Pepperdine University Top Questions

Pepperdine is a school that is competitive to get into, but once you are here is absolutely wonderful!!! The Professors here are absolutely AMAZING!!! The professors at this school are here to help and teach you! Their whole goal is to make sure you understand and are there outside of class to help you. In my one year here I have come to be friends with my professors. The students are smart, but not excessively competitive. most of the classes are not curved, so the learning atmosphere is in my opinion a great one.

challenging! lots of studying, small classes, professors get to know you pretty well. all about connections!

Academics at Pepperdine are really challenging and satisfying. Class sizes are small, you can easily find professors who are engaging and care about students. Pepperdine has a long list of General Education requirements that every student must complete before graduation. Another "class" that will go on your transcript is Convocation, which is graded based on attendance to weekly services. Students are expected to attend 14 convocations per semester (equates to 1 per week) to get an A, and the grade is lowered if you make fewer than 14 convocations. Pepperdine doesn't tell you though that the Convo grade is factored into your GPA only while you are attending Pepperdine. That is to say, if you decide to transfer or when you graduate, they adjust your GPA to not include Convo.

All of my professors know my name except for the three big lecture hall classes I have taken. It varies on how much people study and how academic-focused they are, but I feel like I am studying all of the time. My load is unusual, however, because of my major. Pepperdine is definately geared towards getting a job and, even beyond that, on making a difference and changing through academics. The motto of Pepperdine is "Freely we receive, freely we give." Meaning that our education is a gift which allows us to give back to the society and the world as we have been equipped. I feel like this social justice focus is unique to Pepperdine.

From my experience, students study a fair amount. I normally study a lot, and the girls in my suite are also that way. There are definitely people who live up the party life, and don't really study, however there is definitely a strong academic group of students on campus.

Most classes are small and you have the opportunity to have a close relationship with every professor. Some students never study and others are book worms- you will find this at any university. For the most part, I believe students freely discuss intellectual topics both inside and outside of class. Pepperdine is an excellent school if you are looking into business or law, however, all other majors are also strong. The Malibu campus includes the Seaver undergraduate college, the School of Law, the School of Public Policy, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the Graduate School of Education and Psychology. All graduate schools make excellent options for post-undergrad studies.

The biggest class I have taken so far had 200 or so students and the smallest class had about 20, which is pretty remarkable for freshman year. A lot of universities have you in giant lecture classes until about junior year. The professors will know your name pretty quickly. Students study quite a bit, but they don't overdo it. Class participation is common with the small class sizes. Students are less concerned with beating other people's scores as getting the grade that they want. This past semester I took a one unit Advanced Tennis class that met once a week and was a great way to unwind. I'm a Psychology major, since there is technically no Pre-Med major (you just take a bunch of science classes in addition to your major classes). That's kind of a bummer, since it would be nice to have some recognition on my diploma that I took all of these really tough science classes. Speaking of which, Pepperdine is a pretty rigorous school as far as academics are concerned. This is especially true about the science classes here, which are definitely challenging but not impossible to get through. Education at Pepperdine is about turning you into a well-rounded and well-equipped person who will be more attractive to employers, many of whom will be actively seeking such qualities in an employee in the coming years.

I do not know how to compare the academics to other schools. However, I believe that the academics at Pepperdine University are what you make them to be. They can be very easy if you want them to be, but if you want to overachieve yourself they can be very difficult. The professors are paid very well, and they may be some of the best in reputation. Who knows? At most universities, attendance is not very important. However, at Pepperdine they make it VERY important in most classes.

Professors and students at Pepperdine work as a team. They know your name, where you are from, other info about you and truly care about you. I am a psychology major and have loved it. The faculty is so welcoming and they are truly there for you! Most classes are discussions rather than simple lectures and participation is a vital part of the class. I have been over for dinner at teachers houses, and sometimes for my sports medicine classes we all go out to dinner. Academic achievement is incredibly important at Pepperdine, and everyone knows that you are here first and foremost to excel in the classroom. I feel that when it comes time for me to leave Pepperdine I will be prepared for my next job and for the rest of my life.

One of the biggest advantages of Pepperdine is its small class sizes. A couple of my general education classes have been large lecture classes, but for the most part the are 20 people classes. They are all taught by professors, and only in the few large classes do students interact with TA's. Professors are VERY accessible, answering email and having easy to access office hours. Many professors live on or near campus, and some will have classes over to dinner. As for difficulty I would say it depends on your strengths and what classes you take. I have not found anything particularly difficult besides for subjects I know I am naturally weak in. As in economics major I am in what is considered the hardest major (lowest average GPA), but because I had much more trouble in Englsih 101 than I did in Econ 431. Most professors are very constructive and work on improvement and understanding, which is a huge positive. Recently Pepperdine's academic dean has been undergoing an effort ot make academics more rigorous at the University because of inflated GPA's, so things have gotten a little tougher. Overall Pepperdine offers very close interactions with professor who are very willing to spend extra time with students. If your are looking for smaller college with close interaction with professors than Pepperdine is your place.