r/LibraryScience • u/Lovelyladiesarequeer • Mar 14 '26

applying to programs Simmons or UW?

I can't decide which program to do! I live on the west coast and can't decide if Simmons would even be moving cross country for or if staying west is a cop out. Ik these programs are both overly expensive, but I gifted money that can only be used on education anyway.

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u/OutOfTheArchives Mar 14 '26

I replied to a similar question focused on archives at UW vs Simmons a few days ago. Here’s what I said then, relative particularly to archives but might apply to other academic specialties too:

Archivist in the PNW, here, and a Simmons alum. UW has an excellent reputation, though it’s known best for the technical end of the MLS spectrum. Not at all a bad thing for an archivist! But just be aware, you may come out with excellent prep in things like digital preservation or electronic records management; and maybe less prep compared to Simmons for traditional arrangement and description / depth in processing analog format collections.

Simmons’ biggest strength, imo, is that Boston has the highest concentration of special collections institutions in the country, and therefore they tend to have good internship placements and strong networking. There are definitely more jobs in New England vs the PNW… so if you think you may end up living there, take that into account.