Current junior looking for advice on MLIS programs to apply to and questions about assistantship experiences (Online or potentially moving to)
Hello, I'm crossposting from r/libraries
I'm currently a psychology undergrad student in Massachusetts, but have been working at my 2 school's libraries since 2022. I will be graduating next year, and have sorta become inspired to continue pursuing library work. Life lore cut short, I was very directionless in my life before going to college (took around 5 gap years) and sorta turned my life around when I got to school. I noticed in my uncertainty about my future, that thinking about working in libraries didn't fill me with existential dread like imagining other jobs did. I also realized I had a network of connections and friends with people that are also in libraries, and actually pursuing MLIS's of their owns
This made me think, what if thats the route for me? Having waited so long to go to college, I was around 25 when I applied to community college, which meant my financial aid was amazing. I will graduate with my bachelor's in psych debt free, and I'd like to continue that trend given the cost-benefit of an MLIS (most of my bosses dont even have an MLIS and I know for a lot of jobs its not required, which is why I'd like to do this with as little financial burden as possible)
I started my research last week, and had a few general questions as well as a list of schools I was considering. I have essentially broken them up into "I would only go if I got a GA position covering my tuition" and "cheap online programs"
As of writing this, I'm considering:
Cheap Online (would work in MA while pursuing the degree, maybe would move if I got GA covering tuition)
* Valdosta State University
* Emporia State University
* University of Alabama
* Indiana University Indianapolis
* University of Oklahoma
* Indiana University - Bloomington
* University of North Texas (saw if you win scholarship you get in-state rates
Only would accept if I got GA covering tuition
* University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
* University of Iowa
* University of Missouri
* North Carolina Central University
* University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
* University of Tennessee
* University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
* University of Kentucky
* Kent State University
* Texas Woman's University
Obviously, I need to trim the list and such. I've never even considered grad school until about a few weeks ago so this is all just a very rough idea based solely on money right now, I haven't even considered concentration. My biggest questions however are as follows so
**tldr;**
* For those who have assistantships, what is your day to day like at your school? Do you find it overwhelming managing classes + the work? The most I've worked while in undergrad was 15 hours
* What is the coursework like compared to undergrad courses?
* How many schools total did you apply for?
* Do any of the schools in my list raise some immediate red flags?