<p>Is Pepperdine, say, better than UC Santa Barbara? Davis? Riverside?</p>
<p>I know nothing about this school, and some of my friends got in. Let me know! :)</p>
<p>Hello there. I really don't know much about the UC"s so I really can't give you an honest opinion on how they compare to Pepperdine. However, what I can so is give you a bit of advice.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would try to think about what you may be interested in majoring in and then doing your research. Research which school is best for its major and consider external forces like location. You can also check out surveys and rankings on colleges to see where Pepperdine and the others compare in that regard.</p>
<p>Sorry if this reply is a little vague but I don't want to give an false information especially on the UC's because I really don't know that much about them. I would say, though, that Pepperdine is probably on the caliber of UCLA and maybe even UC Berkeley - depending on who you ask.</p>
<p>Hope that helps a little!</p>
<p>Also another thing to consider is that Pepperdine is affiliated with the Church of Christ. However, the majority of students aren't COC so don't feel like you won't fit in or be accepted if your not COC.</p>
<p>No way is it UCLA/UCB caliber. The UC system goes like this:</p>
<p>UCB
UCLA
UCSD
UCSB/UCD/UCI
UCSC
UCR/UCM</p>
<p>Pepperdine would fit in underneath SB/D/I but above SC. It's probably closer to SB/D/I than SC as well.</p>
<p>Granted, the UC system is probably the best public undergraduate system in the world and that the top 6 UCs are all top 50 universities in the nation.</p>
<p>Great answer. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I did hear it's a gorgeous campus! :D</p>
<p>It is definitely a very gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>I would say Pepperdine is more like on the caliber of UCSD</p>
<p>Pepperdine is way better than all of the UCs you mentioned. They accepted around 35% for Fall 2008 last year, so that would place it after UCLA and UC Berkeley, but before UCSD and the rest by admit rate. Usually that's a good indicator.</p>
<p>But no one I know but one applied to Pepperdine. :?</p>
<p>Well, it is a small, expensive Christian school. Any of those factors may influence someone to not apply, I guess.</p>
<p>Sure Pepperdine's admit rate is better than most of the UCs, but that doesn't mean their applicant pool is as strong, because it sure isn't.</p>
<p>The UC system in general has a better applicant pool than Pepperdine, go take a look at the numbers.</p>
<p>The University of Virginia has about a 36% admit rate, but does that mean they're on the same academic level as Pepperdine? Of course not! UVA is quite likely the best public university in the world.</p>
<p>Really? Even more than UC Berkeley? Hehe.</p>
<p>Well, that's off the point. Harvey Mudd has worse acceptance rates than Harvard...</p>
<p>Pepperdine has a pretty darn good applicant pool. Look at their average GPA and SAT, they are pretty high. And are around UCSD's stats which is why i would place it with UCSD.</p>
<p>Peperdine: SAT- 1908 GPA-3.79 UW (pep looks at uw primarily)
UCSD: SAT- 1940 GPA-4.06 W</p>
<p>when you look at the stats and consider that one gpa is in measure of a 5pt scale, the other a 4pt scale the stats are very similar. But Pepperdine still has a lower admit rate. UCSD is 42% and Pepp's is 34%. </p>
<p>But what it boils down to is what kind of education is best for you. Small school v. Large school. Professors that know your name v. Professors who wont recongize your face. Christian Afiliation v. No affiliation. ect. ect</p>
<p>This year there is no doubt that state schools had more applicants - with potentially higher scores. Check out the UCLA forum. 55,000 students applied for 4,600 spots. Students with 2,300 SATI scores & 3.8UW got rejected.</p>
<p>That is amazing how many people applied to UCLA. Thank god I am not one of them, lol.
UCSD may have an SAT standard that high, but I have 4 friends that were accepted there and they all had SAT scores around 1800. So those average SAT scores and GPA things are really rough estimates. Schools also go off essays and EC's. </p>
<p>But one thing is for sure: Pepperdine beats them all location wise, haha.</p>
<p>I have attended both Pepperdine and UCLA, with friends going to USC, UCI, UCR, and UCSD. I can say unequivocally that UCLA is the best of the bunch. I cannot speak for Berkeley, but I can say with confidence that UCLA has the best education.<br>
Factor in money, and I would put it above USC and it blows Pepperdine out of the water. </p>
<p>The argument that Pepperdine has smaller classes and the professors know your name is rubbish. What good is a professor who knows you name, when they don't know how to teach. Sure, you get the star professor every now and again, but the bulk of them has masters Degrees, and not many do international work, or any research. </p>
<p>UCLA, UCI, and even UCR has world-renowned talent who are geniuses in their respective fields. Other than at the graduate level, you don't see that at Pepperdine. </p>
<p>The campus is beautiful, I will give you that. but are you willing to pay 20K extra to have a view? UCLA is just half an hour down PCH, and you can just drive up to Pepperdine's Malibu campus and stroll if you want the view. They have free parking, which I will admit is better than UCLA's $175 per quarter parking fee. </p>
<p>When it comes to Southern California Schools, I would ranks:
UCLA>USC (but sort of at the same level)
UCSD, UCI
UCSB,
UCR</p>
<p>The only California school I would put above LA is Stanford. And that is only if you are going into PubPol or Business. stanford has a huge network that you can tap into. USC also. Pepperdine boast a large network, but it is almost worthless. </p>
<p>And why would you look at unweighted GPA? The reason grades are weighted is to distinguish the overachievers in certain subjects from the average student. By lowering their GPA, you are not taking into account their ability to perform above and beyond that of a normal student. That's like saying AP physics should be weighted the same as Health class...</p>
<p>Balgus, from your posts, it seems you have some issues with Pepperdine. I doubt you can really compare Pepperdine with UC's. They are very very different schools. UC's might be good for some while Pepperdine might be good for others.</p>
<p>Balgus, if you don't mind me asking, why do you dislike Pepperdine so much? I'm not asking you in a defensive way; I'm really interested because its the school I'm considering on attending if I'm able to get off the waitlist. Is it just the teachers that you dislike?</p>
<p>Balgus doesn't hate Pepperdine he just sees it doesn't really compare to the mid to top-tier UCs. Looking at who ends up attending rather than who is accepted is probably a better indicate, but it looks like Pepperdine doesn't post that info. What do you think that says?</p>
<p>California schools I would rank:</p>
<p>Stanford
Cal
UCLA/Claremont McKenna/Pomona
then it drops off a bit.</p>
<p>I think UCSB/UCI are very comparable, I wouldn't put UCI above UCSB.</p>
<p>Pepperdine is a good school no doubt, but I wouldn't even start comparing it to world renowned U's such as Cal and UCLA.</p>
<p>@Christian2 - I base my judgement on how well a school can deliver on what it promises. UCs promise a quality education for an affordable price. </p>
<p>The premium you pay for Pepperdine means that it should deliver more than the UCs. I graduated from both UCLA and Pepperdine. And I can guarantee that P'Dine is nowhere near the quality of UCLA. </p>
<p>Details aside, I would recommend UCLA over P'Dine any day. That is not to say P'Dine is a crappy school. It is actually pretty good. But if I had a chance to go to another school instead of P'Dine? I may consider it... Instead of UCLA - not a chance in...</p>