Pepperdine University School of Law Forum

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Pepperdine University School of Law is located in Malibu, CA. It appears on the Top Law Schools Rankings page.

Please "post a reply" and add any comments you have about the Pepperdine University School of Law. Many generations of prospective law students will benefit by the information you share.

[lawgirl1]

Would love to chat about Pepperdine with anyone interested. I have visited the school once and have been accepted. Considering it for fall if I don't get into UCLA or USC

[spursfaninla]

Hi LSG,

I live in LA, and was considering pep along with ucla, usc, loyola and sw (in that order, not suprisingly).


Pepperdine is beautiful and in a nice side of "town" (I lived in Thousand oaks for years, which is just over the hill.

Pep is also over-rated. From the little research I did, peperdine grads have fewer prospects, pass the bar less often and make less money and all of the other schools I mentioned.

[mary15]

It's beautiful on the outside but I would be wary....I've heard that it is one of the "religious" schools that actually is religious/conservative/yuck/Ken Starr. But that's just a personal preference.

[RTR10]

Random information I gathered from my tour:

-Very stingy with grades. Forced Median of 78. 15% get A's, 35% get Bs, etc. Top third to keep your scholarship rounds out to be an 81.1
-Cannot use Mac's for exams
-Christian influence is not imposed on you
-One of the journal editors was drinking in the library when we talked to him
-4 journals: top 10% at end of year invited to write for the journal of their choosing, also a 20-25 pg paper writing competition at end of 1L
-DO NOT work during 1L, or even during 2L and 3L unless it's an internship
-$700-800 for books first semester, then only need one book second semester 1L. Buy all the supplements you can get.
-Take the Law Preview course.
-Wireless works really well.
-All classes in the same building.
-Hidden third floor of the library.
-Library Hours: M-Tr 6am-Midnight, F 6am-8pm, Sat 8am-8pm, Sun noon-midnight
-Take about 4 pages typed notes per class period
-One thing they would change: their USNews Ranking
-Financial aid packages will be sent prior to April 1
-People do not rip out pages for common assigments/steal books
-Length of exams: typically three hours (1 hr MC, 2 hr Essay)...if MC & Essay you get a bathroom break
-Class Length: 1 hr periods (two or three times per week)
-Time spent studying: at least 9 hrs per day. Those in the top 10 percent study about 15 hrs per day. The guy that gave the tour said he gets up at 6:30, reads until 9, class til 12, library til dinner break at 7, study til midnight, bed. Repeat.
-Clinics: several including #1 Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution and Public Interest Clinic
-Traffic: 20 minutes from Santa Monica, 45 minutes from West LA
-Food is great
-What do students do for fun: drink in Santa Monica
-Why did you choose Pepperdine: Staff is friendly, helpful, and have your best interest at heart
-Career services has a list of Pepperdine Alumni by region broken into type of law and will set you up with contact information for anywhere.
-Parking is FREEEEEEEEE! This is the best thing ever!
-All professors have an open door policy. Most professors stick around the law school and buy pizza for students in the library.
-Approx. 200 students in each entering class, 3 sections broken into groups of 70.
-Method of upper course class selection: easy to get into any class you want. If the room capacity is 95, there will be up to 95 people in the class.
-Study tips: read everything twice (night before and in the morning before class), stay on top of outlines. Divide your weekend into 6 sections and do outlines.
-$50 built in print credits.
-OCI: Fall 2nd year, 300 firms participate, top quarter-easy to get a job
-Forced to argue your appellate brief 2nd semester 1L (not for credit)
-Apply for federal clerkships 1L because it's based on writing sample, not grades
-Midterms 1st semester 1L. Don't count towards grade, but gives you an idea of how you're doing, and how to take a LS exam
-Hard to get into the Law School, but once you're in, you'll stay. They're super focused on keeping their students.
-6 courses 1L
**There is a dodgeball tournament, professors against students in the atrium of the Law School. It's a big deal.

Pictures of the campus/law school can be found on my blog:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... php?t=3829

[Rydw]

Those who say that Pepperdine is overrated likely know little about law school in general and Pepperdine specifically. Living in the LA metropolis does not automatically qualify one as an expert on LA law schools.

A previous poster made the following fallacious statement.

Pep is also over-rated. From the little research I did, pepperdine grads have fewer prospects, pass the bar less often and make less money and all of the other schools I mentioned.

Let's take a moment to look at July 2006 bar passage rates. From the Pepperdine site:

For the July exam, the overall passage rate for all takers was 51.3 percent and 67.4 percent for first-time takers. Among the ABA-accredited schools in California, 73.7 percent of first-time takers passed.

At Pepperdine, 83.84 percent passed the July exam, behind only Stanford (89.24), UCLA (86.45), USC (85.86), and UC Berkeley (85.07). Of the remaining fifteen schools, only UC Hastings (83.70) was above 80, with Santa Clara (78.81), San Diego (78.39), UC Davis (76.36), and Loyola LA (75.14) rounding out the top ten.

