My D would like to visit Pepperdine but I’ve heard mixed reports about the level of religious observance on campus. My D attends a chuch youth group about once a month but that is as much social as it is serious religious study. How might a HS student who attends church services on average just once a month fit in at Pepperdine?
They go to church three times a week and sometimes pray in class
I was in LA for a short work trip and brought my daughter so we could tour Pepperdine. The campus location is beautiful and most everyone we met was friendly and positive. However, the school felt a bit small and there didn’t seem like much within walking distance of campus. A Subway and Starbucks are both a mile+ down the road. We had a nice meal at a little Cafe which was a bit further away yet. To some that wouldn’t be important but my daughter likes the idea of having dining and shopping options near campus (and I like the idea of a campus which doesn’t require a car). She also couldn’t get past the feeling that many of the students were very serious about their religion. Absolutely nothing against that but the atmosphere seemed a bit too religious for her.
When I visited I was blown away by how religious they were… definitely too religious for me and I would say for the a majority of college applicants.
we had just the opposite reaction. Religious life was a farce. Our tour guide made a point to emphasize that convocation or whatever their little church service is called, is frequently led by self-help gurus and pop psychologists. i think Pepperdine is an up and coming quality school. The quality of instruction is rigorous and much is expected of students. In another few years, I can see it being in the same conversation as Vanderbilt or Emory. The location is beautiful but a little remote. It is not the same experience as going to school in a “college town.” For 99% of the students, those four years will be their only time to live in beach front property worth millions of dollars. We joked with our son that if he attended, his quality of life would never be as good as those four years. I would not let the religiosity of the school affect my decision to attend.