mrkupe

Actually, this e-mail is not an indication of rejection from UT-Austin. Just because you haven't been admitted at the time that they receive your FAFSA does not mean that you will not be admitted - the e-mail doesn't indicate whether your status is pending or rejected, only that you're not yet an accepted student.

I received the same e-mail upon UT's receipt of my FAFSA, and received word of my acceptance a week later.

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 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.