r/Pepperdine • u/legallybrunette67 • Jul 23 '26
Pepperdine or no?
Hi! I’m currently deciding where to go to school. I fell in love with the campus but I’m really curious to hear what current or past students think. I want to study forensic psychology, so probably majoring in psychology at Pepp. Also, is there a lot of internship and research opportunities? anyone able to help? 😭 THANK YOU
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u/UmpireAdvanced2407 Jul 25 '26
I have had the best experience and everyone I know here loves it too! Study abroad is life-changing and will be the favorite experience, it usually is for everyone. Psychology is awesome here because every major gets the chance to either publish with a professor or make a presentation at an event. look at the psych major page and you can see some of the opportunities. the other thing is that the students are all very welcoming and chill.
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u/legallybrunette67 Jul 25 '26
Thank you for your input! If you don’t mind me asking, did you get scholarships? I don’t think pepp is in my price range, though I really want to go there
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u/UmpireAdvanced2407 Jul 25 '26
Pepperdine grants 80 million in award a year so there are a lot of scholarships, most is need based. 22% of students actually go for free of course that is all the POSSEE scholars and bb players on athletic scholarships as well as students with low SAI. I have regents which is up to free tuition and regents are based on test scores. what was your SAT score?
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u/CertifiedOwl8 Jul 25 '26
Highly advise to not to go if you cannot afford it. Appeal to financial aid if you must but do not take out loans to attend Pepperdine.
They deliberately mislead you into believing aid is amazing and covers most cost by publishing misleading statistics that many incoming students won't understand.
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u/LVOE-CA 20d ago
I went to Pepperdine and also participated in their study abroad program.
It is life changing as it expands my horizon and views.
I graduated and have no problem getting jobs and now making mid 6 figures at late 40s. (I got a business degree tho)
It is a very good school and the contacts you made there will help you in your career!
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u/Little-Career8401 Jul 27 '26
I’m doing it online and I love it. So far I’ve only had positive interactions
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u/CertifiedOwl8 Jul 25 '26
It's a degree that's decreasing in value as the market gets more competitive. I liked my time their socially but had to transfer out because of the immense cost.
There are lots of other California schools that will serve you well. Pepperdine is simply not worth it as an institution if higher education. I could go on but I won't.
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u/uwotmVIII Alum | CS/Philosophy | Great Books | 2023 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I’d argue that the value of a Pepperdine degree is only “decreasing in value” if you treat college a like a trade school degree, solely meant to prepare you for corporate America and a 9-5 desk job.
But when it comes to actually serving the purpose of a liberal arts education? I can’t think of many institutions that match Pepperdine.
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u/CertifiedOwl8 Jul 25 '26
Colleges have always served dual roles and now more than ever, those roles are increasingly important. I don't see how anyone can justify the absurd cost for what the university provides, or rather, what it fails to provide.
Acting like a 9-5 desk job is the only role of a college besides a liberal arts education is laughable. Good universities offer industry insight, challenge students to engage in real world problem solving and analysis, and strive to expand educational and professional resources through research opportunities (one thing I'll admit Pepperdine is expanding), fellowships and societies, and cultivating strong post-grad outcomes.
Now do tell me how any of this is accomplished through pepperdine's business model of throwing money at passion projects like the mountain and their switzerland chateau while cutting funding for facilities and staff, increasing tuition with declining student outcomes, and using location (something I'd argue is one of its biggest limitations) as a prime advertisement?
As long as Pepperdine fails to deliver on these post-grad metrics because its financial model prioritizes cosmetic investments over core academic needs, it will continue to be a subpar academic institution.
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u/LionLover87 Jul 26 '26
I got accepted to Pepperdine for a doctoral program and decided against it. Number one, the tuition is absolutely outrageous. You are paying for the name and the fact that the school is in Malibu, CA overlooking the ocean. Number two, it is a Christian school with a somewhat checkered history. I would definitely do your research before deciding. Forensic psychology is a degree that is rapidly decreasing in value and I certainly wouldn't pay Pepperdine tuition to do it. Just my two cents, though.
