to take the GRE and apply to a school that doesn't require it, you better believe that a high percentage of other applicants will have taken it. And even an average score shows a greater commitment than no score at all. As far as applying to places that require the GRE . . .well, you'll see a wide range of scores that programs like to see. You'll find some places that won't require more than 1000, and that's basically just proof that you showed up to take the thing. For the more prestigious programs in our field, you're going to want an above-average score, something around 1250. And last but not least, GREs are a great separator when schools are figuring out who gets the extra financial perks (scholarships and whatnot). I need say no more there. Start checking out some schools (you'll find advice around here on that if you would like), and go out and buy yourself a good GRE prep book (you'll find plenty of recommendations around these parts). You need to up the commitment level to this process, but I think you'll be okay.

I'm going to have to take a small issue with the way you stated something here. Berkeley did not "lose" their accreditation, rather they chose not to apply for ALA re-certification. They had their reasons for their decision, and it was one that did not go totally unsupported by others (I'll leave it to you to look up more). Of course, California happens to be a state that mandates that its librarians must have a degree from an ALA-accredited program. That policy may change at some point in the future, for obvious reasons. The politics of MLIS programs are complex and fascinating. To the OP: SJSU certainly does a fine job of filling libraries with its grads, but it depends on what you're looking for out of a program. If you want to go to a place where lots of research is being done and you have an active and cohesive study body, SJSU is not your cup of tea. Otherwise, it might just be for you. You are right when you say that their people seem to be prepared well for professional work. If you want to specialize in archives / records management don't do SJSU, if only for the reason that you will GREATLY enhance your chances of finding the post-grad job of your dreams by going to a research-oriented program that has a lot of internship/volunteer programs to cut your teeth on. Start with UT-Austin and Maryland, those are your gold standards. Finally, as for not being sure what you want to specialize in, that's perfectly acceptable. Don't say that to an admissions committee, but most MLIS programs see lots of students start with VERY slight leanings in one direction only to go in a totally different direction after getting their feet wet. Your core classes alone will make you versatile enough to consider the majority of info-related occupations as post-grad possibilities. But don't worry too much, as the more time you spend in one of these programs, the more you will realize just how interconnected the various branches of LIS are.

Actually, good sir, we have a lot in common. I'm from Illinois as well and faced financial considerations no less severe than your own (similar backstory, too). I didn't get into Illinois, but on the bright side, it wasn't my first choice! I'm actually at UT (which WAS my first choice), which gave me a generous heaping of financial aid - although I should disclose that even if they hadn't, it would still cost less to go here as out of state than it would to go in-state to Illinois. I think you might be pleasantly surprised at what programs will throw your way. On the surface many programs in this field seem expensive, and as a masters student you can't expect anything close to a free ride, but a lot of schools will give you some small measure of help. If somebody takes your out of state tuition off the board, they're basically running dead even with Illinois - so apply to the places you want to go with confidence, and worry about the rest when you have to make a decision on actually going somewhere.

Programs towards the bottom of the curve aren't too competitive. You're looking at three good schools, which still aren't TOO competitive but aren't rubber stamps, either. I'd think you'll have little trouble getting into Indiana and Maryland. Illinois isn't easy as lots of people want to go to the #1 rated school, although I think your odds are good. Of course, a lot depends on your interests. While a lot can change during your time in a program, what are you planning on specializing in?

I've got to be honest . . .making sure you have a nice vocab list is awesome, but the GRE is not a memorization game. If you're willing to put this much time and effort into making sure your Verbal score is strong, I'd suggest a program of study focused around the roots of words so that in case you get a word you don't know, you understand enough about it to make an educated guess. Also - focus on reading comprehension questions. Vocab doesn't really help you all that much there, and they easily consume the majority of your test-taking time. Having a good strategy to work through them quickly will make the rest of the test a much more comfortable and relaxed experience, which can only help. Finally, you are wrong. Sure any program want you to score "well" on the GRE, and most programs have their own idea of what exactly that means, but scoring beyond that point isn't that big a deal. I think I speak for just about everybody when I say that a program of graduate-level study that would weigh the score of a test totally unrelated to your field so heavily as to affect your chances of admission is not a program that you should have much if any interest in joining. Where your GRE score MIGHT pay off is after they've decided to take you, as it's one of several criteria that programs like to check over in determining the kind of financial package they'll offer you.

A few things that might help . . . http://www.greexplorer.com/Average-Score.html takes you to a list of profiles for various engineering programs. I don't know how accurate that is or how it accounts for different engineering programs, but it should give you an idea of where you want to aim. The folks over at ETS also put out some general information about how test-takers intending to study in various disciplines tend to do on the GRE. It should be carefully noted that this is a comprehensive survey - it does not extend only to successful grad school applicants, but to ALL test-takers who expressed their intent to go into a specific field of study. In other words, this isn't quite the tail end of what you're shooting for, but you probably don't want to end up too far below these figures and risk your GRE being a minus for you. To save you time, the results for engineering are 464V / 715Q, total of 1179. I believe most quality programs would like that Q score to be at least in the 740-760 range, but at the end of things it's going to be your research proposal that carries the day.

