Admtted Students Reception

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pepperdine University
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<p>Pepperdine is on my daughter's short list. She and I are going to the admitted students reception this Friday. We are flying in on Wednesday night. She will sit in on a couple of classes on Thursday morning, and we will do some exploring/sightseeing in the afternoon. We will also have some time afterwards on Friday...This is our first visit to the campus, as we are from the East coast. Hopefully this visit will make the final decision easier. Any recommendations on places to visit/things to do?</p>

<p>Also, I am a runner, any recommendations for good running routes, either along the beach, or in one of the area parks (from the looks of it on Google maps, there seem to be a lot of parks in the area), or wherever?</p>

<p>Lastly, who else is going to the reception? Will this be your first visit? Have you accepted your admissions offer, or are you still trying to make up your mind? Anything else planned for the visit besides attending the reception?</p>

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<p>Hi, i’m a sophomore at Pepperdine and from NC. I went to the reception two years ago, but it wasn’t really all that exciting. However, since this is your first visit then it should be great!</p>

<p>I’m not sure if you have been in the LA area before, but in my suggestions below I will assume you haven’t, otherwise you might have visited these places before.</p>

<p>1) On Friday night be sure to go to Santa Monica and visit the Third Street Promenade. There are all sorts of street acts and entertainment for 4 blocks. Tons of restaurants too. It’s three blocks from the beach, so also visit the pier while you’re at it which is very close. You can park in any of the public parking decks for $5 (after 6PM weekend rate). There are about 6 decks so there is plenty of parking. The reason I encourage you to go on Friday is because it tends to be more active on the weekends.</p>

<p>2) You should visit Point Dume sometime. It’s above 5 miles north of Pepperdine. There’s a nice park and it’s on the beach. But, there’s a separate area (find westward beach, then continue on the road and it eventually curves up a slope, through a residential area, to Point Dume State Park. At this point you should be higher up than the ocean. In this area there is also access to “Big Dume” beach which is sort of a “private beach” really cool area. Dume starts on the beach, but again if you continue up the road you will come to an area with 6 parking spots total, this is the area i’m talking about (not the point dume beach area). It’s not uncommon to see sea lions in this area. If you do it right, you should be “ATOP” the big cliff allowing you to see both the direction of pepperdine and further north at the same time. I see people running up here all the time. It’s kind of a secretive area, and hopefully you will be able to find parking (but again only 6 or so spots-- free of course).</p>

<p>3) Hit up malibu creek state park. When heading away from Pepperdine on Malibu Canyon turn left on Mulholland. You can park anywhere on this road for free (saves you the hastle of paying to park- this is what students do). After you park, cross the bridge and tak an immediate left. You will find a path, continue down the path. You will cross a creek and then go up a slope and you will see the Malibu Creek Parking area. From there you will find maps or just ask people. There’s a pretty cool waterfall/rock area. It’s definately worth the trip. You could just pay to park in Malibu Creek State Park, but it’s kind of cool to evade paying!</p>

<p>4) If you have extra time try to go to Venice Beach. There is a boardwalk that streches a few blocks. Parking is hard to find but there are some paid lots on the beach for like $7 (although if its a nice day and the weekend it could be higher). At venice on the boardwalk you will see all sorts of freaks and you will be asked to get a weed med card. Sounds scary but its very touristy and its quite an experience! It’s south of santa monica, so around 30-40 minutes from campus.</p>

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<p>Hi, we are from Central Ca and my son is still deciding! He can’t miss school Friday, but we are flying to see University of San Diego Sat and then driving to Loyola on Sunday. My husband and I are going to Pepperdine Thursday to look around and videotape a bit then report back to my son. He is still unsure, I’m hoping he figures it out by Sunday!</p>

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<p>Thanks for the tips andylaws!</p>

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<p>No problem, let me know if you have any more questions!</p>

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<p>DD and I got back from our Pepperdine visit this morning.</p>

<p>A quick trip report…</p>

<p>Overall, it was a positive experience.</p>

<p>The obvious - the campus and surrounding area are beautiful.</p>

<p>Everyone was super friendly and helpful, this includes the students, teachers, and other staff.</p>

<p>When my daughter attended classes on Thursday, the other students welcomed her and invited her to join them for snacks during the class-time break.</p>