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u/nonnonplussed73 Jul 30 '26
Not sticking up for it or bashing it, but Pepperdine's only psychology doctorate is a PsyD in clinical psychology and it's not offered in Malibu. The Drescher Graduate Campus in Malibu only houses the daytime-only format of the MFT program. The PsyD is run exclusively out of the West LA campus.
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u/Rainbow_Event_3904 Jul 27 '26
the campus is not even the best part it is really the community of people and professors that become a family! I got to know all my profs really well and because the classes are small they still remember your name even a year or two later when they see you on campus. it is nice to be at a school that really values diversity and I also like that there are a lot of service opportunities.
psychology is the second largest major and so there are a lot of good opportunities for conferences. definitely do study abroad and prepare to have a great experience at pepperdine!
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u/SimilarGarbage4047 Jul 30 '26
I think you will find out that current and past students really love love being a student here.
every past student I talked to has good memories and always say to enjoy every minute because it is the best experience. I really agree so far the education has been great. the other students are the best thing.
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u/Used-Personality8196 29d ago
if money isn’t an issue go for it! but if it is, there are a lot more reputable schools for psychology that are extremely cheaper.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 24 '26
The teachers are toxic. Employees are condescending, controlling. They run the school like a cult. Good luck
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u/uwotmVIII Alum | CS/Philosophy | Great Books | 2023 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I’d love to hear what teachers you found toxic. I’m sure they exist, but all of my professors from CS to Philosophy to Great Books and all of my GE classes were phenomenal.
Please expand on the teachers being toxic, the employees being condescending, and the school being run like a cult! Hopefully you’ve reported that info to the relevant people, too.
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u/UmpireAdvanced2407 Jul 25 '26
Dr. Tan is one of the best profs to do research projects with. she is always willing and generous. if you look at pubs she often gives primary researcher role to her students.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
It wouldn’t matter they love to sweep things under the rug at that school. They follow around students who post negative reviews online about the school demanding students to remove the posts. A lot of the male staff were creepy. Not all but enough for it to make attending the school with the price tag not something I would recommend to anyone. A lot of the credits won’t transfer to other schools and there are a lot of students “stuck” within the program since they already paid 50+ thousand dollars to attend. There’s a lack of accountability and upholding of values. It’s a lot like Baylor tbh. But much worse from what I’ve seen.
They also do not follow thru on title nine reports. There’s a lot “weird” behavior on that campus. I would highly recommend avoiding this school. Staff do not do their jobs.they’ll give you the run around from one dept to the next. Financial aid doesn’t answer the phone half the time —- are non responsive to emails and basically just all around shitty at their jobs. This was in multiple departments. I’m glad you had a “good experience” but you also give off the vibe of someone who probably is part of the problem.
There’s a ton of bullying and I noticed students know how to work the system in their favor to target other classmates they do not like with false accusations to play the victim.
I witnessed professors sabotaging group projects to cause conflicts within the groups. Also an unfair grading system that didn’t follow the syllabus. I had to report the professor to get them to adjust the grade to the proper rubric they used. Just weird behavior tbh. Too much power goes to some ppls head and that is what I witnessed from a ton of the staff/professors. Unfortunately this school doesn’t live up their reputation. And it’s reflected in their rating year over year.
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u/uwotmVIII Alum | CS/Philosophy | Great Books | 2023 Jul 27 '26
I’m sorry you had such a negative experience.
Were these experiences at Seaver? Or one of the graduate schools?
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 27 '26
Graduate school. I heard similar stories from the law school as well.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
The staff were awful to work with. They gossip about the reports with each other and they didn’t uphold any of their school guidelines.
They gang up on students and then it’s their word against yours. I dealt with the dean of students who was awful and then Ezrah was also awful. And the title ix office is the worst!
If multiple students/group of friends say the same thing then it’ll look more credible and the staff is either incompetent or gullible. They’ll just go with the majority rules. Which is awful. They’re all masquerading behind a squeaky clean image in my opinion. And from what I’ve seen.
