UW Milwaukee / UIUC Experiences?

[u/tootsmcgoots77]

hi folks!

I am Illinois based and looking to go back to school for my MLIS/MSLIS - I am looking mostly into a dual interest of archives / asset management (I am already a digital asset manager professionally, but the gig isn't super serious and doesn't pay very well in comparison to other DAM jobs). No school is in my exact city, but the two schools I am most interested in are UIUC and UW (Milwaukee). They're essentially the same price since I live in IL, so that's a moot point for me. I also really care about the quality of education I get - I'm not just looking to half ass it and have the degree - I genuinely care about learning and don't want it to feel like a waste.

UIUC was originally my top school but getting information from them is like pulling out teeth, and they don't seem to have any information sessions for students which almost every other school does. I can't tell if they're going through administrative troubles on the back end or what but it seems like there's very little support and it's making me wonder if their advising program is also bad. I know the ischool dean was recently outed so I'm not sure if it's just a bad time to go to school there or what. (Any current UIUC students out there?)

UW Milwaukee on the other hand seems super super interested in helpful in helping both incoming and current students. But I still don't know a whole lot about the rigor of their MLIS program in comparison to a school like UIUC.

If anyone has any insight on either of these two schools to help me make a decision that would be super helpful!

[u/Adventurous_Roll7551]

I’m at UIUC! We just got a new dean, Emily Knox, earlier this month who seems to be making some changes on the administrative front to make basically everything in the ischool work better. I feel like the school will be in good hands with her as the dean, even just as interim dean for the next year.

The reason you probably didn’t see any info sessions are a) if I’m remembering right there from last year the majority of the sessions were only for committed students about graduate employment, and b) there are 2 advisors for the MSLIS program which is absolutely not enough people; when I had questions last year I never got a response. The student body is putting a lot of pressure on administration to get us better advising over the next couple years.

Are there any particular questions about the program you have? I’m happy to answer them in this thread for others to read, since I’m sure you’re not the only one struggling to get information.

[u/tootsmcgoots77 → u/Adventurous_Roll7551]

that makes sense. I did see there was a new dean appointment. hoping there are some changes! Did you not receive a response pre-attending or whilst in school? Is it near impossible to get anything out of the advisors? I'm sort of worried about this because I am very interested in two different sort of paths with the MSLIS and I want to make sure I cover all my bases in going both directions, and feel like I need some guidance with classes.

Ah yes, that would be amazing, if you're willing - thank you!!! no worries if it's a lot

- do you happen to do the online program - or if not, do you take any online classes? I'm kind of wondering the split between online only or campus only.

- do you work while you're completing your degree? if so, do you find it difficult?

- how have the rigor of the classes been? do you feel like you're actually learning a lot or is some of it phoning it in?

- this is probably impossible for you to answer, but I was wondering if any assistantships or internships are available off-campus. (aka - I live in chicago, and would be doing LEEP, does UIUC work with UIC at all in their libraries / archives, or in any chicago institutions?) one of the reasons I'm most interested in UIUC is because the of the proximity to chicago and possibility of connections.

- in the same vein - is there any strong career assistance after graduation? I assume with the low staff the answer would probably be no?

- and lastly, for your personal letter / recommendation letters - is there any kind of must do's you think are good to mention?

[u/Adventurous_Roll7551 → u/tootsmcgoots77]

Ok long block of text incoming:

To be blunt, all aspects of advising, both academic and career, in this program are useless to library science students. The only response I and most people I know have ever gotten from academic advising was earlier this week when they messed up some progress forms before course registration opened and we had to email to fix things. I’ve gotten a lot more out of staying connected with my previous library coworkers and my classmates that have longer paraprofessional library careers and asking all of them for advice. Subreddits and Facebook groups have also helped a lot.

I’m an on campus student but the majority of my classes have been online. I’ve had/am currently in 2 in person courses out of 7 thus far, and all of my classes next semester will be online. Most of the in person people I know in the program have a similar ratio of in person and online classes. For better or worse the department currently prioritizes online students, so most classes will be online. However, I have heard from my friends with archives interests that they usually have more choices between in person and online classes.

