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swils

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Everything posted by swils

  1. I think I'm leaning toward the near-east side of the Capitol, myself. From reading different descriptions of neighborhoods, I feel like I would enjoy it. Since I want to live alone, I'd rather live somewhere right on the isthmus , in the thick of things, to somewhat avoid total hermitude. I'm just nervous about renting. Every time I find a place that looks promising, I google the property management company and see awful reviews. Maybe that's just how it is, or maybe people only write reviews if they've had a bad experience - I'm not sure. Any more suggestions for good buildings/management companies would be awesome!
  2. Haha, I did the same! It looks like you have a great method for comparing your programs. Good luck with your decision!
  3. Thanks for the sites! I'm always wary about going through an actual property management company until I've had people actually recommend it. You hear some horror stories.... If you check out this thread again, bjlowe, would you have any recommendations for neighborhoods to stay out of, possibly?
  4. Hey! I'll be starting my MA program in the fall as well. I've been looking obsessivly at Craigslist to get a feel of what apartments are going to be like. Padmapper is another good site to check out, because it shows you (on a map) exactly where the places are located. From what I have heard so far, it sounds like Madison is a pretty safe city, with not a lot of areas that ought to be avoided. Places right around the University and down State Street tend to be more dominated by the undergrads (louder, parties, etc.) I'm currently looking at places to the east of the Capitol. I just visited Madison the weekend before last, and I liked it a lot. It's on a strip of land between two big lakes - very pretty. For a city of its size, it seems to have tons of good places to eat. I don't know, it just felt like a nice place to live. I'm about a 5 hour drive away, so I'll probably be visiting to look at apartments before I move out there for good. Regarding the weather - yeah, it's going to be cold. I'm from Minnesota, which is slightly colder, but I could see Madison being a bit of a shock if you're moving from somewhere warmer int he country. I just looked it up, and one site said the average Jan. temperature is 17 degrees F, but trust that it will drop below zero sometimes. I guess my advice would be to layer up. Leggings under pants helps if you're going to be outside, invest in some boots, and don't be afraid to buy a parka. You'll see some crazy midwest people wearing shorts when it's 39 degrees, but we don't expect that from everybody. : ) What you'll learn really fast is that there are a lot of "cute" winter clothes that were clearly designed by someone in LA, and they just won't cut it during some weeks. On the bright side, though... snow is really atmospheric leading up to Christmas, and after that you really only have to deal with it for a couple of months. The midwest also has lovely springs, beautiful autumns, and hot summers. We don't live in igloos the whole year, fortunately.
  5. A follow up to my last. Last Thursday, I was out with my boyfriend and his friend, enjoying a tasy adult bevearge. As the night went on and I was feeling pretty good I said, "I think I'm gonna do it. I'm going to choose school B. I'm just going to do it. Why not?" Toasts were made, I texted my parents, and I went to sleep, still unofficial. The next morning, I woke up with completely cold feet (not a hangover, I swear). Before I went to work, I sent out about five last-minute emails to different people at the two schools I was deciding between, asking specific questions about their prorams and whether they thought my interests would fit in. It was a major identity crisis, culminating in "do I even want to go to grad school?" (The horror!) After several email exchanges and a day of research and thinking it over, I had changed my mind completely and decided on School C. I slept on it, got up the next morning, and made it official. I still feel great about it. So I guess I didn't completely work myself into a tizzy so much that I freaked out at any decision. Or maybe I did, and just got it out of my system before I picked the "right" school. I don't know. In retrospect, though, the things that were drawing me to school B had less to do with the program, and more with my experience in the city. I feel good that I eventually picked the program with the best academic fit. It all seems so clear in hindsight. I guess that's how the game works. ; ) Good luck, all.
