Acceptances?

[modern_muslimah]

I got accepted to Wayne State's MLIS program last month. Is anyone attending in the fall? Maybe I'll see you at orientation?

[EmilyChopin]

I got into UW Seattle! See you guys there! (Has anyone heard about money yet?)

[Lolita]

Just accepted to Rutgers New Brunswick! First choice. I was so nervous...

[FinaleFile]

I just found out I got into UW-Madison! Their program is my top choice, but I want to wait on funding offers before making a decision.

[swils]

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.

Edited March 25, 2012 by swils

[FinaleFile]

Congratulations swils for getting into Madison! Everyone I talk to says it's a wonderful city and campus, so I hope it works out for me to get there and pay for the degree. St. Catherine is much closer to my family, but I already went to a small Catholic school for undergrad, and I would like to get out of my comfort zone and attend grad school in a different environment.

I know that funding isn't great for library and information science in general, but I'm curious:

Has anyone been offered funding (fellowships, assistantships, scholarships, etc.) besides loans? Madison and Milwaukee said they will be sending out offers in the next few weeks.

[bzrunner2009]

Hey FinaleFile,

What is your area of concentration. I only applied to two schools, Madison and Milwaukee, so there is a chance we will bump into each other. I am definitely leaning towards Madison.

[FinaleFile]

Hi bzrunner,

My undergrad major is in music, and I hope to end up as a university music librarian or general reference librarian, though I'm really open to most types of library careers.

What concentration are you looking into?

[swils]

Congratulations swils for getting into Madison! Everyone I talk to says it's a wonderful city and campus, so I hope it works out for me to get there and pay for the degree. St. Catherine is much closer to my family, but I already went to a small Catholic school for undergrad, and I would like to get out of my comfort zone and attend grad school in a different environment.

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...

[bzrunner2009]

Hi bzrunner,

My undergrad major is in music, and I hope to end up as a university music librarian or general reference librarian, though I'm really open to most types of library careers.

What concentration are you looking into?

If I choose Madison, I will be focusing specifically on their youth services/teen. I would be doing a general degree at Milwaukee. They do not have a program specifically geared towards youth/teen. However, my potential Milwaukee advisor directly deals with children/teen studies. A lot to think about.

[bzrunner2009]

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...

I actually attended my undergrad in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is great! There is a ton of stuff to do there and you will never get bored. I think compared to Madison it might be a tad bit cheaper. The third ward is definitely the more artsy area of Milwaukee. However, there is several areas full of Irish pubs and so forth. I think it offers everyone a little bit of something. On top of that, there is always Summerfeast and the Wisconsin State Fair during the summer. I think my familiarity of Milwaukee adds some weight to the decision.

If you have any questions on Milwaukee, feel free to ask. If I don't know, I can ask a sleuth of friends who still reside there.

I do like the possibility of moving to a town I have yet to experience. I moved to Nebraska for my masters in history and it was definitely an experience. I think it also helps that any time I mention Madison as an option, everyone absolutely RAVES about it. Several people have already invited themselves to visit me if I choose that path.

[swils]

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... ; )

[bzrunner2009]

Hey Swils,

I found this description comparing the two cities. I think it sums it up perfectly.

Milwaukee V.S. Madison

Both cities have their adherents and detractors, so you'll have to sift carefully through the info to get a balanced view.

In general, from my perspective: Milwaukee is larger and more of a classic city, with the good (cultural amenities, lifestyle choices, high racial/ethnic diversity, etc.) and bad (higher crime, more traffic, etc.) to be expected. Madison is more of a niche city, with the state's flagship university and state government dominating the scene, and with the good (high educational demographics, academic culture, dynamic college life) and bad (less diverse, more homogeneous, etc.) to be expected. Madison's economy is stronger than Milwaukee's, but neither is amazingly strong when compared to other parts of the country: both are still in Wisconsin, and the state has some major economic issues to deal with. Both cities have good singles scenes, though the scene in Milwaukee is larger and more varied. Madison has the state's most acclaimed university (UW-Madison), but Milwaukee has several good colleges and universities (Marquette, UWM, Alverno, etc.). Madison is more uniformly politically liberal than Milwaukee, though Milwaukee has significant liberal, moderate, and conservative populations.

You can probably do well in either city, though you should visit them to see which matches your temperament more. Both are very worldly in their special way, and both are provincial in a special way, too. Madison can seem more like an academic or politically liberal bubble, though many non-academics and political mods and cons live there. Milwaukee can seem like a patchwork of bubbles--some white collar, some blue collar, and so on--but many of its people defy the easy categories that others would like to apply. Both are great cities for various reasons, but since I tend to like bigger cities/metros and more cultural/lifestyle options, I prefer Milwaukee. However, others prefer Madison for reasons such as its medium size, its lower crime, its liberal profile, its concentration of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, and so on."

Housing differences between the two seem to be comparable. I think there may be a bit more options in Milwaukee than Madison. I just did an apartment search and found some apartments (not studios!) for around 600. I have already noticed that Madison seems to be VERY pricey. The $600 range gets you 400 sq footage with no bedrooms.

Milwaukee has a ton of "villages/towns" stashed in the city. I went to school in the Wauwatosa area. It is an area of Milwaukee that has a suburb-city feeling to it. It was also one of the few areas that had a 24 hour starbucks! If you don't mind commuting there are also TONS of towns around Milwaukee. Milwaukee also has the advantage of being an hour and a half away from Chicago. I guess the location is kind of great.

I think I am making myself a little homesick.

Swils what was your concentration again and where did you all apply? I would have loved to apply to the East Coast, however I promised my fiance that I would move back to Wisconsin after I was done in Nebraska. We are both homesick. I also miss my dog.

Edited March 28, 2012 by bzrunner2009

[swils]

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!

[bzrunner2009]

Ok, one more update. My friend told me that Madison tends to be about 10% more expensive than Madison. She also said that if you find an apartment under $800 it is more likely in a sketchy neighborhood. Just a bit more information.

Ahh, I love book history/care. I did an internship in my undergrad library and had to do some basic cataloging and research on our rare books collection. I loved that internship.

Boston would be awesome! I would love to be next to all that history.

[annieca]

I'm just outside of Milwaukee right now, and something to think about is how comfortable you are "city driving." The Marquette Interchange is enough to make the sanest driver go crazy. Combine that with left-side exits and drivers who don't know where they are going and it's a mess.

Madison seems nice. It's a bigger campus than Milwaukee, but then again, how many grad students really tramp across campus for classes like undergrads do? (Or is that just my small college that has a separate graduate center is misguiding me?)

[swils]

I'm just outside of Milwaukee right now, and something to think about is how comfortable you are "city driving." The Marquette Interchange is enough to make the sanest driver go crazy. Combine that with left-side exits and drivers who don't know where they are going and it's a mess.

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.

[coffeegeek]

Is anyone still waiting to hear from McGill? I'm wondering if it's taking a really long time since they extended their deadline to March 15.

[NancyRose]

Has anyone been accepted to the UIUC Leep program? I received my acceptance email from the GSLIS department two weeks ago tomorrow and I still haven't received official notice from the Graduate School department.

[bibliogirl]

Hi everyone!

I just joined this site, and have applied to Florida State's MLS program. Has anyone else applied there?

I've applied to Florida State, but I haven't heard back yet! I've been accepted to University College Dublin, University College London, and hopefully will hear back from FSU soon.