Millikin University - Decatur, IL

<p>Mom2inCollege, thank you for taking the step to add your perspective.<br>
While I see you value the Elmhurst experience over the Millikin, I guess the question I have is: Is your daughter happy? Is she making progress? </p>

<p>I hated my children's high school experience but they survived and walked away wiser and relatively unscathed. I've learned to trust them. If they are happy with their choice, despite my own concerns, I will support them. They know that if they change their mind at any time we'd support starting the transfer process in a heartbeat as well. It's their life and already my D has chosen a field that to me, seems extremely daunting, but she's so excited and can't wait to begin this part of her journey that I just plan to sit back and keep an eye from a distance. Oh, and continue praying, too.</p>

<p>DisneyDirector: While I'm not personally familiar with the MT program at Millikin (yet), my child is currently a high school Junior and we have already visited 11 college BFA campuses in the Northeast and Midwest. On this basis, it seems there are many fine BFA schools located in questionable neighborhoods. Two that come immediately to mind are CCM and Syracuse - - both offer excellent BFA programs, amazing faculty, beautiful facilities and successful, working graduates - - however, I would not consider the neighborhoods which surround either CCM or SU to be 'safe'. I got the same impression from the neighborhoods which surround Northwestern. Still, these are among my child's top choices for next year, and my husband and I remain supportive, in spite of our somewhat negative impression of the surrounding neighborhoods. I agree with you completely that this is just the way of the world, and it's better to teach our kids to be safe in all environments than to try and shelter them. I guess the point I am trying to make is that if recent posts about safety concerns at Millikin are true (and I'm not saying they are), Millikin is not the only BFA school that's located in a questionable neighborhood; and to be honest, Millikin is not the only BFA program to receive 'mixed reviews' on College Confidential. It sounds like you've done extensive research and you have your daughter's best interests at heart ... Millikin also sounds like an excellent program which my child may also consider, in spite of some of the negative commentary on this thread. I therefore hope you will continue to post your and your daughter's experiences on College Confidential. Best of luck to you and your daughter in the future!</p>

<p>FYI, Millikin is a good school for the actors, but it is not a good school for techs (the people behind the scene). I found out that the school does help the actors get jobs but does not help the techs get jobs. When questioned the teachers stated that the techs can find a job anywhere, so they do not need the help. They said it is harder for actors to get jobs so that is why they help them. The students met in a forum at school (actors and techs) and the actors where shocked that the techs did not get help. The staff said that they were unaware that the tech students were not finding jobs in their field and the school said that this policy will change, for the upcoming year but the current graduating students (techs) will not get help this year in finding jobs. The actors however, did get help and most of them do have jobs lined up. </p>

<p>I know I am all over the place, but, there are laws on how we are allowed to treat our children, and in grade school - high school teachers are suppose to pay attention and make sure the parents are not abusing the children. But we allow the teachers to abuse our children? Your child comes home and says the teacher yelled at me and your first response is well that couldn't of happened your teacher would not do that. Why don't parents believe their children? As they get older it gets worse, but because we told the children to ignore it they let it happen and do not say a word. But abuse is abuse no matter how you sugar coat it and it should not be allowed by anyone. Would you let a stranger yell at your child? So why do we allow teachers to treat our children badly. Someone said in a previous quote something about dealing with it. If we do not teach our children to say stop it at a younger age, then how can they tell the difference between abuse and just a person having a bad day. No one deserves to be abused, and their is a fine line that a lot of teachers do cross.
I thank GOD everyday that my daughter is no longer in this school (she graduated), and I hope that all of your students are smart enough to pay attention to any kind of abuse and know that they do not have to take it from anyone. They deserve better then that, after all they are our children!</p>

<p>Mom2incollege,</p>

<p>Thanks for letting us know Millikin responds to the needs of the students. They complained, the techies got support from their actor peers, and the school has committed to making a change for the upcoming classes. That's a good thing.</p>

<p>As for the abuse charge, after 18 years of age, your children are no longer 'children'. They are adults and are supposed to stand up for themselves. If your adult daughter survived Millikin without regrets and is making a living with the skills the university provided then your money was well spent. It seems you found the situation to be abusive but that your daughter did not, at least not to the extent that it impeded her ability to learn and succeed. This tells me you raised your daughter very well.</p>