  6. I was considering both Pitt and Simmons (2 out of my top 3) and visited both of them. Here are some impressions. Simmons: -Great placement in Boston. It's about a block off the T line. You walk past the Museum of Fine Arts(!) and the Isabelle Stewert Gardiner Museum(!) and you're there. It's in an area full of smaller colleges, all right on top of each other, and there's generally a lot of connection between them. It's a little outside of the exciting parts of Boston, and the campus is boring and small, but... as I said... right on the subway line. Getting into the thick of things wouldn't be a problem. What I really, really liked about Simmons was that their classes seemed a little more "liberal arts," if that makes sense. They seemed varied and interdisciplinary. There were several program tracks that you could follow, that were availavle to any students who wanted them. When I talked to their admissions rep, she said that there was a big push to foster better internships for general-degree students. Archive students basically get to pick their top three from a great list (museums, Harvard, Boston Public Library....) and get one of their top. They were working on getting that opportunity for the rest of the students as well. It would be hard to beat Boston in terms of American history, if you have an interest in that. It's also a smaller school, though their MLIS program dominates their grad studies, I think. It wouldn't be hard to run into another library student. i don't know how this played out as far as class sizes. Downside to Simmons: Cost. It was about twice as expensive as the other schools I was considering, and that wasn't even including cost of living in Boston, which is huge. Pitt: I really really liked the city. I didn't expect to. I thought "Pittsburgh" and I thought "dirty, dirty steel mill town." Which it was, but I guess they stopped doing that in the 60's, and now I find it delightful. It's on the fork of a river, surrounded by steep bluffs covered by trees and tall, narrow houses. There aren a bunch of beautiful neighborhoods surrounding the north and west of campus, full of (what I expect are) old mansions broken up into apartments. Campus is a little east of downtown, and it's beautiful. The Cathedral of Learning looks like a mix of a skyscraper and... something out of Lord of the Rings. The top levels are classrooms and offices, but the first several floors look like a Gothic cathedral. And people just... hang out there. Doing homework. Whatever. Their preservation program is really strong, but exclusive. If you weren't put into the APRM specialization, I think you'd have a hard time taking advantage of their opportunities for internships and things. And if you WERE in APRM, that's pretty much all you'd be doing. Their 3 semesters sounded like they were very strictly mapped out. As far as the city goes, there are tons of restaurants and things, but more importantly, the Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art and Natural History is literally right across the street from campus. It could be a great resource, if you're into that kind of thing. I ended up not choosing Pittsburgh after looking more closely at the research interests of the professors and the topics of the classes. It just wasn't as good of a fit for what I wanted to do. Their program is also huge (something like 900 students?) so I was worried about distinguishing myself. It hurt to say no, though! Anyway, it sounds like you've got a killer list of aceptances and would get a good start by choosing any of them. I mean, what, did you just work your way down the top ten or something? : )
  7. It sounds like you're coming out ahead in several areas that are important to you, and the only thing that might be holding you back is the prestige of a Fulbright. Yeah, the Fulbright is great, but you sound like you have a nice situation set up for yourself already. You also sound like you'd be more happy sticking with your current course of action. Just go with your gut on this one!
  8. I'm in for Madison, officially! I'm pretty pretty great about it. I got a batch of long, lovely emails from the Director of the program as well as another professor, answering some of my questions about their academic focus. It just reinforced my decision. Now to start planning the logistics.... MyLadyDisdain, it sounds like you're ending up in the right place, especially if you can double with History. That would be really interesting!
  9. Definitely! I'm thinking that Madison might give me the opportunity to get a little more diversity, since my unpaid Pitt internship would have eaten up so much time, and lasted for the entire length of the program. As of yesterday, I think I'm pretty set on Madison. When I told my parents a few nights ago that I was leaning toward Pittsburgh, I felt nervous and uncomfortable, and woke up the next morning in a panic about their program. (I do think their program is excellent; I was just worried about fit.) With Madison, I quickly texted my close friends and started looking for apartments. It just feels good. It's good to run across people with similar interests, by the way! Do you know where you're thinking of going? Thanks for the words of advice and caution, anonymous internet people.
  10. Contiguous - Any chance that the MLIS students were in the Archives and Records Management concentration? I wasn't placed in that specialization, which is another worry of mine. I would expect that the best internship opportunies for my area of interests would co to the APRM students. At least, that was my impression when visiting the school. In a shocking twist (spoiler alert) I'm now leaning toward Madison. I didn't give it a lot of time in my first post, mostly because I've been fixating on my worries concerning Pitt. But when I look at the course list for Madison, I get more excited. Pittsburgh has some cool things to offer, but I'm increasingly getting the feeling that I might not have access to them. Madison has a smaller program, which would give me more of a chance to make connections and snag good internships. There is an internship/practicum requirement that they help set up for you, so I may have a better chance with that one. In any case, all experience is good experience. Anyway, I think I was more drawn to the city of Pittsburgh, but the program of Madison. And shouldn't I be going for the program? I'm going to put my earlier panic down to a bad case of cold feet. Of course, we'll see how I feel about this decision tomorrow. Sorry about the embarrassing phrase "study library." Clearly I wrote this in an emotional haze.
  11. Hey, it can't hurt, right? I am trying to decide between two schools for an MA in Library and Information Science. I am between the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both schools are equally ranked, so "prestige" isn't an issue. I'm interested in some kind of old-fashioned library topics: rare books, book history, and preservation. Both have good archives/preservation programs, but I'm worried about these other aspects. Pitt seems to be more geared toward technology. This is great, and would be helpful for the future, but it's also not my main passion. There don't seem to be faculty members who really share my areas of interest. However, Pittsburgh has good ties with a fine arts museum right next door, so there could be some good opportunities there. It's also within a 4 hour drive of major museums and similar institutions on the east coast. I have been offered an intership in a health science library. It would be great experience, but, again, not necessarily my field. Madison has at least two professors who have some research in book history/print culture, but the city does not offer as much in the way of history and applicable institutions. I Costs are... comparable. Madison is cheaper for me, but Pitt would allow me to finish in one year, and subsequently enter the workforce sooner. After visiting, I felt like Pittsburgh (as a city) seemed like a good fit, and last night I was all set to accept. Today, I'm having cold feet and am questioning everything. Did I apply to the right schools? Were my choices arbitrary? Do I really want to study library in the first place? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Any advice would be great.