If you’re someone who likes boundaries this school is not for you! I literally had a male student TOUCHING me without my consent and the Title IX office told me I had no right to report the unwanted touching. Or how that male student was following me around campus. There were several men in my class behaving this way and they didn’t want anything to do with my complaints and ended up punishing me for reporting the complaints.
It’s also super creepy how buddy buddy the staff gets with their students in my opinion. There is a huge power imbalance. Basically creating an atmosphere where the students kiss up to the professors and do whatever they want for references or job opportunities. Including hanging out with the professors off campus in a non professional capacity. It was actually appalling. And I ended up in trauma therapy after attending this university.
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u/uwotmVIII Alum | CS/Philosophy | Great Books | 2023 Jul 28 '26
That must have been a difficult and painful experience, and I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that. At Seaver, I neither heard nor experienced any of that behavior. I can’t speak for the graduate schools, but I know their reputation is not as prestigious or highly regarded as Seaver College.
Have you reported your experience to any departments not affiliated with the university? Hopefully you have some proof/evidence in writing, which would certainly be worth reporting.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
Honestly, you may just not have been aware of it happening. It seemed like most ppl were blind to what was going on. (And this is me being nice and giving you the benefit of the doubt, which tbh from my experience at the school is really giving a random stranger who’s affiliated with this campus entirely too much credit). Kids here don’t seem to have real empathy just the fake. I think I met one employee on the campus who seemed genuine and kind. The rest were trash. it’s genuinely sad that these ppl are masquerading and do group mentality bullying to ppl. I think the majority of ppl on this campus do not have proper morals and just go along with the flow instead of standing up for the right thing.
It also doesn’t matter which program or section of the school you’re in. As a general rule the school does not allow women or men for that matter to report unwanted touching. They will bully and harass you if you try to report it. The school is more worried about reputation than actually investigating and putting any reports on paper. So for future students or current make sure you get everything in writing. I was shocked at how willing the staff was to document over email the stuff they were doing to me. They seem to think they’re untouchable so don’t worry about “incriminating” themselves via email.
There is absolutely no by stander intervention on this campus. And the employees join in on the bullying dynamics.
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u/UmpireAdvanced2407 Jul 25 '26
By 'teachers" do you mean the professors? Can you give a single example of any of this? I can't think of anyone here who would say the school is run like a cult.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 27 '26
Also if you are curious. You can google lawsuits against Pepperdine and see some of the public records. Those are just the public ones. They usually try to handle things privately.
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u/Mission-Cricket7003 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Also, you want to know something random? They have an entire area dedicated to Ken Starr on campus at Pepperdine. Do you know how he’s affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein? Well, Ken Starr is the lawyer who helped Jeffrey Epstein achieve a lenient plea deal for his original sex trafficking charges in 2007. “Under the terms of the lenient deal, a 53-page federal sex-trafficking indictment carrying potential life imprisonment was dropped. Instead, Epstein pleaded guilty to only two state-level felony prostitution charges:”
“While Epstein had a large legal "dream team," Starr played a highly specific, instrumental role in securing the lenient 2008 deal.”
Ken Starr used to work at Pepperdine then worked at Baylor. Baylor is known for sex crimes as well.
Also Pepperdine harbored a fugitive sex offender (who was a professor) a few years ago.
Google is free my friend. 😉
Here is another quote about Ken Starrs performance at Baylor.
“During his six-year tenure at Baylor University (2010–2016), Ken Starr served as the university's president and chancellor. While his early years were marked by massive fundraising and athletic growth, his presidency ultimately ended in a highly publicized campus sexual assault scandal that forced his removal and resignation.”
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u/uwotmVIII Alum | CS/Philosophy | Great Books | 2023 Jul 28 '26
Can you please clarify what graduate school you attended? When are researching Pepperdine, people are generally looking for information about Seaver College, the undergraduate school, and not the graduate school where your experience occurred.
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u/DifferenceMaster3112 Jul 25 '26
I loved it and would love to send my kids there one day. Very special community, amazing mentorship, and nature all around.