<p>Walking around “lost” on campus, several people offered to help her get where she wanted to go.</p>

<p>According to my daughter, the classes were small (~16 students) and included participation of the students in interesting discussion. She seemed generally impressed with the level of the students and the discussion. She had seemed quite overwhelmed when we arrived on campus, but seemed much more comfortable after attending the classes. </p>

<p>The admitted students reception on Friday included check-in, a “chapel service”, a tour, an information “fair” with tables set up for different campus divisions and organizations, lunch in the cafeteria, and a “perspectives” talks by a student, teacher, staff member, and dean of Seaver college.</p>

<p>Overall, the reception was well run.</p>

<p>The guest speaker at the chapel service, and speakers at the “perspective” talk were all good.</p>

<p>The dean was a good closing speaker, making a strong point about preparing students to serve others in the world, rather than just themselves. </p>

<p>On the negative side, the tour was too short and seemed rushed. Especially for us, as this was our first visit.</p>

<p>It was interesting that the library was skipped on the tour. We went there on our own afterwards. I guess it was skipped, because it is quite small. </p>

<p>I had read on another site that the work-out facilities were not that good, but we checked them out, and they looked decent, with a fair amount of cardio and weight equiment. They have a nice outdoor pool, and nice tennis courts. Overall the place was extremely well maintained.</p>

<p>The information fair was good, but I also think it was too short, and it was quite crowded, since the event was very well attended.</p>

<p>The day ended with a special information session for those awarded Regent scholarships.</p>

<p>On a “travel” note, andylaws “sites-to-see” suggestions were quite good,</p>

<p>While DD was in class, I went for a run in Malibu Canyon State Park, not far from campus. I did a 4 mile route that went to the top of the “Look-Out” trail and back. The views/scenery were spectacular. </p>

<p>We visited the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica on Thrursday afternoon - what a nice place/city! It was quite breezy and chilly that evening, so we skipped the pier.</p>

<p>After the reception on Friday, we took a long walk along the “Westward” beach to the base of Point Dume, and then drove to the top.</p>

<p>We ended the trip with an EXCELLENT dinner at the Sage Room Italian restaurant, which is very close to Pont Dume, right on the PCH. The food was incredible, the service top notch, and the prices reasonable. </p>

<p>We will have fond memories of this trip…, but now my daughter still needs to make here decision. I have not had a “de-briefing” with my daughter, but I don’t think this trip will make the decision any easier, one way or the other…</p>

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<p>Glad you enjoyed it!</p>

<p>When I went to the caf on fri for lunch there were people EVERYWEHRE. The plus side is that the food was decent on friday… pasta with shrimp/chicken.</p>

<p>I agree on the tours. I went on two (one at the reception and one beforehand) and both were rushed. I don’t know why they do this, seeing as the tours should typically be the most interesting part of the day.</p>

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<p>HeliDad - I’m glad to hear that your visit went well. My daughter and husband were there as well, and they too loved the campus and the sense of community they found there. Since your daughter went to the Regent Scholars info session, I’m assuming she is a bright student, and I’d like to get your take on one particular aspect of Pepperdine. Do you think she will be well challenged at Pepperdine, and that she’ll have a wide range of peers who are equally interested in learning? Andylaws, please weigh in here too, if you have input as a current Pepperdine student. One thing that is very important to my D in choosing a college is that she find a substantial number of other kids who enjoy learning and being challenged as much as she does. She hasn’t had that in HS, and she’s really craving it. She had a 3 week experience a couple summers ago at an academic academy with about 300 other students from around the state who are also at the top of their HS classes, and she absolutely loved it. She’s been looking forward to college ever since, hoping that she’d find a similar peer group there. Her take on the Regent Scholars program is that it seemed a little small in terms of the number of students who participate, and it wasn’t clear to her how much she’d get to actually learn and work with other highly motivated students. So, if anyone can either allay her concerns or confirm them, in terms of the level of intellectual curiousity of students at Pepperdine, it would really help as she struggles with her final college decision.</p>

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<p>ckofpng -
The intellectual curiosity of the student body weighed heavily in my choice when I chose Pepperdine in 2009. Like ANY university, it varies. I would say it depends on the major. Students in the communication and business division (like me) generally won’t be as “intellectual” as the humanities or social science divisions, or as “academic” as the pre-med students. </p>