<p>I guess I don't understand why you're so upset with the fact that some adults are jerks. Bullies in school grow up to be bullies in the workforce, this is nothing new. They aren't going to get fired if they produce positive results for the employer because money is the bottom line. I get the impression that you think if more parents complained at the k-12 level about 'abusive' teachers that these teachers would lose their jobs or something. That's just not the way it works. </p>

<p>There is such a thing as tenure for K-12 teachers and they have powerful unions. If you want change then you need to go to the school board in your area and ask them to set a standard of conduct for all teachers which define 'abuse'. Once that's in place, THEN, parents can place charges against certain teachers for breaking District Conduct Regulations. But beware: it is highly unlikely that the district will agree on a definition of verbal abuse that matches your own personal standard. Chances are, if you look at your district's current guidelines there's broad language already in place and you'll see it makes it very difficult for parents to levy accusations against any specific teacher as it is. And that's the way it is in the workplace, as well. That's why it's more important to teach our children to stand up for THEIR OWN PERSONAL STANDARDS than 'settle' for any government, work, or school guidelines. Raise the bar for yourself and insist others rise to your level, and if they refuse, then WALK AWAY from that job, school, situation. It seems your daughter learned that lesson from you and I know my two young adult children know it well. There is hope for the future because of parents like you and many others here on this board. Our children will become better teachers, bosses, supervisors as the older generation retires (I'm seeing that happen here at home) and in time, this problem our kids faced will be greatly lessened for their children.</p>

<p>Hey all-
I'm going to be a sophomore at Millikin this fall- if any of you had students auditioning this past semester, we probably met. I worked in the theatre and dance office talking to auditioning students and their parents.</p>

<p>I really want to give you all a perspective from a current student because a lot of what you're all citing, good and bad, is from official sites or past students, which is different than what your kids will get when they attend Millikin.</p>

<p>1) Someone made a comment about the old ballet teacher. I never knew her, and I know that a lot of upperclassmen really respected her. I also have heard that she was one of the teachers that was unprofessional in her socializing with students. The new ballet teacher, Angela Fledderman Miller, is very well qualified. My Ballet 1 class progressed much farther in one year than Ballet 1 has ever in the past because of her teaching style. She has a great connection with students, really knows how to communicate with us, and is an active artist, choreographing pieces that are being performed around the country (which she workshopped in our dance concert this semester).</p>

<p>2)Safety in Decatur is questionable. There isn't any arguing that. However, I have never once felt threatened on campus. Safety and Security offers free rides after 5:00 until the sun comes up every day of the week anywhere on campus and a few houses off-campus as well. They do tend to be slow in day-to-day activities (namely getting rehearsal spaces unlocked) but I have never had any reason to doubt that they would be ready to help in a dangerous situation. Of course, that said, I have no reason to doubt the people who claim that the Safety and Security office is slow. I regularly get campus-wide e-mails from Deana Luthy, the head of safety and security, reporting any suspicious behavior, robberies, or violence in the area.</p>

<p>3) As far as "abusive" professors go, I have never had any experience with anything like this. As in any situation where people work together, conflicting attitudes and personalities cause dispute, and professors who are used to getting their way can make life uncomfortable for students who are used to getting their way (which really is quite often, looking at my class). I'm not in any way claiming that the report of abuse that was mentioned was made up-
what I am saying is that, yes, in classes where the students' performance is picked apart so critically in an environment where people have to work together and depend on one another, there are always going to be high tensions and the risk of disagreements or discomfort. I know that I personally have grown up a lot this year learning to deal with this. </p>

<p>4) I am a performance major and right now I could not recommend the performance track more highly (I don't think anyone has disputed this- I just want to reiterate.) Of course there are cuts in the musical theatre department; almost every decent program in the country has some kind of cut to keep people working hard. TZehrer mentioned earlier the hurdles at the end of Freshman year. This is the main "re-audition" that musical theatre students do, but to think that students might be allowed to pass this hurdle then do whatever they want for the next few years and graduate with a BFA in musical theatre is ridiculous. As a school who is trying to beef up their reputation for the BFA musical theatre degree, it only makes sense for them to only accept the best, hardest working students. All that said, I have heard from tech students and faculty that, for the moment at least, Millikin is not the place to come to study technical theatre. However, one of our new tech professors has stated several times that she intends to bring the tech program up to the level of the performance program.</p>

