The Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Date: Feb 01 2013
Major: Public Health (This Major's Salary over time)
Take the following advice from the perspective that I am a graduating student (undergrad).

Starting with what you might notice on a visit here, let's cover the aesthetics and safety here on campus. Several projects have been recently started/ completed. The Student Memorial Center (SMC) renovation was completed last year. This was a $21 Million project that seemed to focus on only appearance. Having worked in the campus recreation department for two years on campus, I worked with the gymnasiums before and after the renovation. Personally, I think that the project shorted the quality of the equipment installed/ provided in order to spend more on the (cheap) appearance desired. There are upwards of 4 dozen flatscreen TVs placed in odd and unusable locations. This wasted the funds on looking technologically up to date and is now wasting power.

Moving to safety on campus, despite the claims the University may make, the perceived feeling of safety on campus is made on false pretenses. The school is ranked at about 214 out of 400 schools when studying campus safety nationwide. There are still car burglaries (saw one last week), and there are plenty of racial fights (I have broken up a dozen myself while working in the campus recreation department. On this topic, last year race riots found their way onto campus and into campus housing. A huge fight broke out in a nearby student housing complex. As far as the police force is concerned, there plenty of officers around! Unfortunately, the focus of the officers has been to crack down on parties instead of (in my opinion) more important items.

Moving to student interactions, rated the school a 'D'. I have been to 18 countries and 12 major cities around the USA. This being said, I have been given the Boston cold shoulder, and the New York nudge. However, the students at Millersville tend to have chips on their shoulders at all times, especially on the weekend. From a student's point of view (don't read this parents!), parties are a night mare. I have given up on parties at school due to the runts that play bouncers at parties. You have to be in a sorority or fraternity to get into any party (and those parties are not worth the trip). Lancaster city, which is about 15 minutes away, has a decent bar scene that I can take advantage of now that I am of age. Otherwise, the student social life is rather harsh and quite clique-y like high school (yuck!).

The department that I spent my first year involved in was the Mathematics department. The first struggle I noticed was difficulties with understanding the professors. My first class (Calculus I) was taught by a professor who could not pronounce many common English letter duo-s, such as the -ths, -ics, etc. Moving into the Applied Engineering, Safety & Technology department in my sophomore year, I encountered different problems. The professors are predominately adjuncts (have a career then teach at night). For the most part, these professors know what they are talking about, however, having three 6-9 classes a week was very draining and difficult to work with. The program I am in is regarded as one of the best of it's kind on the Eastern Coast. However, it still has it's share of pitfalls.

In conclusion, I would visit the school for yourself, and get a feel for the campus. Some students love the atmosphere here. And as previously noted, I see the environment here as very similar to high-school. Inter- and intra- racial segregations are obvious at dining halls and throughout campus.