<p>Hey all, I'm a freshman at Pepperdine this year, and this site really helped me a lot to make my decision last year. I figured I would get back on here and see if any high school students had any questions I could answer.</p>
<p>Hey RTF14! </p>
<p>Well I really like Pepperdine, but I have a few concerns regarding social life, athletics, and housing/dining. </p>
<p>I like to have fun, but I'm worried Pepperdine may be a bit too quiet. I was just curious to see what Pepperdine students do. Do they just drive to UCLA, Westwood, or Santa Monica every time they want to do something exciting? And I know the beach is right across the street, but can you walk there, or do you have to drive down PCH, to find a beach access? </p>
<p>As for athletics, I know Pepperdine is D1, but athletics don't seem to be that important at Pepperdine. Do people attend basketball, soccer, or volleyball games on a regular basis? Are intermural sports big?</p>
<p>And I was also wondering about the food? Are there any late night options? And I was also wondering where upperclassmen live? Where do students go after they live on campus the first 2 years?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>My D went to a presentation near us in Sacramento & loved what she saw but hasn't visited. How much difference will a visit make? Does Pepperdine offer overnights? I'm sure this seems obvious but how would you compare it to Occidental, UCLA and Scripps, (her other choices)? She's pretty conservative but I'm not.</p>
<p>Ok, i'll get to your first question about what Pepperdine students do for fun first. Every Tuesday night there is always a party at the Malibu Inn (which can get really old every week). Going every once in awhile can be a lot of fun. There are also off campus parties in Malibu every single friday, saturday, and tuesday night (and pretty much every other night, but its never a given). However, Pepperdine is pretty strict about on campus stuff. People still drink on campus, they just have to be pretty private about it. Although it is usually not hard to find stuff to do in Malibu, I must admit that I do drive down to USC and UCLA sometimes to party. It's really not that bad though. As for non-party related fun, it is great to be an hour and a half south of Santa Barbara, and 30 minutes north of LA. There is always stuff to do. And Malibu has a few good restaurants but not much as far as a night life goes. </p>
<p>As for the beach, you can definitely walk to it. My friends and I walk to the beach every Wednesday. If you cut through the baseball park across the PCH, it is about a 15 minute walk to the water. Sections of the beach that are walking distance are more private than most beaches, and it is usually just me and my friends there. If you want to go to more of popular spot on the beach with more people, there are plenty of places within 5 to 10 minutes driving. I really like Zuma beach which is just a 5 minute drive north. </p>
<p>I'm huge into sports, so a colleges sports teams were a big deal to me when i was choosing where to go. I was a bit skeptical of Pepperdine athletics (especially because there is no football team). I was surprised to see that there is actually a pretty good turnout for basketball games, as well as men's volleyball (we are #2 in the nation right now). I hear that baseball games get pretty crazy too, but I wouldn't know because i've only been here a semester. The support for women's soccer, and women's basketball is not so great, but the women's volleyball games get a pretty big turnout. Our men's basketball coach was a genius (he taught memphis' head coach, john calipari, the system of offense he runs at memphis) but he quit a few weeks ago for personal reasons. He was really starting to turn the team around though, so hopefully Pepperdine will have a good men's basketball team in the next couple of years. </p>
<p>The late night food options in Malibu are kind of limited. Most kids go to Jack in the box, or there is a taco bell through the canyon. There is also a mcdonalds, but for some reason nobody ever goes there. If you are willing to drive into santa monica, there are tons of places, but in malibu thats basically it. On campus there is a coffee and snack shop that stays open until midnight. I actually really like the on campus food, but it can get a bit old sometimes. There is a pizza and sandwich place (which has the best pizza ever) and they custom make sandwiches for you. There is also a homestyle place which serves something new every day. It is usually something like fried chicken or turkey. There is an oriental cuisine place that has pretty good asian dishes. There is a grill that will make you a burger or chicken sandwich or anything else like that. They make it when you order it and it is really good. Then there is a salad bar, sushi, breakfast bar, ice cream bar etc. </p>