On a national perspective, Pepperdine outperformed numerous out-of-state ABA-accredited law schools on the California bar exam (each of whom had at least twenty first-time takers), such as Yale University (76), University of Michigan (82), Northwestern University ( 68 ), Georgetown University (77), and Boston University (73), among others.

So for California schools, the bar passage Top Ten was:

Stanford 89
UCLA 86
USC 86
Boalt 85
Pepperdine 84
Hastings 84
Santa Clara 79
San Diego 78
Davis 76
Loyola 75

Pepperdine is 9% points higher than loyola and SW is not surprisingly absent from the list.

For those worried about the Christian aspect, the school does not force religion upon any student in any way. Crucifixes are not present in the classrooms as is common in many catholic schools (Pepperdine is protestant), prayer does not take place in the school setting and professors do not preach to students.

However, because the school is Christian it does seek to fulfill a certian mission and admit students of high moral character. Applicants have to submit an essay about their own moral character and values. In addition, the school encourages students to take the route of public service in their careers, which is one reason why the average salary is lower than USC and UCLA. The other reason is that USC and UCLA are better schools However, those who want a high paying big firm job can and do get them

The school's current USNews ranking is 66 (UCLA and USC are 15, 16 and Loyola is tied for 66...I dont think SW is in the top 100). The degree to which a person cares about rankings is up to them.

Students seem to be very kind, and while it is a law school and your grade depends upon your ability to score better than your classmates, students seem very willing to help out one another.

The law school building is built on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was built in the 70's in a Spanish style, and the interior will be completely renovated in a year or two.

Oh, and like any other private law school, Pep is expensive, but scholarships and aid are plentiful.

[valrp]

This was a helpful post. Any current students wish to chime in a bit more?

It says in their profile at this site that in their on campus housing - even graduate housing - they do not allow members of the opposite sex or alcohol inside. True?

[augustlights]

I'll add that my parents are lawyers in LA and had NO idea Pepperdine was the same rank and Loyola. (They thought Loyola was a much better school)

A lot of LA top firms that recruit at Loyola pass over Pepperdine. Even some places recruit at Southwestern over it :/

[valrp]

Their ADR program is ranked number 1.

[agent433]

-Time spent studying: at least 9 hrs per day. Those in the top 10 percent study about 15 hrs per day. The guy that gave the tour said he gets up at 6:30, reads until 9, class til 12, library til dinner break at 7, study til midnight, bed. Repeat.
quote]
]

lol, can't be serious....most people I know at better schools than pepperdine don't study that much in a week

[hiphoppopotamus]

A lot of LA top firms that recruit at Loyola pass over Pepperdine.

according to: --LinkRemoved--

Firms conducting OCI at Loyola: 190
Firms conducting OCI at Pepperdine: 59

just some food for thought for those who have both as options...

[RTR10]

Now that I look back on that visit last march from what the tour guide/admissions people told me, they had to be just feeding us information we wanted to hear. 300 firms at OCI??

[crys1925]

-Time spent studying: at least 9 hrs per day. Those in the top 10 percent study about 15 hrs per day. The guy that gave the tour said he gets up at 6:30, reads until 9, class til 12, library til dinner break at 7, study til midnight, bed. Repeat.
quote]
]

lol, can't be serious....most people I know at better schools than pepperdine don't study that much in a week

It actually makes sense. If you look at trends and statistics, in general, the lower the ranking, the more hours the students spend studying. They'll have a harder time finding jobs if they're at the middle of the class at Pepperdine than the middle of the class at UCLA, so they have to work harder and spend more time studying to stay at the top of their class so that their career prospects aren't shot. I'm not saying that their career prospects would be horrible if they were at the middle of their class, but the competition is definitely more intense the lower down the ranking list you go, which in turn means more hours of studying each day.

[hope]

I recently visited Pepperdine and am seriously considering it. The campus is the most beautiful of any I've ever seen. The professors I met were extremely nice and approachable, as were the students. The classes are small and it seemed the most personable of the schools I've visited. There seem to be a lot of opportunities to gain experience in human rights / public interest work, as well as some interesting study abroad or international externship opportunities, which appeal to me too.

[mz253]

studying 9 hours a day??? seriously???????????

Random information I gathered from my tour:

