The Truth About Pepperdine University

Introduction
Honestly, I chose Pepperdine because of its location rather than its reputation. I could have gone to USC or Johns Hopkins, but I chose the school that was 5 minutes away from the beach and had a breathtaking ocean view from main campus.

If you're looking for a smaller college where most students know most other students, where your professors know you by name, where your classes are small and your dorms have bonding activities, then Pepperdine is probably going to end up pretty high on your list.

If you're looking for a bigger party school, where you can do something stupid and remain fairly anonymous, where you hardly ever see the same person twice and where you have to work hard at infamy, then you probably don't want to go to Pepperdine.

And for that matter, if you're a big partier, you'd probably take offense to the three required religion classes and 14 convocations every semester you'll have to take part in here. In that case, you REALLY want to stay away from Pepperdine. But hey, make sure to study somewhere nearby because the guys and girls here are hot as Hell.

Campus Life and Social Life
The worst part about campus life is the strict set of dorm policies. You're not allowed to have anyone of the opposite sex in your dorm room past 1am and the RAs are pretty strict about it, too. No alcohol in the dorms, even if you're over 21. No sex, no drugs, no alcohol, no partying, none of that. Basically, we're an uber Christian school and they'd like to keep us that way.

The best thing to do if this stuff is getting you down is get your ass off-campus and party it up with the students who know where it's at. Certain frats and sororities throw some pretty kickass events on the weekends and if Greek life isn't your scene, USC and UCLA are less than an hour away. If you're looking for a different sort of crowd (read: a slightly older one) you might want to check out the clubs in Hollywood, which is also less than an hour away.

The best thing about "Pepp" is that if you really want to go out and party, there's always going to be a place to do it and if you're really opposed to partying, just stay on campus and you won't be bothered by partiers around you. Advertisement
Academics
The workload at Pepp is nothing that a student who decides to put in even just a little effort can't handle. Our classes aren't terribly difficult, but nor are they easy by any means. Professors expect a lot and most of the General Education required classes are tough, but the major classes aren't too bad if you're really into your major.

The Business and Comminications divisions are great at Pepperdine, as are the Fine and Performing Arts divisions. The Liberal Arts fields of the school have smaller divisions with fewer students, but still maintain stellar programs. Sports medicine is a big major among the athletes, as well.

Student Body
The "typical" Pepperdine student is difficult to describe because there are so many different kinds of kids here. The stereotype is the Malibu Barbies and Kens who are absolutely gorgeous and uber rich, driving fabulous cars, wearing fabulous clothes, suffering from the same brain capacity as a quail's egg (that would be none). To be fair, there are some of those around campus, but I promise not everyone is like that.

Pepp has a lot of aspiring talents: actors, singers, dancers, etc. The Performing Arts department is pretty solid about getting those kids on stage and showing the rest of the world what Pepperdine talent is all about. Proximity to L.A. means that loads of celebrities come to campus and see the shows, so it's a pretty good way to get discovered, too.

Pepp has a lot of kids who graduated as valedictorians and salutatorians of their classes in high school. These tend to be the more serious academics. You know the type: kids who sacrifice social life for good grades, who would rather stay in and do homework on a Friday or Saturday night than go out and party with their friends, etc. Not that it's a bad thing, 'coz good grades are what get you places post-graduation after all.

Pepp has a good number of Christian kids too. We are a Christian school so it makes sense. These types range from the kids who say "I believe in God but I don't know what else" to those who say "The Bible says..." every time any sort of discussion arises, whether or not it's related to religion.

Our students come from all over the United States. There are about 10% international students here, but those tend to be mostly European and Asian students.

In Closing...
If you really want to find out more about what the Pepp experience is like, get yourself on www.thefacebook.com and just talk to someone who goes to school here. He/she might let you tag along with him/her for a day to see what stuff is really like on campus.