So, I got my letter yesterday, the one informing me that I passed.
Of course, it also had the stipulation “Upon successful completion of any remaining course work required…you will be eligible to receive the M.S.”
That means, I suppose, that I can’t completely slack off for the next two weeks. But it’s official that I passed. 
woo hoo!
Congratulations!
(and thanks for my first-ever appearance in a thread title! )
Yay for Lsura! I had a momentary flashback to comps. shudder So, what’s your M.S. in?
Information Science - in about two weeks they kick me out and call me a professional liberrian. 
Scary, huh?
Lsura stalking people about overdue liberry books. Now that’s scary! :eek:
Back up one more step. What are comps. And why is it lower case?
Are all librarians recquired to have an M.S.?
Comps are the comprehensive exam that the Master’s progam I’m in requires for graduation, if you do not write a thesis. It’s actually a university requirement for non-thesis programs. Some ALA accredited Library Science/Information Science (whatever the school calls them) have neither a comps or thesis requirement.
It’s lowercase because that’s the way we wrote it. Some will capitalize, some will lowercase. No difference.
That can be a loaded question. Someone can become a librarian without the MS (MLS, MSIS, again, depends on what the school calls it), but it can be more difficult to get jobs. I decided to get the M.S. because this is a career change for me, and I know that getting a decent paying job is going to depend on having that degree.
There’s a woman in our program now, though, who is actually the director of a nearby library system and she is just getting her M.S. I don’t consider her any less of a professional than the women who’ve had there Master’s for years and work the reference desk in the university library. But some would call her a paraprofessional even though she’s in a professional level position.
It helps people in the field see you as a professional, and it provides some basic knowledge of the field. Not absolutely required, but helpful.