Is Azusa Pacific University a good school?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I kind of want to go to Azusa Pacific University in southern California. </p>

<p>It's ranked as a Third Tier school in US World and News Report and in Princeton Review as a Best Western College. I know it's nothing spectacular, but would going to APU hinder me from future graduate work at schools like UC Berkeley or UCLA? What are the negatives and positives of a school like this?</p>

<p>Would it be smarter to just stay in a state school like UNLV, or go to APU?</p>

2

<p>What will your major be? </p>

<p>What are your stats?</p>

3

<p>Well I have a 3.91 GPA right now. I’m not expecting it to dip any lower. I don’t know what I want to major in. </p>

<p>It’s between psychology, graphic design, or some type of science like biology or biochemistry.</p>

<p>Oh and I’m in college right now by the way. I’m talking about transferring. I was accepted for second semester of this year, so I’m weighing my options. I’m still a freshman.</p>

4

<p>I guess I’m wondering why you’re choosing that school? Is it affordable? It seems like a lot of money for a 3rd tier school - especially when you’re not sure what you want to major in. </p>

<p>It would seem if your parents are willing to spend that much money, that you’d rather go to a more highly ranked school. </p>

<p>What was your ACT or SAT and high school GPA (other schools will want to know that since you’re only a freshman).</p>

5

<p>I chose this school because it’s the only one I applied to right now, and I like it. My high school GPA and test scores weren’t great enough to get into an amazing school. I was happy to get into APU. </p>

<p>I’m smart though, so now that I’m in college I’m ready to work hard and get into a good graduate program. So far I’ve made straight A’s, so I know that it’s possible.</p>

<p>I know that it IS a lot of money, but APU is paying for more than half of the cost for me through grants and scholarships.</p>

6

<p>Did you apply for this spring or next fall?</p>

<p>That’s wonderful that APU has given you a wonderful financial aid package. It’s good to know that they are generous with aid. :slight_smile: Did you qualify for Pell and other fed grants? Their COA is about $35k per year. Will you have to take out loans for the rest? How much will you have to borrow?</p>

<p>Will you be able to live on campus?</p>

7

<p>Here is Azusa Pacific’s mission statement . . . :</p>

<p>“Azusa Pacific University is an evangelical Christian community of disciples and scholars who seek to advance the work of God in the world through academic excellence in liberal arts and professional programs of higher education that encourage students to develop a Christian perspective of truth and life.”</p>

<p>. . . and here is their perspective on truth and life:</p>

<p>"We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative word of God.</p>

<p>We believe that there is one God, creator of heaven and earth, eternally existent in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.</p>

<p>We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, and in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return to power and glory.</p>

<p>We believe in the fall and consequent total moral depravity of humanity, resulting in our exceeding sinfulness and lost estate, and necessitating our regeneration by the Holy Spirit.</p>

<p>We believe in the present and continuing ministry of sanctification by the Holy Spirit by whose infilling the believing Christian is cleansed and empowered for a life of holiness and service.</p>

<p>We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved to the resurrection of life and those who are lost to the resurrection of damnation.</p>

<p>We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ."</p>

<p>If the opinion I’m about to offer offends you, then let me apologize in advance. As a Christian, I have no problem with anyone choosing to believe any of this as a matter of personal faith. But for an institution to teach that this is the litmus test for “truth” is not in any way a legitimate approach to higher education. It may be religious training, but the promotion of a non-scientific method which consists of predetermining that a text is infallible and then testing all hypotheses against it to gauge its truthfulness, doesn’t hold water for truly educated people. Would a degree from such a school hinder you from graduate work or perhaps limit your future employment prospects? Yes, I would say that it might.</p>

8

<p>As an alum and now a staff member at APU, I highly recommend coming here! All of the people who have replied don’t have any first hand knowledge about the school. I would recommend that you come visit, talk to a science professor, meet actual students and see for yourself whether it would be a good fit for you. </p>

<p>It is a Christian school, no apologies. But it’s not a mindless Christianity taught here. There’s lots of questioning and analyzing and searching… I know plenty of people who have gone on to get graduate degrees at prestigious institutions. One of my best friends got her JD from UCLA. Another friend went on to Princeton.</p>

<p>If you want a small school where you won’t get lost in the crowd, it’s great. Lots of personal attention.
It’s really just a place with a wonderful spirit, great community, so many opportunities to learn and experience.
But, as I said, please come a visit and see for yourself!</p>

