Is Pepperdine boring if I am not religious? What is there to do?
There’s still a lot to do on campus, but if you’re not religious, I would seriously look at other schools. I toured Pepperdine and ultimately decided not to apply for this reason. They require 3 semesters, if I remember correctly, of pre-selected religious history classes (you don’t get to choose the courses). The requirement that turned me off the most is what they call “convocation” - basically, it’s a Christian-themed activity that you have to take part in once a week. You get to choose what it is, and they have some fun ones (like “Surf and Sermon”) mixed with more traditional options like attending a service. It’s also a dry campus, so if you’re looking for the “college experience” - or even just a school with occasional partying - look elsewhere.
My impression of Pepperdine was that while they try to make their campus a welcoming place for people of all faiths, they still heavily emphasize their Church of Christ affiliation and want it to be central in your education. That said, as a non-religious person, I was convinced after my tour that I would feel uncomfortable there. I imagine a religious but non-Christian person would feel the same way.
I did apply to USD, which is Catholic, but I had a very different tour experience. Their attitude about their religious affiliation is much more relaxed, even though 40% of their student body is Catholic. Two religious history classes are required - one is Catholic history (pre-selected), and the other is self-selected. Mass is offered, but not mandatory.
@catbird1 I am religious and I do consider it to be a large portion of my life. I also applied to Pepperdine and USD but like you I also like USD a lot better for many reasons. I like being around people I can share my faith in, just like anything else people like being around people they can share something in common with. But I’m also not like “how art thou” religious or anything like that and I like that you can pursue your faith on your own terms and not have to do mandatory stuff like at Pepperdine although I respect them for choosing to do that. Do you think there would be people I could fit in with at USD or are people not as religious as other Christian schools?
@collegegoer101 I think you would definitely fit in at USD! There are plenty of people there who consider faith a significant part of their life. One of the things I love about USD is that their religious affiliation focuses on community service, making the world a better place, and “changemaking” - things that everybody can relate to. If you want to pursue those things in the context of your faith, there are absolutely opportunities to do so.