-Very stingy with grades. Forced Median of 78. 15% get A's, 35% get Bs, etc. Top third to keep your scholarship rounds out to be an 81.1
-Cannot use Mac's for exams
-Christian influence is not imposed on you
-One of the journal editors was drinking in the library when we talked to him
-4 journals: top 10% at end of year invited to write for the journal of their choosing, also a 20-25 pg paper writing competition at end of 1L
-DO NOT work during 1L, or even during 2L and 3L unless it's an internship
-$700-800 for books first semester, then only need one book second semester 1L. Buy all the supplements you can get.
-Take the Law Preview course.
-Wireless works really well.
-All classes in the same building.
-Hidden third floor of the library.
-Library Hours: M-Tr 6am-Midnight, F 6am-8pm, Sat 8am-8pm, Sun noon-midnight
-Take about 4 pages typed notes per class period
-One thing they would change: their USNews Ranking
-Financial aid packages will be sent prior to April 1
-People do not rip out pages for common assigments/steal books
-Length of exams: typically three hours (1 hr MC, 2 hr Essay)...if MC & Essay you get a bathroom break
-Class Length: 1 hr periods (two or three times per week)
-Time spent studying: at least 9 hrs per day. Those in the top 10 percent study about 15 hrs per day. The guy that gave the tour said he gets up at 6:30, reads until 9, class til 12, library til dinner break at 7, study til midnight, bed. Repeat.
-Clinics: several including #1 Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution and Public Interest Clinic
-Traffic: 20 minutes from Santa Monica, 45 minutes from West LA
-Food is great
-What do students do for fun: drink in Santa Monica
-Why did you choose Pepperdine: Staff is friendly, helpful, and have your best interest at heart
-Career services has a list of Pepperdine Alumni by region broken into type of law and will set you up with contact information for anywhere.
-Parking is FREEEEEEEEE! This is the best thing ever!
-All professors have an open door policy. Most professors stick around the law school and buy pizza for students in the library.
-Approx. 200 students in each entering class, 3 sections broken into groups of 70.
-Method of upper course class selection: easy to get into any class you want. If the room capacity is 95, there will be up to 95 people in the class.
-Study tips: read everything twice (night before and in the morning before class), stay on top of outlines. Divide your weekend into 6 sections and do outlines.
-$50 built in print credits.
-OCI: Fall 2nd year, 300 firms participate, top quarter-easy to get a job
-Forced to argue your appellate brief 2nd semester 1L (not for credit)
-Apply for federal clerkships 1L because it's based on writing sample, not grades
-Midterms 1st semester 1L. Don't count towards grade, but gives you an idea of how you're doing, and how to take a LS exam
-Hard to get into the Law School, but once you're in, you'll stay. They're super focused on keeping their students.
-6 courses 1L
**There is a dodgeball tournament, professors against students in the atrium of the Law School. It's a big deal.

Pictures of the campus/law school can be found on my blog:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... php?t=3829

[Danteshek]

Does anyone know the professor Robert Pushaw? Is he a good professor? He is teaching Con Law II at Loyola next semester. Thanks.

[lawschooliseasy]

-Time spent studying: at least 9 hrs per day. Those in the top 10 percent study about 15 hrs per day. The guy that gave the tour said he gets up at 6:30, reads until 9, class til 12, library til dinner break at 7, study til midnight, bed. Repeat.
quote]
]

lol, can't be serious....most people I know at better schools than pepperdine don't study that much in a week

It actually makes sense. If you look at trends and statistics, in general, the lower the ranking, the more hours the students spend studying. They'll have a harder time finding jobs if they're at the middle of the class at Pepperdine than the middle of the class at UCLA, so they have to work harder and spend more time studying to stay at the top of their class so that their career prospects aren't shot. I'm not saying that their career prospects would be horrible if they were at the middle of their class, but the competition is definitely more intense the lower down the ranking list you go, which in turn means more hours of studying each day.

I assume you aren't in law school. This doesn't make sense. Unless you have Asperger's you CAN'T study for 15 hours a day with any regularity. For everybody that is worried about law school: chill the fuck out. It isn't easy, but its like having a 50-60 hour a week job.

[1ferret!]

Does anyone know the professor Robert Pushaw? Is he a good professor? He is teaching Con Law II at Loyola next semester. Thanks.

Pushaw is great. Lively, opinionated. He teaches Con Law Structure here as well as Fed Courts. His research focuses primarily on the commerce clause as well as taxing and spending powers. He has a wealth of knowledge, and as a tenured professor doesnt much care what people think about his opinions on the matter or the vigor with which he professes them. He taught advanced Con Law with Akhil Amar here this semester, who was his professor at Yale. I hear his tests are difficult but I haven't taken one yet.
Worth taking the class I would think. Uncle Bob has great stories.

[utilitarianjac]

Does anyone know the professor Robert Pushaw? Is he a good professor? He is teaching Con Law II at Loyola next semester. Thanks.

Pushaw is great. Lively, opinionated. He teaches Con Law Structure here as well as Fed Courts. His research focuses primarily on the commerce clause as well as taxing and spending powers. He has a wealth of knowledge, and as a tenured professor doesnt much care what people think about his opinions on the matter or the vigor with which he professes them. He taught advanced Con Law with Akhil Amar here this semester, who was his professor at Yale. I hear his tests are difficult but I haven't taken one yet.
Worth taking the class I would think. Uncle Bob has great stories.

I'm a huge fan of Prof. Pushaw. He's hilarious and absolutely brilliant. As for the typical law student concerns: the assigned reading is reasonable, he's not difficult to follow, and he isn't terrible when it comes to the Socratic method. His outspoken views may offend some, but that is half the fun. I'd definitely recommend taking him if you have the opportunity.

[dreamlschool2021]

How difficult is it get into Pepperdine Law? What kind of scores do I need? I am prior military and URM. I am applying for fall 2015.