  12. This is just making me real nervous. I have to decide (pretty much by tomorrow!) between 3 nice schools. School A is a small college program. The program seems to fit best with my interests and has some great partnerships in the community. However, it's about twice as expensive, the farthest away, and I didn't feel as at home in the city. School B has a strong program, and also has some good ties in its city. It's the middle of the road as far as distance and cost, and I'd finish in 3 semesters. The city was fun. School C is only five hours away, the cheapest program by far (due to reciprocity) but similarly ranked in the field. I liked the city and the school. Due to finances, I'm leaning to school B or C, but A was the first one that really caught my attention, and I feel like I have this weird loyalty to it. Does that make sense? It would be like breaking it off with my first crush. I'm sure I will be a mess tomorrow night, any way I choose. I keep waiting for that "this is right" feeling, but I've never been too good at getting that. Here's to decisions!
  13. So here's the deal. I visited Simmons College the Friday before last, and met with their admissions rep. During that interview, she said that I could extend my decision deadline, if I needed to. Knowing my incapacity for decision-making, I told her I might take her up on that. I emailed her on April 12th (kind of last minute, I know) and asked if the offer still stood. I haven't heard back from her, and now it's the 15th and the school is closed until Tuesday. I'm trying to figure out if I need to make a decision pronto, or if it will be okay, since I had this informal, verbal agreement. So far the school has been communicative and helpful. The other schools I'm still considering are giving me until April 25th. Any thoughts? Gah.
  14. That's a good point. I hate (HATE. Hate.) city driving and avoid it almost at all costs. Anyhow, I haven't heard a peep from Milwaukee one way or another, and they haven't responded to any messages, so I think they're getting a big X.
  15. Holy cannoli, that was some response. Thank you so much! That really does give me a clearer view of the two cities, and I'll check out that site in a minute. I did my undergrad in Moorhead, MN, which was a pretty safe, homogeneous, "college-bubble" town. With that, I bet Madison would feel more familiar, but probably not as exciting as a more urban environment. I'm kind of feeling ready for something new. $600 for an apartment? That's pretty awesome. I think I'd be looking at twice that in Boston. I applied to Milwaukee, Madison, St. Catherine University (St. Paul MN), Simmons, the U of Pittsburgh, and U of Iowa. I've gotten into all except St. Kate's and Milwaukee, which I haven't heard back from. St. Kate's is kind of my conveineint, close-to-home safety school, the others all had good programs for preservation, which is what I'm mostly interested in. I dig all that book history/care stuff. Probably getting into library studies a half century too late, but oh well. I'm visiting Pittsburgh and Boston next week, so we'll see if that makes the decision any clearer for me!
  16. Bzrunner, That's awesome! I've heard lots of things about Madison, but not as many people seem as familiar with Milwaukee. How do you think the two towns compare? Any glaring differences? What does the Milwaukee neighborhood offer in regards to housing? Of course, I haven't heard a peep from Milwaukee yet, but I'm still trying to squirrel away all the information I can. I'm wondering if I'm too prejudiced against the UW schools just because it's not so new and unfamiliar to me as some of the other schools. I suppose I shouldn't overlook what the Midwest has to offer just because it's not as adventerous as moving to Boston... ; )
  17. I feel you there. That's why I kind of applied to places all over. I'm actually nervous that WI would still be too close to what I'm used to, but I've heard great things about both Madison and Milwaukee. Madison sounds like a great college town with lots to do, and I've heard Milwaukee is a lot like the artsy neighborhoods of Northeast Minneapolis, if you're familiar with that. I hope those Wisconsin schools get their financial aid information out soon! It would be nice to be able to factor that into our decision-making, if we're supposed to let these schools know by mid-April...
  18. Yeah, I just heard about financial aid, and it was... not good. It was basically "Hey, sure, you can borrow 20,000 from the government. But keep in mind that we cost 40,000." Gah! That's currently my top choice, so I'm not writing it off yet, but man. I don't know if I can swing that.
  19. I think the stress of applications has me reverting to a ten year old. This morning I started reading "The Tale of Despereaux." ; ) I'm also hankering for something good in the fantasy genre, if anyone has recommendations...
  20. So far I'm in at UW-Madison, Simmons College, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Iowa. I'm still waiting to hear from Milwaukee, but I feel like I've got enough on my plate with these four, since they were my top choices. Now I'm having a horrible time narrowing it down. I loved the U of Iowa for its joint Book Arts program, but I didn't get into that, just the MA program. Simmons (Boston) was my next top choice, and I'm visiting there and Pittsburgh next week, but I just got my financial "aid" package from Simmons, and it's.... disheartening. Blah! I'm trying not to complain too much, because I have some good options, but still. How to decide? Edit: Finale File! Looks like we may be hailing from the same corner of the US. I also applied to St. Catherine.
  21. It's nice to see some familiar school names on here! So far, I've been accepted to Simmons College (found out today), Univeristy of Pittsburgh, and University of Iowa. I'm a little worried, though, because I will have visited Iowa and Pittsburgh, but I don't think I'll be able to make it out to Boston before I have to make a decision. What to do?! I still have to hear from University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee) and St. Catherine University, but I've gotten into what I think are my top three, so I'm not too stressed about it. It might come down to aid. Blegh.
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