<p>Hi, I don't know much about Pepperdine and was wondering...</p>
<p>Isn't is conservative? Like really conservative?</p>
<p>Isn't is really religious? I heard a rumor that there is a religion requirement like you have to go to church.</p>
<p>Is the student life good?</p>
<p>These could all be erroneous stereotypes, please just tell me what you know. Thanks!</p>
<p>bumpity bump bump bump</p>
<p>I know it is a religious based school and you can get some bible classes but I don’t think it’s mandatory to be in a religion to attend.</p>
<p>I think it’s definitely more on the conservative side than many other schools, but the university as a whole isn’t necessarily conservative. There are many liberals as well as many conservatives. I get the impression from past threads on here that the administration tends to be more conservative than the students.</p>
<p>Like Collegegirl15789 said, it’s religiously based. They are affiliated with the Churches of Christ, and there’s a church on campus. You aren’t required to go to church, but you do have I think three religion classes you have to take and a certain number of convocations you need to attend. There are a lot of options to fill convo credits, but I think the most common way is to go to a weekly talk on like Wednesday mornings that’s inspirational and can be religiously based but doesn’t have to be. It’s like 14 convocations each semester for an A, so basically one a week.</p>
<p>Student life seems great to me. Malibu itself is a boring town, but students usually drive to LA or Santa Monica if they want to go someplace. There’s plenty to do on campus, depending on what you’re interested in. It’s a dry campus, so no alcohol. I hear some parties happen off-campus, but I don’t really know about that. It’s right by the beach, and fairly close to LA, so it sounds fantastic to me.</p>
<p>Just an applicant here, though, although my sister did go to Pepperdine.</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you guys for the information!!!</p>
<p>Pepperdine is definitely a conservative Christian school, but there’s definitely a presence of liberal students on campus as well. I’m a freshman this year, and my class seems to be about 50/50: half the students are the “religious type”, involved in service opportunities and campus ministry events; the other half are the more stereotypical college students who party and aren’t as involved with church.</p>
<p>Mithrium is right about the religion requirements–there are 14 required convo credits each semester, which is about an hour a week. Pepperdine offers a lot of random events for convo credit as well as regular chapel services, and nobody seems to have trouble fulfilling that requirement. People used to complain a lot about convo, but they’ve really improved the system and I personally enjoy it a lot.</p>
<p>One thing I love about Pepperdine is the housing arrangements; each freshman lives in a single-sex dorm of about 50, within a suite of 8-10 people who share a bathroom and common room. I’ve become really close with my suitemates, as have most of my friends. It’s nice to have that sort of “home base” on campus, because you’re almost guaranteed to spend lots of time with your suitemates.</p>
<p>Parties happen off-campus, which is nice because they’re easy to get involved with if you want or to avoid if you don’t. Many people go to local bars on Tuesday night since most people have no class on Wednesday, or to off-campus apartments and houses on the weekends. The campus police really cracks down on alcohol and such, so people tend to be very responsible and discreet about alcohol when they’re actually around campus.</p>
<p>In general, Pepperdine is absolutely fantastic and everyone here is super friendly. The social scene is basically what you make it. It’s not the perfect school for everybody, but if it feels right you’ll definitely love it.</p>