Pepperdine - what is it like?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have heard various rumors and stories about life at pepperdine, can anyone tell me about their experiences at this college? </p>

<p>Can anyone tell me if these things(rumors?) are true? (I hope they aren’t, but I’m just checking)</p>

<li>Pepperdine is full of radical right wing christians</li>
<li>Many students tend to have rascist and/or anti-catholic feelings</li>
<li>Theres no rap music/(or other similiar kinds) allowed in dorms.</li>
</ol>

<p>These things are just what I have heard from different people and I really hope that they aren’t true, But I’d like some people to maybe give me a perspective on this because I am considering applying to Pepperdine. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I'm not sure about those details but when I visited I learned you have to go to mass about 18 times a semester, that pretty much killed it for me. everyone i saw looked attractive and preppy. I really doubt that those specific things are true though, being that it is in California and because I have friends who go there who seem to love it and I don't think they are racist or anything. oh, and the campus is totally beautiful, but on a hill so your calves will look really good.</p>

3

<p>Pepperdine is a very conservative campus IMO and there is definitely a church presence and certain related requirements as far as religion classes, but I don't think the influence is overwhelming. </p>

<p>I don't think you will find a great deal of diversity there and the student body is perceived to be rather "preppy".</p>

<p>Pepperdine has made strides academically, but it has typically, IMO, been viewed as a "second choice" type of school in SoCal for those who didn't get into USC, etc.</p>

<p>The view from campus is beautiful, the school sits on a hillside overlooking Malibu and the dorms are first rate. I don't care for the campus itself. It is very modern (built in the early 70's I believe) and sorta looks like a huge condo project gone bad; and, there really ain't much to do in Malibu and getting into LA is a good 45+minute drive.</p>

<p>Pepperdine also does not have a football team, so if it matters to you, alot of typical activites you might find in college are not present at Pepperdine (you mostly have more of a country club atmosphere- swimming, tennis, volleyball).</p>

4

<p>I live right by Pepperdine.</p>

<p>It is a perfect college for white, upper class, preppy, WASPY, conservative, Protestant religious types who don't mind retiring at 10 pm every night.</p>

5

<p>The Dean of the law school at Pepperdine is none other than the infamous Kenneth Starr... who led the sex-obsessed witch hunt of Clinton during the late 1990's...</p>

6

<p>I always tell kids this about Pepperdine: they just started allowing men and women to dance with each other on campus about five years ago. That pretty much tells you where the Pepperdine administration is compared to other colleges and universities. </p>

<p>Dorms are still single sex and members of the opposite sex are not allowed to visit in rooms --- in fact, on tours you may not get to see a dorm room if your tour guide is of the opposite sex because they can't show you their room.</p>

<p>Weekly convocation is required for all students. They take attendence to make sure you attend. Sometimes convocation topics are pretty broad but more often they are religious in nature. </p>

<p>The school's administration places a HUGE emphasis on religious committment and church activities in admissions. That also tells you something about what the administration sees as the school's primary mission. While Catholics and non-Christians are welcomed, the administration sees the school's primary role as being evangelical in nature --- in other words, they see their mission as keeping students who are already on board with evangelical Christianity in the fold, and getting those who aren't on board into the fold. There's nothing wrong with that - after all, Pepperdine is a private school - but prospective students should keep in mind that that is what the administration sees as its mission.</p>

<p>Some students may find this uncomfortable at times, others won't care. It really depends on how important your particular brand of religion (or non-religion) is to you.</p>

<p>Students do tend to come from well-off families, mainly because Pepperdine is not very generous with financial aid and will not negotiate the package they offer you which is likely to be comprised mainly of loans. </p>

<p>That said, while there are definitely a lot of conservative and religious students at Pepperdine, not everyone is --- lots of kids are attracted by the Malibu setting and the strong academic programs and are willing to put up with the overall administrative tenor. </p>

<p>There is a large contingent of gay and lesbian students, as well as islamic students, and just generally non-religious students on campus to balance things out. There are kids who party and have sex, just like at any other school. The difference with Pepperdine is that the administration of the school truly believes in its parental role and enforces its moral rules stringently. So, those kids have to be creative to get around the rules. </p>

<p>Pepperdine is a great school academically--- but if you are not into following lots of conservative rules that aren't found on most campuses, there are lots of other great schools out there that are more flexible so I'd recommend looking elsewhere.</p>

7

<p>pepperdine= georgous campus, preppy kids, CONSERVATIVE, prepare to have religion inserted into every aspect of your education...even if its on the sly, rich, snobby, religious, conservative, beautiful dorms, conservative, conservative, conservative! ;)</p>

8

<p>i have heard that they take attendance in church (rumor?) and that you must attend a certain amount of religious observances in one semester. can someone enlighten me as to whether this is true or not? and to what extent? thanks!</p>

9

<p>Read my original post above. I already addressed this. It is not a rumor. They DO take attendance at weekly convocation/chapel. All students are required to attend a certain number over the year and they grade you on your attendance. Here's the link to the policy:
<a href="http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentaffairs/studentactivities/convo/attendancepolicy.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentaffairs/studentactivities/convo/attendancepolicy.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>By the way, you might also want to check out the types of speakers they have at convocation/chapel --- You can find a calendar describing for the entire year here --- make sure you read the descriptions and you may want to google some of the speaker names to get a sense of the type of religion they're preaching and whether you'd feel comfortable:
<a href="http://calendars.pepperdine.edu/cgi-bin/publish/webevent.pl?cmd=opencal&cal=cal132%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://calendars.pepperdine.edu/cgi-bin/publish/webevent.pl?cmd=opencal&cal=cal132&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For example, here's the description of one convocation/chapel topic that caught my eye on male-female relationships:</p>

