Study Abroad Program

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pepperdine University
1

<p>Hi Folks,</p>

<p>My D will likely spend one year studying abroad. Since this is 25% of the time, it is an important consideration.</p>

<p>I think Pepperdine's program is a bit different than most(?) other school's.</p>

<p>At Pepperdine you stay in a Pepperdine facility (I realize Buenos Aires is an exception), with other Pepperdine student's, take classes taught by Pepperdine professors, and with the obvious exception of language courses, the classes are taught in English. In a more typical study abroad program, you don't stay in a home university owned residence facility, you don't necessarily dorm together with your home university classmates, the classes are not taught by the home university's professors, and classes are taught in the host country's language.</p>

<p>Is this an accurate view?</p>

<p>If so, what do you think about the Pepperdine model versus that of the more common model?</p>

<p>Also, can students who've studied abroad at Pepperdine comment on their experience? What they liked about it? Disliked?</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>Yes, you are correct about Pepperdine’s study abroad program. </p>

<p>I just returned from my spring semester abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland, where I lived with 70 of my Pepperdine classmates. The quality of Pepperdine’s study abroad programs is incomparable to an exchange program. Traveling around Europe, I had the opportunity to meet other American students studying abroad, especially in Italy. They mainly had exchange programs with local universities, and how they described their living situations was unfavorable.
I probably would not have studied abroad if I wasn’t attending a Pepperdine program. The best part is that the friendships formed by living, taking classes and traveling together will continue not only for the next two years as we return for our junior and senior years at Pepperdine, but for the rest of our lives. The group you study abroad with, as well as the faculty, become your family.
The Pepperdine model is significantly more efficient and worry-free— and it’s what makes Pepperdine’s study abroad program in the top 5 in the country according to Princeton Review’s most recent ranking.</p>

<p>Please let me know if you have any specific questions :)</p>

3

<p>gwu_girl, thanks for your insights. The social aspects sounds lke a really special part of the Pepperdine program. I found a Heidelberg Facebook page and people were checking-in from the 60s thru the 90s. Check out the '66-67 group photo!</p>

<p><a href=“Facebook - log in or sign up”>Facebook - log in or sign up;

<p>I do have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.</p>

<p>How many classes did you take while abroad?
Were they all taught by the same professor?
How did the classes compare with the classes taken in Malibu? Different? Same?<br>
How much French did you know before you went there?
Did you use your French much? E.g., Was it needed to talk with the locals, or do a lot of them speak English?
A hard one - besides being a fun and making lifelong friends (which sounds great), how much of a learning experience was it?</p>

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<p>That’s awesome!</p>

<p>How many classes did you take while abroad?
I took 4 classes (15 units). French, Humanities 313 (the third of a sequence of three required GE humanities classes), Modern History of the Middle East and Geology.</p>

<p>Were they all taught by the same professor?
No, I had a different professor for each class. All the professors were brilliant, including others that I didn’t have the opportunity to take. There were about seven or eight different professors who commuted to our facility to teach. The Lausanne program has the largest facility. It was originally a hotel, which Pepperdine purchased and converted. There are 4 floors of dorms, a floor of classrooms (including a small lecture hall and a small library), a floor with the student center and cafeteria and the top floor is a visiting faculty apartment.</p>

<p>How did the classes compare with the classes taken in Malibu? Different? Same?
The classes were about as challenging as Malibu. Modern History of the Middle East was probably the hardest class I’ve taken at Pepperdine so far, but very rewarding. That being said, the classes are taught with the study abroad setting in mind. Students are encouraged to travel on the weekend, so there is less homework assigned over the weekend (papers and projects are scheduled far in advance to allow students to plan). Classes are only held Monday through Thursday, but we spend more hours in class during the four day school week than usual. The semester is also shorter than the Malibu semester by one month, so there is more material to get through in a shorter time. That is one of the reasons why academics weight the heaviest in international program admissions — the program is rigorous and can be stressful.</p>

<p>How much French did you know before you went there?
I studied French in high school and at Pepperdine for five years before attending the program. All students are required to take at least one semester of their location’s language at Pepperdine before the program begins. Other students’ proficiency ranged from fluent/French major to beginner.</p>

<p>Did you use your French much? E.g., Was it needed to talk with the locals, or do a lot of them speak English?
Switzerland is a highly educated country, and most who are educated speak fluent English. However, French was needed at the train station (where it’s pertinent!), small cafes and restaurants and supermarkets.</p>

<p>A hard one - besides being a fun and making lifelong friends (which sounds great), how much of a learning experience was it?
It was an immense learning experience. Not every college student has the opportunity to visit the sites they study in class. Each semester abroad, the entire program plus selected professors attend an Educational Field Trip for one week (the cost is included in the program fee). In Lausanne, the first semester trip was to Normandy, which of course has a rich World War II history. Second semester, we went to Greece — which was unbelievable. Other programs’ EFTs included Israel, Egypt, Turkey, etc.
Most programs also have a semester-long educational project to complement travel. In Lausanne, humanities students wrote a travel journal about art. We were required to visit a certain number of museums featuring art from select periods we studied. The Florence program worked on a research project about Italian unification, in which the university paid for regular trips to Rome to compile research. They will present their projects in Malibu this fall.</p>

<p>Anything else you can think of? :slight_smile: I’m happy to help!</p>

5

<p>Thanks for all of the answers. You are very helpful! The more you tell me, the better it sounds!</p>

<p>I can think of a few more… :)</p>

<p>You said, “There were about seven or eight different professors who commuted to our facility to teach.” </p>

<p>So, they come from a local university? I assume they teach in English?</p>

<p>You mentioned you had 5 years of French beforehand (similar to my daughter). I am assuming the French class was some “advanced” level course. Did you find it challenging given your previous experience?</p>

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<p>I’m glad I could be useful!</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the answers. You are very helpful! The more you tell me, the better it sounds!</p>

<p>I can think of a few more…</p>

<p>Do the professors come from a local university?
Well, at least one of them, the geology professor, teaches at the University of Lausanne. The others vary in backgrounds. The history/humanities faculty have extensive academic backgrounds, have authored history books, studied at Ivy League institutions, etc. The program director teaches business and law classes, and is also a lobbyist for Amnesty International. The French professors are the only ones who teach in French. </p>

<p>I actually chose to take a lower French class than I was allowed to take because I wanted review, but that served me well. I didn’t learn much new material, but my conversational skills grew volumes. Simply taking French in a French-speaking environment helps it to “click” like it never did when I took in the States. No matter what level your daughter comes in at, they will find a class to accommodate her — whether she needs upper-division French literature or back to grammar.</p>

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<p>Thanks gwu_girl!</p>