APU: No Parties, Lots of homework

Introduction
The biggest advice I can give a prospective student is: prepare to be bombarded by Christianity. I don't mean it in a bad way. Azusa Pacific University is a Christian university, but there are some people here that might freak you out. The mandatory chapel 3 times a week gets to you and really cuts into your time. If you have no Monday, Wednesday, or Friday classes prepare to wake up at 9:00 a.m. those days for an hour of chapel. If you're really anti-religion or not religious at all then this definitely isn't the place for you. Prayer before class starts, required bible classes and chapel will destroy you. If you're a Christian, you'll love it. My parents chose this school for me and I enjoy it for the most part. I wish there were more parties, but you can go to other schools for that.

Campus Life and Social Life
NO PARTIES! Even off-campus parties can land you in big trouble with the administration (we're supposed to set an example for the community). If you're looking to party a lot, definitely steer clear of APU. Social life on campus is really up to you. The way the campus is set up, it's easy to find friends.

Freshman year, you're required to take a class called Beginnings wherein a lot of people meet their future lifelong best friends. Not too many clubs here either, but you can always form one. As far as sports go, basketball and football are all right but not too big an event on campus unless it's a game with one of our major rivals. APU has a lot of intramural sports including soccer and dodgeball so it's easy to get involved.

Required community service hours help you get out of your comfort zone and help out the surrounding community, but it's still work and not always fun. Weekends: the campus is pretty dead. If you're looking for giant parties like I stated earlier, look somewhere else. Advertisement
Academics
If you're looking to major in computer science, go somewhere else! The Computer Science department is tiny! My Intro to C.S. class had less than 10 students in it and there's talk of completely letting that major go due to professors leaving. Business, Nursing or Music Majors will have a wonderful time. The School of Nursing and Business have excellent programs that are well known throughout the country. I'm not too familiar with the other majors but haven't heard any complaints.

The workload is pretty brutal, especially for Nursing students and Music majors. I've heard that APU requires more work than most schools, but you can get it done. The professors are for the most part amazing. With APU being a smaller school, they have more time to help you out one-on-one and if you're a Christian, they're there for you spiritually to answer questions regarding religion. I've only had a few bad professors but could go on forever about the great ones.

Student Body
The typical student at APU is white, rich, and sheltered. I think 90% of the school is comprised of white rich kids who go to college and do everything they weren't allowed to do. A lot of students freshman year experiment with alcohol and sex. The party scene at APU is almost nonexistent, but the few times there are parties it resembles a high school freshman's house party when his parents leave for the weekend. In other words, off the hook. As far as cultural diversity, there's not much: there are a handful of black students and Asian students, but most students are white and from Washington State, California, and Colorado.

In Closing...
APU is a great school for Christian students wishing to further their walk with God. For those students who want to skate through college going to class with hangovers, partying every night, and forcing the pledges to clean up the dog crap you put in their pillows, run screaming from APU. No frats allowed.

In other words, it's all pretty mellow around here. The teachers are great and you will definitely learn a lot. Even for non Christians, APU is warm and welcoming. I do enjoy the school and encourage others to check it out, just know what you're getting into.