<p>"During this session they will discuss the need for a shared faith commitment in relationships. Their goal will be for students to examine critically the importance of a commitment as a couple to glorify God and seek to do HIS will. They will also discuss society’s expectation for relationships, including marriage verses God’s expectations, and the reasons why they believe the counsel of good mentors is essential and resources that couples should use. Finally, they will discuss how people can invite unhealthy behavior into their relationships by forming unrealistic expectations and having no resources in place to help them when their expectations aren’t realized."</p>

<p>I am not trying to bash Pepperdine in any way: I think it is a terrific school for the right type of person. But, be sure you are the right type of person. As I said above, I've seen too many kids get sucked in by the idea of the beautiful Malibu campus and not really consider if Pepperdine is right for them personally.</p>

10

<p>Just spotted this: here's a link where you can view videos of selected past convocation/chapel events to get an idea of what they are like. The opening convocation with D'Esta Love is a good one to watch because it begins with the dean of students describing the purpose and goals of convocation/chapel:
<a href="http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentaffairs/studentactivities/convo/videos.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/studentaffairs/studentactivities/convo/videos.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Again, not bashing Pepperdine - just encouraging people to look closely to see if it is a comfortable fit for them.</p>

11

<p>Pepperdine was one of my D's first choices and I had reservations because of some of the issues mentioned above and a feeling I had when visiting about lack of flexibility.( I asked about starting a new club and was told my D would have to prove herself first by joing an existing one and showing her commitment) My D however spent a night on campus and met a lot of students and said they were very down to earth and a lot of fun and just regular folks. They actually watched the video Saved. Convocation is required but is not church. It is more philosophy of life, values, politics etc. Most kids actually don't seem to mind it and say it is not bad. I believe it is 1 time per month. Most students in Ca schools near the beach tend to be attractive. Maybe it is because they are in their bathingsuits most of the year and want to stay in shape. It is worse at my D's school in San Diego. To me it seems like a campus of Victoria Secret Models but the students at both of these schools are great kids, well rounded , many at Pepperdine party as much as anywhere else. My issue is that it happens more off campus which can encourage drinking and driving. By the way , my D applied to 16 schools and Pepperdine was the only school where she recieved 100% loans (she got into 14 of her schools). So beware if you are going to need aid.The campus is stunning, the library had panoramic views of the ocean from every point. Many students go to nearby schools UCLA to party frequently. The town of Malibu is very quiet closes at 10PM per student report. Academics are great, so is class size. The students my D met were happy there and my D thought they were great, a lot of fun. Boys are allowed in girls dorms. My D hung out with both males and females in the suite she stayed in but need to be out of their rooms by 1 PM, I believe and out of the lobby by 2 . There is no curfew for students. If you are an atheist I would not recommend the school as they try to blend a Christian lifestyle with academics. That seems to be more in the form of service and volunteering. For the right student it is a good school. I think it may have been too conservative for my D but surprisingly she did not think so. I also did not think University of San Diego was the right choice for her but she is loving her college experience so far and I am thrilled she is happy and doing well.</p>

12

<p>"i have heard that they take attendance in church (rumor?) and that you must attend a certain amount of religious observances in one semester. can someone enlighten me as to whether this is true or not? and to what extent? thanks!"</p>

<p>True, they told me on my visit</p>

13

<p>It is not church it is convocation 1X per month. It is a guest speaker and most students say it is more about values and life events not church. Most students hate that they have to go but say the actual hour long event is not that bad and sometimes pretty interesting.They may require some community service but a lot of colleges do that as do many high schools.</p>

14

<p>I just visited Pepperdine today actually, and while I can’t say that I really know that much about how the behavior of the students (they were very nice and sociable while aware they were representing their school, but I don’t know if that was just because they knew they were being watched or if that is how they act all the time, they seemed happy though), I know that quite a few of the statements above are false. Pepperdine DOES allow boys and girls to be in each others dorms, they just must be out of their actual rooms by one o’clock in the morning and out of the dorm completely by two (pretty generous I thought, although I don’t know the standard protocol for this at other universities). If that does sound bad to you, consider the fact that even though there are limited visitation hours, nobody’s stoping you from leaving the dorm (I asked, and our tour guide said that they had no curfews, you could go out all night if you wanted to).
The campus is dry, but if you really think that you absolutely need to be able to get a beer now and then, again-- nobody is stopping you from taking a trip into Malibu, or even Santa Monica which is only like ten minutes away!
There are probably a lot of students that are christian, and chapel and bible studies are offered regularly for those students. You are required to attend 14 of what they call convocations a semester, but they offer about two hundred different opportunities and there is a good majority that aren’t even religious, they just require you to have an open mind and be willing to look at the world around you… I was going to say other things as well but I am on my IPod and am getting tired of typing. I would recommend to anyone who is able to just go over for a visit and see for yourself!! I have a hard time believing that anyone who does will be able to find too much to complain about</p>

15

<p>Ken Starr?! I wondered what hole he slithered into. If Gingrich wins the nomination, Starr should be his running mate. They represent the worst of the 90s.</p>