The Cold Hard Facts

Introduction
I chose this school because I really liked the Christian values upon which it is founded. I've gone to both a private Christian school and regular public schools but I wanted to come back to the Christian environment. If you are looking for a party school, Pepperdine is not the place for you. At first, I didn't really like it here because it wasn't too diverse and it's Church of Christ and I didn't grow up Church of Christ, but after a while you get over it. Plus: the location is beautiful!

Campus Life and Social Life
The worst thing about this place is that it is not very diverse and there are A LOT of gay people here. I'm being honest. They don't call themselves gay but we all know the truth. Now I'm not a homophobic but after a while it gets old. (Ed. Note: The U does not endorse any opinion that discriminates against the gay, lesbian, or any other community. With that disclaimer in mind, we feel a responsibility not to censor this review if only to let prospective students know that this is a real opinion by a real Pepperdine student. Let that inform your decision about the school for better or worse.)

Besides those two things, I love everything else. My roommate and I are best friends and we are going to live with each other next year. The great thing about coming to college is that you really do meet lifelong friends, and although I am only a Freshman, I've made friends I know will stay in my life for a long time.

At first we all weren't too sure about the decision we made to come here but now that we've been here for a full semester, things are better. It also helps to have a car or to at least be good friends with someone that owns one...it's a pretty place to be but after a while you will get restless.

As for partying, Pepperdine is a dry-campus. No alcohol permitted, regardless of whether or not you're 21. Some people don't like it but I think it's nice to not have to worry about people puking all over your room. If you want to party, you need to go off-campus and find a spot, but once again, if you have a car then this isn't a problem.

It's important to drink responsibly, though, because if you are driving drunk you'll probably die coming home due to the windy roads and cliffs around here.

The sports here are ok. What we are really good at is Mens' Volleyball so if you're a fan, come on down. I prefer to watch Basketball, even though we are not very good. At times the students can get really school-spirited and then the games are fun even when we lose.

The clubs at our school are great. A majority of students are involved in Greek Life. I never thought of myself as a sorority girl but things at Pepperdine are different: that it is a dry campus means a lot of the bad things you hear about stereotypical Greek life don't exist here. Hazing is absolutely forbidden. Second semester Freshman year, I joined a sorority and I love everything about it. It's something to keep me busy and I've made some great friends within our group of girls.

Weekends are pretty calm. A lot of people leave campus so it's almost a ghost town. The best thing to do is gather up a bunch of friends and go somewhere for the day on Saturday...then get all your homework done on Sunday. Advertisement
Academics
The school's academics are very good. The only thing that sucks is that you don't get to personally choose your classes the first semester so you're pretty much stuck with whatever professor they give you.

There are A LOT of GE's (required classes) here, so be prepared for that. Some seem useless but others I enjoy very much. For example, the Great Books series is a 4-semester series that gives you credit for 5 classes. You can't beat that. You write about 5 papers per semester (which sounds a lot worse than it really is) but that is the only homework that you will have besides just reading your book and being ready to participate in class.

The professors here are great. Most of them live on campus so they'll invite the entire class up to their houses for dinner. It sounds awkward but it really isn't. I think it's one of the things that sets Pepperdine apart from other Universities. Not to mention that having a good relationship with your professors means good letters of recommendation!

Student Body
The typical student is blond-haired and blue-eyed, but you get a little bit of color mixed in. If you are looking for a diverse school, though, Pepperdine is not it. But have an open mind.

A lot of kids here are rich, I'm not going to lie. I personally have a couple of grants coming in and I have to work to support myself, but I think that only adds to my college experience. I've made some great friends here and we've basically all become a support system.

To be honest, my first semester here, I was very bitter and regretted my decision to come here. I seriously considered transferring and so did a lot of my friends. This sounds terrible, but we formed a pack that basically said, "we made this mistake together, we're going to see it through together" and ever since we've just all gotten closer and have really started to take advantage of the opportunities here.

Most of us are in sororities and I think that's a major reason we've finally come to terms with this place. Your sorority/fraternity becomes your support group and the people there with you are really great. Homecoming Week is a lot of fun because the different sororities and fraternities team up against each other and compete for the Homecoming title.

In Closing...
The key thing to do is just get involved, and that's true at any college. If you don't make an effort to make something out of yourself here, you'll be wasting 4 years of your life. Yes, college is about gaining more knowledge, but it also develops you as a person. You may have to leave your security bubble and things may seem uncomfortable at first, but in the end it will all be worth it.