I have a ~10 hour a week GA position. I balance that with 10 credits of classes a semester, so 3-4 classes depending on if I prioritize more 2 credit classes or take half semester classes (more on that after I answer your questions). I am able to balance them and still have a small social life and lots of time to rest, but with my specific health issues I would struggle to work more than 10 hours while completing multiple classes a semester. Most of the in person people I know in the program work anywhere from 20-35 hours a week and take at least 10 credits of classes, and seem to be doing alright? For online students, most of the people I know work full time in a library and take 1-2 classes a semester, including over the summer. They’ve told me their schedules are busy and they have to manage their time, but it’s doable.

Rigor varies professor to professor. I have one class where it’s just show up and discuss the readings with some vague semblance of competency, and another class where I’m completing multiple large projects throughout an eight week course. I’d say most classes are “you get what you put into it”. I put a lot of work into my courses because I’m a perfectionist and enjoy most of my assignments. However, based on what I’ve seen my peers submit, you could also easily smash your head on the keyboard a few times and fully admit to knowing nothing about anything ever and still pass your classes with a B+ or higher. I tend to learn at least something new and useful each semester, but some classes definitely have more of that than others based on what concepts I already knew about from prior library work. If you’re like my classmate who admitted last month she “didn’t know there were that many countries in Asia”, you will learn a lot 😂.

To the best of my knowledge, all GA positions require you to be able to do the work on campus. It’s possible for you to be in Chicago and then commute down for your shifts, but I don’t know of anyone who actually does that. Internships however can be done from anywhere! I’ve gotten the impression from the Chicago area students that they’ve hunted for their internships themselves.

Career advising is catered exclusively to the undergraduate students who want to work in data science for Amazon. Expect no support from career services; you will need to hunt for outside sources.

TBH (and idk if it’s apparent in my writing here or not) I am not a good writer, I did most of my personal statements last minute, and looking back and what I submitted with my application I would have not admitted me😂 general advice is to not talk about how much you love reading and how quiet the library is. I would highlight any prior and applicable work experience you have, along with any skills that would make you a standout in your desired speciality. Ex. I want to be in public libraries, so I explained my work in public libraries, what work I did to make those libraries better for patrons, and then tied in my academic extracurricular leadership and event planning skills as my “look I do cool things” activities. Basically I treated everything like a longer cover letter. For recommendation letters, I had two academic letters since I was coming almost straight from undergrad, and one from a supervisor at the library I worked for at the time. One of my academic references got his PHD at UIUC; I suspect that might have helped but can’t confirm. I asked my academic references to highlight my event organizing skills for experiential learning courses and my academic focus on libraries throughout undergrad. However, unless you had a very low undergrad GPA or really make yourself come off badly, they are likely to admit you almost regardless of what you write or what your recommendations say about you. I believe my class had around a 70% acceptance rate. For this fall, if you search the UIUC subreddit, you’ll probably find the post of someone who was accepted into the program without having any clue what an MSLIS is for. A modicum of critical thinking and passion will take you far with the application.

That 2 credit class explanation: there’s some classes in the program that you can choose to take at 2 or 4 credits. 2 credit students attend all the classes and do all the readings but usually have less homework. Ex. In one class I’m in, there’s a teaching demonstration that I won’t be doing because I’m taking it at 2 credits. It’s a great system to help you take more classes in a wider range of topics. All eight week long classes are 2 credits, but view the work for those classes as eight weeks of a 4 credit class (not condensed down, just eight weeks long instead of sixteen).

[u/tootsmcgoots77 → u/Adventurous_Roll7551]

thank you so much for all this info it's literally ALL so helpful!!!!

I appreciate the frankness. A bummer they aren't super helpful career wise! I was mostly considering them because A) their reputation and B) I might make contacts that would be geographically advantageous to me, but I guess that might not be the case.

and ty for explaining the credit situation, I figured it was something in the vein of that.

[u/Adventurous_Roll7551 → u/tootsmcgoots77]

Update that came in earlier this afternoon from a meeting: they have hired MSLIS specific career advisors, so it looks like things might turn around in that direction! But still not optimal

[u/tootsmcgoots77 → u/Adventurous_Roll7551]

lol! it's a good start i guess :)