<p>Hey everyone! I am very interested in Pepperdine (seems like a great school), but I am sort of confused on how the merit aid scholarship process goes...</p>
<p>From Pepperdine's website:</p>
<p>"Pepperdine University's academic scholarship program rewards the academic achievement of a select group of entering freshmen and transfer students. Award recipients typically represent the students admitted to Pepperdine with the highest grade point averages (as Pepperdine calculates them) and the highest standardized test scores. The number of award recipients varies with each year. The rewards are renewable for as many as four years total."</p>
<p>I remember from browsing other threads on here that only the top 10-12% receive merit aid scholarships so obviously it is rather competitive. Now when Pepperdine says they use the student's GPA "as Pepperdine calculates it," what does that mean? Does Pepperdine put the GPA through some sort of internal weighting process?</p>
<p>My reason for asking is this. Currently (I will be a senior next year), I have a 3.79 GPA. Obviously not the 3.9 / 4.0 that many scholarship recipients have. But I do go to a rigorous college prep school and have taken one of the most challenging course loads my school offers. So will this count for anything and maybe "weight" my GPA a bit in their eyes? Or will someone who has a 3.9 GPA going to an easier public high school and taking a course load that lacks honors and AP classes be seen as a greater contender for merit aid scholarships?</p>
<p>Also, my impression from the admissions officer from Pepperdine was that they look only at your GPA and test scores. But after reading some other threads people seem to indicate that being a CoC member matters? Anyone have official word on this?</p>
<p>They have a quota for CoC applicants they need to admit to maintain the school’s religious affiliation. (The most prominent religion on campus is currently Catholic.) They do offer some pretty hefty CoC scholarships as well.</p>
<p>On the contrary, I believe that although Pepperdine does have an emphasis on academics (GPA, SAT) in the admissions process, it is generally holistic. I received a generous Pepperdine Grant based on “need and overall strength as an applicant,” and I credit that to my essays. For this year’s applicants, Pepperdine is accepting the Common App, but last year’s essay prompts had religious context. If I were you, I would make mention of your faith and its impact on your life.</p>
<p>I’m not positive about the weighting of grades, but I would assume that it means they calculate only academic classes, so that someone can’t inflate their GPA by getting As in ceramics or P.E. or the like, but most schools do that. They don’t take the GPA printed on the top of your transcript if that’s what you’re asking. </p>
<p>I think the number receiving academic scholarships is actually less than the top 10-12%, because I recall someone not receiving a scholarship and writing a letter to admissions only to find out that they were in the top 12% and thus didn’t make the cut. The scholarships have to different levels— Regents and Deans. Rank 1 at my high school only received Dean’s, with a 4.0 UW/4.8 W and a 1900 SAT. </p>
<p>AP/honors/rigor makes a huge difference in admissions. I think most colleges would prefer a slightly lower GPA in rigorous classes than a 4.0 in easy classes.</p>
<p>Merit Scholarships consist of Regent’s (13k a semester for 8 semesters) and Dean’s (11k a semester for 8 semesters).</p>
<p>Merit awards are based solely on your GPA (however Pepperdine calculates it) and your standardized test scores.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending this fall, and I was awarded a Dean’s Scholarship. I was basically in the same position as you with going to a college prep school instead of the average public down the street, and I ended being 10 out of 117 class rank wise. My unweighted GPA I would say was probably around 3.75-3.8, and I took basically everything, so I don’t think taking rigorous classes and getting lower grades will hurt you.</p>
<p>I think what got me the merit aid was my SAT I score which was 2140. Not really sure what the cut-off was, but I’m gonna say it’s around my stats because the guy who finished 7th in my class applied to Pepperdine and received nothing. He got a 2060 on his SAT I. </p>
<p>So my best guess, after going through what I did, is that merit scholarships are based half on GPA and half on test scores. The bottom cut-off for merit aid is probably about 3.8/2100, but I’m sure you can go 3.6/2300 or 4.0/1900 and get aid as well.</p>
<p>Gwu_girl and snowc1b provided some great information but there’s one thing I’d like to contest.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t believe there is a cut-off for merit aid. I was awarded the Dean’s scholarship (as well as almost 10k in grants) and will be attending this fall. My unweighted GPA was 3.47 (including non-academic classes sch as music and art) and my SAT score was 2090. The HS I attended was public and my course load was not rigorous.
I really doubt that such numbers placed me in the top 10-12% of applicants… which leads me to think that there is no real cut-off.</p>
<p>I probably made you even more confused but I thought I’d just fling this information out there. It looks to me that Pepperdine’s merit aid system is not as clear cut as “high GPA and SAT.”</p>
<p>Oh and I am not a CoC member but I think that it is true that CoC members have a much better chance of receiving aid in general. Perhaps, as gwu_girl stated, Pepperdine has a quota to meet and therefore offers substantial aid as an incentive.</p>
<p>From what I understand, the CoC funds come from a completely different pool of funds that have some 'strings" attached as far as church attendance etc. Merit is strictly merit. It does seem unusual that a 3.47 would fall in merit if it was strictly scores. I love Pepperdine and the time my D spent their was exceptional, but I have never quite been able to figure out their scholarship standards.</p>
<p>As far as I know all of Pepperdines Scholarships are awarded based on your application for admission, so no additional applications for seperate scholarships are required. Although I believe you do have to still fill out Financial Aid app for need based aid.</p>
<p>My D is currently a Junior at another school. Pepperdine was her dream school. She was valedictorian 1/550, had a 4.0 UW GPA. She had a 31 on her ACT. She was not offered a dime in merit money. It truly depends on the caliber of applicants the year you apply. She decided that without the scholarship money, the cost of Peperdine was simply not worth it.
It was probably the best thing that could have happened. She ended up at a school that is rated in the top 5 for her major, enjoys the SEC football program, joined a great sorority, and loves her classes. She got a substantial merit scholarship, and enjoys small honors college classes.
Just make sure you have a backup plan in case you don’t get the merit scholarship.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of merit aid I could expect from Pepperdine based on these stats:</p>
<p>ACT: 34
SAT: 2260
PSAT:228 (National Merit Semifinalist)
AP’s: 5’s in Psychology, Biology, English 11, Statistics, and World History; 4 in US History
GPA: 4.5 or something weighted… only 2 or 3 B’s in 3 years, top 5% of my class, possibly top 1%</p>
<p>ECs:
Captain of the boys tennis team, 4 years varsity, 2 years manager of girls team
Vice Pres of the band
Founder/Pres of Amnesty International Student Group
Swim team 4 years varsity</p>
<p>Jobs:
Month long trail crew job in Colorado this summer, Lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons</p>
<p>I’m out of state, from Illinois. Any insight would be great!</p>