<p>Academics (science), athletics, atmosphere, location, diversity, tuition, dorms, religiousisness</p>
<p>Go to Pepperdine.</p>
<p>Ouch^ harsh much. OP what is your specific question? DId you get into all three or are you applying?</p>
<p>hah get in to Princeton first, the other two are great schools, but not even on the same level</p>
<p>I’m Applying</p>
<p>Look, I don’t know how to say this. Notre Dame and Pepperdine are great schools. So are 50-100 other schools. </p>
<p>But I can’t think of any place on earth that is more suited for world class undergraduate study. </p>
<p>You get in, you go. You find a way to go. Don’t think about it - just do it.</p>
<p>Pepperdine = tier 2
Notre Dame = tier 1
Princeton > HYSM (tier 0)</p>
<p>For undergraduate education, Princeton is the best; this is generally accepted as a fact in the academic community. </p>
<p>People often talk about schools that “fit” them and so forth, but to me it’s a load of nonsense. The purpose of college is not necessarily to have the quintessential “college experience” as people say, but to become a more educated person; out of all undergraduate universities in the entire world, Princeton does the best job at that.</p>
<p>^ It’s about fit…To a certain degree. If you can have your pick of the HYPSM litter then by all means it’s going to the one that suits you best. If it’s between Princeton and a solid but not world-renown institution like Pepperdine…I’d say that you’d have to hate the notion of going to Princeton before picking Pepperdine over it.</p>
<p>Pepperdine is not a tier 2 school.</p>
<p>Pepperdine’s average SAT score is around an 1800, not much higher than the average 1500 SAT score. So it’s slightly above average…</p>
<p>Tier 1 = above average
Tier 2 = average
Tier 3 = below average</p>
<p>I’d say Pepperdine is on the upper end of Tier 2.</p>
<p>^^^ well spoken.</p>
<p>What a weird set of schools to compare!</p>
<p>Pepperdine = sensationally beautiful Malibu campus. Strong Evangelical Christian orientation. (Among Evangelical schools, it is probably one of the most mainstream, and one of the few that non-evangelicals would consider attending. But anyone who doesn’t consider himself a strong Evangelical Christian is going to notice that he’s an outsider at Pepperdine.) Mostly regional appeal. No graduate programs to speak of (but there is a law school). Politically very conservative. Basketball, volleyball, swimming, tennis are big sports.</p>
<p>Notre Dame = One of the great Catholic institutions. Strong Catholic orientation, but nowhere near the religiosity of Pepperdine, and there is a significant non-Catholic population. National draw because of its history and sports. Highly selective. Small-depressed-city Upper Midwest location, with cold, snowy winters. You have heard about its football teams. Some graduate programs. Generally conservative, but a spectrum of views represented.</p>
<p>Princeton = . . . Well, you probably know. Not much like either of the others. Much more academic, much, much less religious, much more toward the liberal end of the spectrum.</p>