<p>So I don't know much about Pepperdine. Is Pepperdine a good school? Is it too religious? Is it a fun school? What is the student body like? Is Malibu a fun city? Sorry but if you know a lot about it please tell me. I am considering going.</p>
<p>Malibu is BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely loved it when I visited. The location of the school is PERFECT. You can drive up the canyon to Calabasas and take the 101 to Hollywood in 20 mins without traffic, and an hour with (haha. LA traffic is great) or it is just an hour (or two in traffic) from Los Angeles. You get the LA life while being in a pretty location. 
You can see the ocean from almost any spot on campus. It is built into the mountain right alone the coast. I visited in December, and everyone that I saw was very nice. I was with my mom, and a group of students that were raising money for a mission trip came up to us and just started chatting and telling us what they thought about the school.
There was construction going on in the middle of one of the quads, but I’m sure it will be done soon.
The only thing that you have to like is the size. It is VERY small. The campus, while beautiful, is small and there are not many undergrads. But to each their own!</p>
<p>Pepperdine is ranked amongst the top 100 colleges/universities in Newsweek (which seems to be one of the most popular college rankings) so yes, it is a very good school.</p>
<p>When I visited, there was no overbearing “religiousness”. It seemed like any other college, that isn’t religious. I believe our tour guide said that Pepperdine is AFFILIATED with the Church of Christ meaning that they DON’T receive funding from it - it’s just an affiliation. Really, I wouldn’t worry about it being overly religious</p>
<p>Student body is majorly caucasian, I’d say 50-60%. However, our tour guide was African-American. She was so enthusiastic about Pepperdine and seemed genuinely attached to the school. My point is, that I don’t think there is as much racial segregation as there might be in other colleges and if there is, I couldn’t tell from the time I spent there </p>
<p>Pepperdine is a dry campus although there are sororities and fraternities so I’m sure that there is always going to be a good party to go to, if that’s what you mean by fun. While I was on the tour, I noticed about 1000 things that Pepperdine was offering for the students to do - activities, trips, retreats, you name it, it was there. So, I’m sure that there is a variety of fun to go around despite Pepperdine being a bit isolated in Malibu. However, as Ksp791 noted, it is close enough to LA to not really feel isolated at all.</p>
<p>I don’t think Malibu is known for being a fun city - it’s definitely not a college town. It is a beautiful, relaxed city though. Really, Pepperdine is like having the best of both worlds because it is isolated enough to be away from the city in a beautiful location yet not far enough for it to become too limited</p>
<p>Really, the best way to know if the school is for you is to visit. I don’t know where you’re located but I was fortunate enough to have been able to visit from Philadelphia to determine that if I’m also fortunate enough to be accepted, if that would be the right place for me. I absolutely fell in love with the school. I really recommend going on a tour if you can. Best of luck, hope I helped a little.</p>
<p>-P.S. You can search back on this forum to like a year ago or longer and many people have similar questions as you which have been answered by students who go there. If you’re interested, you should check those out too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments. I will consider going on a tour. I live in Vegas so it should be a 5-6 hour drive to Malibu.</p>
<p>I went on a tour a year ago exactly. It was great, though the tour was not “amazing” - it was basically a walk-around the pepperdine buildings tour - but that will be good for next year… I don’t want “prospective students” bumping in to me 24/7! :P</p>
<p>If you primary hesitation is religion, then you don’t have to worry. even though it has religious tendencies, and teaches ethics and morals in daily coursework, it is not intrusive. </p>
<p>I am not religious, and I hardly recognised anything that would have struck me as overbearing. They do a no alcohol rule, but there are plenty of bars in teh surrounding areas as well as restaurants that do serve alcohol. No campus parties, but there are social gatherings in student unions.</p>