First of all, I should note that I tend to side with michigan girl on this one . . .online programs are decent if you're already in a position to take advantage of the degree, but you are not. On-campus work not only gives you better work opportunities in the present sense, but it is MUCH better for funding, networking, career services, and building your future employment possibilities. Not that I would discourage you from your pursuit, but I don't think there's harm in telling you that online-only study does come with its share of disadvantages, especially if you're inclined towards librarianship. Anyways. The idea here is to find some way to make this work for you. Your GPA is solid enough (and better than mine in undergrad!) to get into better programs than the ones you listed here. It sounds like you have plenty of material to draw upon for a good personal statement. As for GRE, 1000 gets you in the discussion at the lower-tier schools, but for the top progrmas you want to shoot higher, at least approaching 1200. On the bright side, I'm convinced that with the proper studying regimen just about anybody can get into that range, so tackle that beast when it comes up. You can apply to one/some of the programs above, which I suspect you'll have little trouble getting into, but I'd also suggest applying to some better programs. UW is quite good but as you noted they are not cheap, and they do have some pretty high standards . . .nonetheless, I'd give it a shot. They'll know that you're an out of state student, so if they want you they may offer a relatively generous aid package, although I will admit that I am unfamiliar with how much money UW's department likes to throw around. As far as online goes, Illinois is VERY competitive to get into and might be a reach (as the top-rated program by U.S. News and World Report they attract a LOT of general interest), but their online program gets a lot of praise. Drexel isn't cheap but I have heard their online program is good as well. Finally, I do agree that $25k/year is way too much . . .not that it's not a good education or that it won't ultimately be worth it, but frankly there are cheaper ways to go about this.

A few things . . .why do you have to do the program online? It's a degree all the same, but a willingness to do on-campus work opens up many more options, as well as giving you MUCH better extracurricular and networking opportunities. Secondly, any thoughts on what you'd like to find yourself doing with your degree? Finally, I wouldn't worry so much about the idea of "top ranking schools" . . .there's really only one well-known system of ranking MLIS programs (that being the U.S. News and World Report), and their methodology provides inconclusive results at best. So it's mostly about the personal fit with the program. What's your admission profile look like (background, GPA, GRE, etc.)?

A little late in the game . . .but I'm headed down to Austin to try to lock up a place to live early next week (I live 1000 miles away). I'll be at the School of Information, fwiw. I have access to a car, bike, and seeing as I'm from Chicago I'm well-versed with public transit . . .so basically, any convenient path to campus works for me. Any advice on places to look at while I'm there? I've been doing plenty of research on it but figured some opinions would be helpful.

Not her. But it's pretty straightforward - if you want to be a librarian of any sort, go to an ALA-accredited program. Libraries are libraries. The programs you mentioned are not accredited (probably not surprising, as the lack of the word "library" in either program title was likely a tipoff) and you won't find them in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of MLIS programs. You mentioned you've applied to MLIS programs. What schools are you looking at? Will you be applying again next year?

The med district campus is perfectly fine, IMO. During the day there are tons of people moving through the area, many of them students like yourself. When it gets dark out, just use your common sense - i.e. don't go into alleys, stay in lighted areas, keep aware of your surroundings. There certainly are incidents that occur on campus (as at any campus, frankly), but it's nothing I would consider to be an issue. I've walked throughout the med campus in the later evening hours over to the El stop (Polk on the Pink Line or Med District on the Blue Line depending on your location), and have never felt like I was in anything approximating serious danger - but your mileage may vary based on your city-life experiences. Re: gym facilities . . .I've never had need to use them, but I knew people who did and were reasonably pleased. There's a great and rather new fitness center . . .on the downside for you, you'll find it on east campus. http://imweb.ops.uic.edu/public/rec/facilities_srf.htm lets you take a look at what it offers. Transportation in the area is VERY good. The shuttle is nice, yes, and will get you to where you're headed within 10-15 minutes, it's basically just a loop around two points. Even better for you is the fact that as a UIC student you'll have a UPass, which gives you unlimited free access to Chicago public transit. And yes, that is every bit as good as it sounds and then some. You might find that depending on where you're headed, taking a bus might just make more sense.

Went there for undergrad. Any questions you have about the school/area?

If you're decent at studying, go buy a book. I suggest Barron's as it offers the most comprehensive review for the verbal section and gives you enough to get by in quantitative. I had 10 days to study up for the GRE (most of which involved teaching myself all of the math) and I imagine my 710V/730Q owes something to the solid preparation that Barron's gave me. Classes typically don't teach you anything that you can't find in a book - but they're helpful for getting you to focus on studying for the GRE and of course they reinforce the concepts that you're trying to learn on your own. If you have issues with test prep, then a class might just do the trick. If you don't take one, though, don't sweat it - there aren't any master secrets to this test that will be revealed upon payment of your class fees. As far as study habits go . . .study your word lists. The bigger the list, the better (this is where Barron's REALLY pays off). If you end up doing well on the test, you ARE going to run into some of the words you find on these lists. Get used to making fast decisions on any verbal question that isn't reading comprehension, cause you're going to want to take time to evaluate the ones that are and frankly, I couldn't really find an easier way to beat those questions than careful reading. Quantitative is easy to prep for by comparison. Make sure you memorize your formulas and practice using the geometric equations in creative ways to solve those problems, and you really can't go too wrong there. Good luck.