UCSB or Pepperdine?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, I am currently a high school senior deciding to send my SIR to UCSB or Pepperdine.</p>

<p>Major: Business. Pepperdine definitely does have a better business school with probably better connections for business majors. However, I'm not 100% sure I'm going to major in business. If I graduate UCSB under their Pre-Econ/Accounting major, I'm not sure I will have enough connections to get a job, whereas Pepperdine, a private school, could have better connections. But again, it is likely I will switch majors so at this point I really don't know which one to choose.</p>

<p>Personality: Balanced studies and social scene. I would really like to study hard and earn good grades and not having hindrances, such as crazy party scenes, drugs, or a lot of drinking, would really help. However, I don't want to lock myself at my desk. I really do want to go out and party it up at times, drink maybe a little, definitely go meet people, without getting involved with any drugs of any kind. Pepperdine really doesn't offer the college experience I'm looking for, while UCSB perhaps has too much. I have been reading a lot of UCSB's partying scene on here on CC and it has eased my mind a little, but I'm still not completely convinced :/</p>

<p>Financial Aid: In the end, the amount I would be paying this year is about the same. However, next year when my younger sister goes to college, the UC system will split its aid between me and my sister, which means I would have to take more loans after my first year. On the other hand, Pepperdine would stay relatively the same or perhaps even give me more aid.</p>

<p>Campus: Not really a problem as both schools are beautiful.</p>

<p>Quite oddly, I have two extremes of the spectrum: a dry college like Pepperdine and a more heavily social-scened UCSB. They both have their respectful pros and cons and it's so difficult for me to come to a firm decision. For now I'm just deciding which school to submit my SIR to, as I am still waiting for an appeal response from USC and a notification of my status on Pitzer College's weight list.</p>

<p>Got any advice, please? Thank you so much in advance!</p>

2

<p>Pepperdine is not on the same planet academically as UCSB which is a top 50 school nationally. This is a no brainer - UCSB</p>

3

<p>^Pepperdine is almost top 50. It’s rank 53. UCSB is rank 39, good but nothing crazy high. Being familiar with both universities, I would say they are peers and the OP definitely should consider Pepperdine given the financial incentive. Pepperdine also has better student-faculty ratios and a business school.</p>

<p>Depending on how much money you would owe, I would probably choose Pepperdine. Pepperdine sounds like a wiser choice.</p>

4

<p>Sit down with your parents and your sister and run the numbers. See if you can get an early estimate from both UCSB and Pepperdine about the financial aid situation when your sister gets to college. You need to know now whether or not your family will be able to afford to have both of you in school at the same time. Here is one calculator that might help: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>

5

<p>Pepperdine is a niche school like say Yeshiva. So it depends what you are looking for culturally.</p>

6

<p>If you’re considering business, Pepperdine is your hands down choice. There are endless connections and internship opportunities in the nearby L.A. area, not to mention Pepperdine’s business program is respected throughout SoCal.
UCSB is also known as a party school, so if you’re looking for something moderate… Pepperdine might be the wiser choice for you. PLENTY of parties happen off campus on the weekends.</p>

<p>In general, don’t let people influence your decision with nonsense about rankings. The UC system’s rankings are grossly inflated and everyone knows it. In the long term, the resources available to you should be your determining factor. For business, Pepperdine’s resources exceed SB’s by a long haul.</p>

7

<p>It is interesting to see people make comments like “Pepperdine is almost top 50. It’s rank 53. UCSB is rank 39, good but nothing crazy high.” I bet if you asked sentimentGX4 what he thinks about the difference between UCLA and UCSB, he would probably say, “UCLA is #24 in rankings and UCSB #39. Therefore, UCLA ranks a lot higher than UCSB.” </p>

<p>Seriously, the comments on this forum are very biast most of the time, and often times you get terrible advice by people who are very biast and rude towards school which they do not attend.</p>

<p>My advice to anyone is to be careful what advice you take and ignore people who sound totally biast (often times all they really want to do is feel better about the school they attend). </p>

<p>In regards to UCSB vs Pepperdine for business, you couldn’t go wrong with either school. They are both great. However, be cautious about costs–private schools tend to be a bit high sometimes :)</p>