<p>Guys, I honestly can't decide on which to go to.</p>
<p>From what I've heard:
In Academics: Pepperdine >LMU
Social Life: Pepperdine < LMU
Location: Pepprdine < LMU
Business (what I plan to major in): Pepperdine > LMU</p>
<p>I need to hear what you guys think, both academics and social life are VERY important to me. Pepperdine would be amazing without the whole dry campus thing. some students at LMU however say it isnt on the tier of pepperdine academically. Any and all comments are appreciated</p>
<p>Go to College Board.com and check the admit rates and the stats on admitted students and you will get a pretty good idea which school has the better quality students, academically.</p>
<p>Are you really putting social life on par with academics? will you have a car?</p>
<p>I think your evaluation in the original post is roughly correct. You now simply need to decide which of those factors is more important to you. As far as academics in general, at both schools you will have close enough interaction with professors that you can get some real mentoring… that is priceless.</p>
<p>Academics is definitely my priority over social life, but I also want to have fun. Pepperdine seems like a bubble to me and malibu certainly, while beautiful, isn’t the most fun town in the world.</p>
<p>Pepperdine has a better reputation for academics. There’s a joke that goes, “What do Pepperdine and LMU students have in common? They both got into LMU.” As an out-of-stater, people always were impressed when I told them I went to Pepperdine, and as a grad they respect the degree I have from Pepp. A lot of people have never heard of LMU where I live (pacific northwest); maybe it doesn’t attract as many out-of-state students?</p>
<p>You will have a great social life at Pepperdine if you get involved and meet people. Just like at any college. College is not like high school, where you spend 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, with the same people. In college, people have different schedules, and some people live on campus while some live off-campus. You have to make an effort to meet people. And as long as you do that, you will find out about parties, trips around LA, etc. But the action will not come to you.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where everyone seems to have gotten the impression that Malibu is a remote, sucky location. It’s not. Pretty much anywhere you live in LA you’re going to have to drive long distances to go to the places you want to go to. It’s a running gag there…ever seen the movie Clueless? There’s a part where Cher’s dad says to her on the phone, “Everywhere in LA takes 20 minutes.” By being in Malibu, you’re 15-20 minutes away from the Valley or from Santa Monica/Westwood (where UCLA is)/Venice, about a half hour from Beverly Hills, and 45 minutes-1 hour from Santa Barbara. And you’re across the highway from several beaches. I would much rather go to school in Malibu than at LMU’s location, which is basically right next to some of the sketchiest areas in LA. It’s right by the airport! You would have to drive a ways to get to most of the stuff you’d want to do in LA if you went there, too, because nothing you want to do is by LAX.</p>
<p>As for dry campuses, that is not rare at all these days. Many universities have dry campuses, including some large public schools. The reason it’s not as big of a deal at those schools is because at a lot of them, students don’t live on campus due to the crummy situation with the dorms. At least at Pepperdine you’d have cushy dorms/apartments on a very safe campus for your freshman year, then when you’re a soph. you can decide if you want to move off campus.</p>
<p>I would kinda have to agree with PeppGrad on location. LMU’s location is not better than Pepperdine. You would still need a car to get out of the area that LMU is in, which is considered semi-residential/industrial. </p>
<p>The only thing that LMU wins Pepperdine in is in Social Life. </p>
<p>I would kind of tend to look at the whole Pepperdine vs LMU thing kind of like choosing between UCSD and UCSB, what would you prefer? If an overall social life and experience is more important to you then SB or an LMU would be the best choice, if academics is the most important to you then SD or Pepperdine would be the best choice. </p>
<p>IF you were going to have a car on campus, I’d personally pick pepperdine, you could always go out into the city if you need a breather</p>
<p>Overall the academics for the entire school is better at Pepperdine. The business schools however are pretty much even. When looking at the business schools I look at how job placement is at each. You have to remember that a company will hire you because of who you are, not where you went to school. It is all about the connections the university has(I learned this from seeing what my brother has at Santa Clara and what my sister had at ASU). I know at LMU they have great connections in LA for business (I don’t know about Pepperdine, I am sure they do too). The social life is easier to find at LMU than Pepperdine. Pepperdine is by themselves in Malibu and you need a car if you want to do something off campus. Also, I know that people really dislike Pepperdine because of how they enforce religion too much. It is much more lenient at LMU. I am sure you will have fun at whichever school you choose. Good luck!</p>
<p>It looks like I’ll end up at Pepperdine guys. thanks for all of your input. any more comments are helpful though. anything to learn about the school</p>
I think some comments in those old discussion are out dated, but some are the same. Any new information appreciated. Area around LMU has improved dramatically, but have academics? Ratings? Business connections?
Thank you!