<p>A lot of students stay on campus at Pepperdine all four years because housing in Malibu is so expensive. However, if the University cannot find you housing on campus your junior or senior year, they do a really good job of helping you find off campus housing. From what i've seen, students who want to live off campus have 2 options: split the cost of a 2 bedroom apartment in malibu with 3 other friends or a house in malibu with a bunch of people, or rent a reasonably priced apartment or home through the canyon, or even in santa monica. I have a lot of friends who have apartments through the canyon and their rent is not that bad. Most people have a single roommate and they live in a 2 bedroom apartment. </p>
<p>Hope that helps,
Robb</p>
<p>Hey and congrats, </p>
<p>based on the schools your daughter is looking at, she must be pretty smart! If she is not quite sure that Pepperdine is the school for her, than a visit may be a good idea. We are known for having one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, and they really do a good job to keep it looking nice all year. It may just be enough to convince her that this is the place for her. That being said, I also thought that Occidental had a really nice campus when I visited there. </p>
<p>Pepperdine doesn't offer overnights through a campus tour program, but if you get in touch with any freshman girl on campus, and approve it with her RA, then your daughter can stay overnight with them. I can easily set that up and give you the number of an RA to be in contact with if you would be interested. </p>
<p>As for UCLA, Scripps, and Occidental, Pepperdine varies greatly from all those schools. UCLA is huge (obviously) and I felt that I may be overwhelmed there. The campus at UCLA is pretty nice, and they have a large number of campus clubs. UCLA is in a pretty nice area of LA, but it is still in LA. I really enjoy how Malibu is close enough to LA to easily drive there whenever needed, but far enough away that it is much quieter than a huge city.
Occidental was one of my top choices when I was looking at schools. It is much more liberal than Pepperdine, and still had a great campus. In the end, I decided that Oxy was not the school for me because it is located in Eagle Rock. Eagle Rock is surprisingly isolated, and there is really nothing for a college student to do there. It is pretty close to Pasadena though, so if your daughter has a car, it won't be that bad. My best friend from high school goes to Occidental, and he really likes it, but he is always complaining that he is stuck on campus every night with nothing to do. It was also a little small for my taste, and nobody really goes to the athletic events. They do have a pretty good football team though. I could also probably get you the name and number of an RA to arrange an overnight at Oxy if you would like. </p>
<p>As for Scripps, I hate to say it , but I know nothing about the school. Being a boy, I didn't visit there. Sorry! </p>
<p>Let me know if you have anymore questions,
Robb</p>
<p>Thank you so much...you cleared up all of my misconceptions.</p>
<p>Now I just have to wait until April to find out if I get in. I probably won't, but who knows?</p>
<p>That was great, Thank You! Tell your friends to get on here and help you out! I forgot to mention that we are Black....does that change anything? Also, she has attended the same small Christian School (which she loves) for the last 14 years of her life....</p>
<p>You are wonderful at answering questions! I know you were posting a few years ago, but I need some help deciding and was wondering if you could share with me some of your experience.</p>
<p>How easy for you was it to find and get internships?
Is it easy to have a relationship at Pepperdine?
Are the insides of the dorms nice?
Are there good concert venues around, and do any bands come to campus?
Do you have any regrets in picking Pepp?</p>
<p>Thanks so much :)</p>
<p>Hi, I really want to seriously look at Pepperdine. I am worried about the people and dorming. I’m from a Private school and I hope the community is fun and like that. I heard that the students are stuck up and rich, is that true? Also, is the food good?! Anyways, how do you get paired with your dorm mates? Can you choose, is there a quiz? etc.</p>
<p>I have around a 3.7 GPA from a college prep school in Houston TX. I didn’t do any sports, but I have a job and I am president of a club. I have a 2050 on my SAT. Do you think I will get in?</p>
<p>Not gonna lie man, I like to party. I am also very devout in my faith and I don’t think that as a person you have to be one or the other, do you think that there are students at Pepperdine with the same mentality?</p>