<p>Whatever environment your daughter is looking for, she should be able to find at Pepperdine. If she is a Regents scholar, or even if she isn’t, she may be interested in taking the Great Books Colloquium, a sequence of four dialectic classes based on the greatest works of the western canon. It replaces 5 GE classes that more advanced students might find boring, like English 101 and basic literature. I really enjoyed it and found the discussions to be some of the most interesting and stimulating.
I might be able to answer your question better if I knew your daughter’s academic interests.</p>

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<p>Hi ckofpng,</p>

<p>You asked, “Do you think she will be well challenged at Pepperdine…?”.</p>

<p>Well, this is the biggest question on my mind right now. I am going to be discussing this topic with the Regents faculty advisor soon…</p>

<p>Like you, I welcome any comments from students on this topic as well.</p>

<p>On a different subject…</p>

<p>I mentioned above that I went for a run in Malibu Creek State Park while my D was sitting in on some classes. When I met up with my D afterwards, I was describing to her how cool it was, saying the scenery was like something out of “the Planet of the Apes”. Little did I know, parts of the Planet of the Apes movie w/Charlton Heston were filmed there. </p>

<p>[Planet</a> of the Apes (1968 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Planet of the Apes (1968 film) - Wikipedia”>Planet of the Apes (1968 film) - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Also, amusingly, one of the Planet of the Apes beach scenes (with the Statue of Liberty) was shot on Westward Beach, near Point Dume, which we also visited…</p>

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<p>gwu - Thanks so much for your feedback. The Great Books Colloquium does look very good. We noticed that the faculty who teach those courses have some really impressive credentials too. My daughter is interested in Great Books, and the SAAJ colloquium description also caught her eye. She said the question had been asked if it was possible to do both, but there wasn’t a real clear answer. Do you know anyone who has done SAAJ?</p>

<p>As for my D’s interests, she is very strong in science and math, (so she sought out math and science professors to talk to last Friday.) However, she is also interested in international studies, psychology and a broad range of other things. She’s still in exploration mode, in terms of settling on a major, but she thinks she might want to do some kind of a combination of science with another discipline. She’s also a musician - plays the violin. </p>

<p>Thanks again for your thoughts. Any additional advice you have would be great. I really appreciate it that current students like you are taking time to help the HS seniors who are trying to make their decisions. That in itself says a lot about Pepperdine students.</p>

<p>HeliDad, if you get any good information or advice from the Regents program advisor, I’d love to hear about it.</p>

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<p>ckofpng-</p>

<p>To answer your question, SAAJ and Great Books fulfill the same GE requirements, so it would be no use to take both of them. I know several people who took SAAJ. A few key differences, besides subject: SAAJ is four semesters and exempts students from four GEs (first-year seminar, ENG 101, literature, and REL 301), whereas Great Books is four semesters and exempts students from FIVE GEs (the same four above PLUS a choice of political science, the dreaded COM 180 (the GPA-killing speech class I opted out of), any of the three humanities courses, or sociology. </p>

<p>I would recommend Great Books for a more academic feel, since SAAJ is more service-oriented. Great Books is geared toward Regents and students who elect to be more challenged. It’s a great opportunity to meet students in all different disciplines who are capable and happy to discuss literature/philosophy at length. I know several people who chose SAAJ and have no regrets, but it is not particularly academic.</p>

<p>International Studies is an excellent major at Pepperdine. It seems like every other person here is majoring or double-majoring in it. It’s a very versatile major and I highly recommend it.</p>

<p>The math department is small, but maybe andylaws could weigh in on it since he is in the computer sciences.</p>

<p>The science division includes one of Pepperdine’s most popular pre-med majors: Sports Medicine. She might want to take a look at that if she’s at all interested in medicine. Many of my friends chose that route, and it is one of the hardest majors. I know a couple of people who are majoring in sports med are double majoring/minoring in communication or intercultural communication (from the intro classes I took in both psych and com, it seems com is psychology minus all the fuss about the brain).</p>

<p>Again, I am more than happy to help a potential future Wave! I hope this makes the decision a little easier on your daughter. I know from experience what a confusing time it can be.</p>