9

<p>I’ve never been to APU nor known anyone who has, so my opinions are not first-hand. I have no doubt that it offers a wonderful, friendly, caring community of faith. But when an institution states “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative word of God” and then says “come here in order to question and analyze and search,” it’s disingenuous. One cannot sincerely question after predetermining what the answers will be, or search, having decided from the outset what one plans to discover.</p>

10

<p>My daughter has great stats and application. She got the lowest financial aid package from APU. The department hasn’t really been able to offer us much in terms of grants, just loans. This was my daughter’s favorite school of the 6 we visited.</p>

11

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I don’t quite understand APU’s merit or FA. The OP is a transfer student, yet got great grants and scholarships.</p>

<p>My friend’s D goes there and she got good merit (but not FA because of high EFC). </p>

<p>Yet, as the post above says, her D has great stats, yet got a low package. I’m not sure if tigrou means that her D got some merit, but got little FA. Tigrou…what was your EFC?</p>

12

<p>Wait, why would “but would going to APU hinder me from future graduate work at schools like UC Berkeley or UCLA”? Sorry, I was just thinking of going there, too.</p>

13

<p>good but not great. You’re gonna need a very high GPA to go to grad school at UC-Berkeley or UCLA</p>

14

<p>Consider that your major might be biology and there are two ways you can go with biology - creationism and evolution - and that APU is an evangelical school. I’m not saying it teaches one or the other because I don’t know but just saying even some of your peers might believe something you do not.</p>

15

<p>if you had to choose; would you go to Csun or Azusa University?</p>

16

<p>Yes, on-campus housing is available to undergraduate students through traditional residence halls, living/learning communities, and apartments. Available housing for married and graduate students.</p>

17

<p>I would choose any CSU over Azusa Pacific and no it is not a good school, e financial aid is virtually non exisentent and the campus is notorious for reducing aid after the first year of attendance. I would save your money and go to a CSU or UC for a far superior education at a much cheaper cost.</p>

18

I know that this is an old post, but I wanted to clear the air about APU.

I am a retired military member, and attended APU after my 20 years of service. I consider myself a great litmus test as to the “God First” attitude of APU. I was worried about how I would fit in, and to be honest, I could not be more pleased.

Lets start with the important information.

  1. The class sizes- AWESOME, the teacher to student ratio is some of the best that you will find, but more importantly the teachers care. Not one, not two, but all 40-50 that I had to work with. This is priceless. I never once felt that I was brushed aside, either because of my believes, or because of the time I requested(which was a lot due to my age, I had a lot of catching up to do)
  1. Staff- When I was a waiter, I was told the restaurant was a direct reflection of the staff.....if this is true, APU might be the best college in the world. The staff is attentive, professional and ALWAYS willing to go the extra mile. These are not the type of people that "point" you down the hall, these people walk with you....AMAZING.
  2. Course Work- The classes I took (minus one and I will discuss that later), were relevant to the topic and focused on the latest and greatest of information as it pertained to the field of study. "God" was ever present, but not lectured towards. One of the amazing things about the classes that I had, and I am not sure if it was a coincidence, but the professors all were ALSO teaching at other schools. EVERYONE ONE OF THEM. This should let you know that they were not "mindless" preachers filling in as professors. They are people just like me and you, they just love God.
  3. God at APU- This should be understood ahead of time, God is ever present at APU, with the staff and while on the campus. The class I was talking about in the previous paragraph was a required class, at least for me, about the bible. I dreaded it because I felt, "Here it comes, brainwashing." Guess what!!! It was actually a fun class, with ALL views points willingly discussed. I was worried about it at first, because of my "non beliefs", but it turned out to the be the best class I have ever had. I learned so much about other people, and their fears and worries.

APU is a “God First” school, but its not overwhelming, its just there like a warm blanket. Keep this in mind…I do not attend church, I haven’t since my parents stopped making me. I do not have my kids attend church, I left that up to them. I add this because I think its important to understand that I am not giving high praise to APU because they are a “religious” school, I am giving it because they deserve it. Its an awesome school, with an awesome staff. They allow all beliefs, and they don’t “TRY” and convert you, they gently try to teach you about “their” beliefs. If you go with it great, if you don’t…well they are okay with that and will still help you any way they can.

I graduate with a Liberal Arts degree, and I can honestly say I am as proud to have attended APU as I am to have served 20 years in the Marine Corps. The fellowship of each institution has made me a better person, and I learned so much from each of them.