<p>I really hope this helps you folks- if any of you have questions or wish to discuss Millikin any further, please message me.</p>

<p>An interesting tidbit - noted casting director Dave Clemmons has just established his very own Facebook account called Millikin Musical Theatre. His comment on the page is "While I have not visited the Millikin program yet, I certainly would like to. I constantly see extremely talented people from this program and would love to know what is going on there." So he created a page just for the program. Very cool! Keep up the great work Millikin!</p>

<p>just wanted to throw in a few things as a alum from millikin's bfa acting program as well as a admission counselor for the school.</p>

<p>i just spent the better part of my work day preparing for the visual arts fairs that i attend on behalf of millikin and googling our programs. i read almost all of the posts and wanted to post some of the positives that haven't been talked about. i think this is a good forum for parents to talk about colleges and i would love for there to be true information about millikin posted on these pages:</p>

<p>senior showcase - done in ny every spring</p>

<p>stiletto entertainment audition - casts for holland american cruise lines
(roughly 6 auditions around the world, millikin being one of them)</p>

<p>theaters - blackbox (seats 99), albert taylor (245), pilling chapel (110), kaeuper hall (165), kirkland (1906)</p>

<p>all steinway school - Steinway</a> & Sons - Noteworthy - All-Steinway Schools</p>

<p>send word now security program - Safety</a> & Security|Safety & Security| Millikin University</p>

<p>season - 2 musicals, 3 plays, opera and dance concert every year</p>

<p>pipedream season - between 7-20 1-act plays done every semester performed and directed by students</p>

<p>new theatre administration and stage management degrees</p>

<p>alumni work - <a href="http://www.millikin.edu/fine_arts/documents/WherearetheyNow.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.millikin.edu/fine_arts/documents/WherearetheyNow.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There is an unofficial youtube page with alumni stories and current caberet performances - a current student put this together </p>

<p>new musical workshop done over christmas break into second semester</p>

<p>international trip to london every other semester</p>

<p>it helps that our lead dance faculty member grad. from syracuse and performed on broadway. and our dean runs kirkland as a roadhouse putting professional acts on the stage. we have a movement teacher who has studied all over the world and brings back new projects and teachings for class.</p>

<p>please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the post.</p>

<p>p.s. in regards to "cuts," they are made based on students perf. in and out of the classroom and not on numbers. its hard to be a bfa mt student when you don't show up to class or show up late to rehearsal...which is why some students are removed from the program late in the game.</p>

<p>iladmisrep: thank you and welcome!</p>

<p>Hi Guys, sorry to go a little off topic! What is the social life like in Millikin? Are there parties? Do the students drink? surely the sports team like football have a social network? Thanks</p>

<p>Though my daughter was only at Millikin for a very, very short time, I can assure you there are certainly parties!</p>

<p>Every school has parties and every school has partiers. It's up to the individual as to how much they will or won't participate. I went through my entire college experience, so busy with rehearsals, etc., that I went to only two parties in four years. I wasn't a drinker (neither was my future wife who was there with me) and we managed to have a great time.</p>

<p>Any word on how the freshman students are doing?</p>

<p>I am not quite sure why “DisneyDirector” is so angry with someone who shared his or her experience with this school. These posts have shown me that, parents are just as unsure about themselves as the students are. I believe in teaching my children to stand up and say no, to lead through example, and not to coward to those around. I would be interested in knowing if the BFA program or the other theatre programs have changed. If Millikin did hold up their end and make the changes necessary to ensure more positive experience for the students.
Instead of being angry and hostile towards other parents, valid feelings, lets remember that this is about parents joining together to celebrate our offspring’s, to share in both the good parts as well as the bad parts of life it will make the education our children receive far greater then we could imagine. To learn from others’ mistakes is what makes us better citizens. Parents please stand tall, and stand together as a rare group… Parents who care enough to give their children the future that we all deserve. After all these children are our future.</p>

<p>My child did graduate from Millikin, although I can not say it was a pleasant experience, and if we had to do it again I probably would not send my child to Millikin. She completed her education and graduated!, and moved to another state shortly after graduation and worked as a server while applying at theatres. I should make this point that my child is not in the acting field but is a “behind the scene” person. Millikin did teach her to be accepting of ignorant adults and has vowed to never become the type of person she had to deal with at the university. She is nice, polite and understanding to those who are new in this field, she takes the time to explain and to teach what needs to be done and how it should be completed, to a point where no one feels dumb or unwanted. She has an outstanding job in the theatre field and although it was a tough rode to get here, she is a better person for it. I am sorry to hear that some of the people who posted here,that their children did not get into Millikin, but I wish you the best.</p>

<p>Wow… interestingly enough, my D went to a school whose program was headed by a Millikin grad. She experienced the same things about him that your D did the Millikin staff.She learned similar things. I guess this particular grad emulated his teachers too well. Needless to say, she left the school.</p>

<p>I am very happy to hear that your daughter is doing well despite the difficulties!</p>

<p>Thank you for your comment, I am sorry to hear that your daughter had a similar experience. Where did your daughter transfer to?
I wish we could get the schools to understand that these children of ours are adults when they enter college and that they deserve the same respect as other adults. I just hope the next generation does not repeat the same mistakes as the ones that taught them.</p>

<p>My D went to Muhlenberg, which she loved, but decided to go to AMDA because she just wanted to focus on performance, not academics.</p>

<p>I recently went with my mom and dad to view Millikin University, and although I am sure it is an excellent program (I mean, Sierra Boggess graduated from there!), I was NOT impressed with the campus or the surrounding area. I know that such a life-changing decision on where you attend college should not be based on campus aesthetics; however, I do feel as though when you choose a college or university, you at least pick a somewhat architecturally pretty campus, particularly when there are so many MT programs out there that are just as competitive if not better than this university. There is a cemetary next to the school for crying out loud! haha. But anyone who wishes to attend Millikin should not take my post as a negative comment. Just saying what I thought about the campus. Best of luck to all of you MT auditionees this year! BREAK A LEG :)))</p>

<p>Since my D has graduated from Millikin, I feel that I am now safe to tell of her experiences-especially since I paid the bill!
She had a very bad experience and I’m just glad she is out of there. I won’t repeat the things I cited in my earlier post, but to those who try to comment when you haven’t experienced it…well…you’re uninformed.
Yes, the crime around Decatur and campus was just as bad when she graduated, and seemed to be getting worse. I disagree with the previous poster that the campus isn’t attractive. Yes, it’s on a smaller piece of land, so the buildings are close, but with the weather being cold and snowy most of the school year, this is a good thing! There have been recent renovations and upgrades and the cemetery the above student referenced is on a back corner of the campus that most student’s never see! Yes, this campus has many old buildings, but some people find that very charming-including me!
I still stand by my comment that most students that begin the program do not graduate with an MT degree, and a simple fact finding mission can prove that. If they are honest, you will be shocked. For the years D was there, it was never more than a handful, and one year it was two. These classes began with 25-30. Don’t let them tell you that people “choose” to leave, blah blah blah as some have here. They “redirect/kick out” most of them and it’s not always for missing class or failure to work hard as some on here have suggested. It’s usually better for these “redirected” students to stay and graduate in four years than to go to another school and lose credits and have to pay more, so I’m sure the department numbers don’t reflect what is actually taking place within. A few students do leave. My last info was that this trend was still continuing.
It’s easy to find a freshman and sometimes a sophomore who will defend Millikin. I know. When many of my daughter’s class got “redirected” her freshman year and she didn’t, I admit (to my shame, now) that I felt relieved she “made it” and I would have defended Millikin at that point. My daughter’s class began with 30 enthusiastic, talented kids and ended with most of them graduating in other majors, deflated and crushed. (I think there were less than five.) One bad teacher in particular teaches a few required classes so there is no way to avoid her. It seems she has the power to single-handedly redirect students from the program. This person treats the students horribly and is very angry at life in general and I say that because of the following experience.
I was visiting my D and we were at a local store. D noticed the teacher and pointed her out, but did not want to see this woman and went to another part of the store to avoid her. Of course this woman did not recognize me. I was approaching her and another shopper with a cart was in front of her. She got so annoyed when the other shopper did not move her cart fast enough, that she yanked her cart, made a really nasty comment to the woman as she passed her, (complete with profanity) glared at her and sped past with her cart as if this person deliberately did something wrong! I was really appalled. The lady looked at me and I just shook my head. D had relayed stories in the past of how this woman treated students so rudely, that seemed pretty unbelievable. I thought she might have been being overly dramatic- evidently, not so.
The worst thing that ever happened and led to D’s departure from the program was her being given drugs at the health center to which she was allergic. She got sick, and went to the health center and was asked if she had any allergies. D said “Yes, I’m very allergic to sulfa drugs.” This nurse said, “OK, here you go” and handed D some pills in a bottle. When l called her, she was lethargic, her whole body was extremely swollen (including her tongue), and she told me she was in extreme pain. She was barely able to talk to me. The last time I had talked to her I knew she had a sore throat/virus. I was thinking her throat hurt and that is why she sounded so bad.
I asked her if she was taking medicine and she said she had gone to the health center and just now taken the second dose. I told her to get the bottle and read it to me, and yes, it was a sulfa drug. The name did not make it obvious, but I knew. (Later, when we discussed it, D said she never even thought to question it because they had literally JUST discussed the fact she was allergic and the nurse handed over the medicine. She was so sick she just took one and got into bed-lesson learned.) I called the nurse at the health center and told her my D had been given and had taken drugs to which she was allergic. Well, this nurse said she would physically go check on her, (because she had messed up) I couldn’t reach D for the next few hours, and I thought maybe the nurse had had her admitted to the hospital. The health center was now closed and I couldn’t reach anyone. I called the local hospital but she had not been admitted.
I finally reached D six hours later, (it was the longest six hours of my life) only to find that nobody had checked on her and that she had passed out on the floor trying to get to the bathroom, spent several hours on the floor, and had just now made it back to her bed. I was so angry at this point and too many hours away to do anything. I reached the nurse the following morning and she lied and lied. She told me she was on her way out the door right then with new medicine “in her hand” for my daughter. Hours later I learned no medicine had YET been delivered because actually they did not have anymore of the medicine in stock and had ended up calling a local pharmacy! She informed me that I wouldn’t be charged though. OH gee, thanks. I ended up talking to the Dean of Students because this was only one of many lies this “nurse” had told in the next few days. She lied about what my daughter had said, and got caught in her lies. The Dean actually caught her in a few, apologized to me and told me that he would take proper action. (She still works there.) She actually wrote lies in my daughter’s chart and then tried to say someone else had written them. This woman is really dangerous, and many other students later told my daughter that they “stay away from that place.”
D had arthritis as a complication from the allergic reaction and literally could not walk for a week. The nurse also failed to call her teachers as she said she would, so many teachers thought D was a no show for class. A call to the Dean straightened all of this out, and he assured me that D would be excused for the missed classes and that he would take care of it. (And for those that might think it, this incident was my first and last contact with the Dean, and no, I do not normally get involved. D is a capable adult. She was so sick during this time and this situation was so dangerous that I had to get involved. I have NEVER spoken to any Professor.)
When D returned to class, this teacher would not give her ample time to make up her work. She was supposed to have a week to make up the work according to the Dean and Millikin policy, but this ended up not being the case. All the other professors (all non-department except one) were great, but this teacher said two days was plenty and that if D didn’t have her stuff in two days, she would fail her. D decided that it was just not worth it to be under so much stress with this woman. She actually ended up getting a “C” in this course, but was “reevaluated” later at the request of this teacher who cited “lack of commitment evidenced by poor attendance” as her reason for the redirect. Even though her only absences in this woman’s class were from this one incident, D graduated with a BA in theatre.
I am happy to report that she is doing VERY well. She is blessed to have worked professionally every summer while in school. and she recently auditioned for her “dream job” and was one of eight to make it through the final round of the entire audition. As she walked out the auditioner called her back and said “you did a great job, today, we’ll be in touch.” So although she doesn’t want to “jinx” it, I think she is expecting a “yes” answer when they call.
Why do I take the time to write this? Because I was once in the same position of many of you reading this. I spent so much money on her education and believe me, she is not getting jobs BECAUSE of Millikin. She is getting them despite her education at Millikin. Millikin needs to reexamine the department and the results they are getting. D told me that they do an exit survey and it was the talk of her department friends how they were going to be honest and give examples and quotes that certain teachers and professors had said. I hope the powers that be are listening.</p>

<p>As a current student in the BFA MT program at Millikin, I can answer questions honestly and accurately about the school and program. </p>

<p>There seems to be some bitter people on this board, so I wanted to try and offer current information about the program and all it has to offer. The curriculum and program are currently going through a lot of changes and Millikin has, in my opinion, really begun to make a name for itself as a top school for Musical Theatre.</p>