Pepperdine Forum

[Charro]

Hey everyone! I've also gotten accepted to Pepperdine and I definitely consider attending . How long did it take for you to receive the admissions package in the mail? I received the admissions email on February 6 but I have not received anything in the mail yet...

[KD35]

Hey everyone! I've also gotten accepted to Pepperdine and I definitely consider attending . How long did it take for you to receive the admissions package in the mail? I received the admissions email on February 6 but I have not received anything in the mail yet...

You might want to give them a call if it doesn't come by Tuesday or so next week, but it should've come by now.

[PhenomenalWoman]

Hey everyone! I've also gotten accepted to Pepperdine and I definitely consider attending . How long did it take for you to receive the admissions package in the mail? I received the admissions email on February 6 but I have not received anything in the mail yet...

That's odd...it only took me about a week...

[gabe4455]

It took about 2 weeks for my package to arrive. I live in Pennsylvania and there was some poor weather, which may have contributed to the delay.

[Charro]

Thanks guys! If I don't get anything by Monday I'll call to ask when they mailed the package. Hopefully it'll be a nice one .

[ASUPHI2LAW]

Does anyone know when they might makes moves on their waitlist?

[mes10d]

In today, via the status checker. They didn't mind me misspelling my middle name, apparently.

(Nice avi, p.s.....)

Update: received official email with Dean's Merit Scholarship of 48k/yr. Impressive!

[kev101]

In today, via the status checker. They didn't mind me misspelling my middle name, apparently.

(Nice avi, p.s.....)

I'm still Waitlisted. Congrats!

[mes10d]

In today, via the status checker. They didn't mind me misspelling my middle name, apparently.

(Nice avi, p.s.....)

I'm still Waitlisted. Congrats!

Thank you! Fingers crossed for you.

[Agentsoapbox]

In today via email with some decent $$$.

2 things I'm wondering about:

Firstly, I'm wondering what the environment is like for LGBT students. I'm a Christian, I love Jesus, trust in Him as my person savior, read my bible, listen to Hillsong United and pretty much hold a mainstream evangelical theology... except that I'm gay.

Secondly, how open are they to negotiating financial aid? I got a decent package but right now, other higher ranked schools are offering me better deals.

[jfern]

Acceptance packet arrived today! They sent a nice folder containing a formal letter, a postcard announcing the admitted students day, and a magazine. I also received a travel scholarship to help make a visit more affordable. Thanks, Pepperdine!

[krispymenudo]

Acceptance packet arrived today! They sent a nice folder containing a formal letter, a postcard announcing the admitted students day, and a magazine. I also received a travel scholarship to help make a visit more affordable. Thanks, Pepperdine!

Congrats!! I seem to have misplaced my admitted students day card... when is it again?

[gabe4455]

The admitted students day is April 11th.

[krispymenudo]

The admitted students day is April 11th.

Awesome, thanks! Does it require an RSVP?

[jfern]

The admitted students day is April 11th.

Awesome, thanks! Does it require an RSVP?

Postcard says that more info and RSVP instructions will come in March via email.

[KD35]

In today via email with some decent $$$.

2 things I'm wondering about:

Firstly, I'm wondering what the environment is like for LGBT students. I'm a Christian, I love Jesus, trust in Him as my person savior, read my bible, listen to Hillsong United and pretty much hold a mainstream evangelical theology... except that I'm gay.

Secondly, how open are they to negotiating financial aid? I got a decent package but right now, other higher ranked schools are offering me better deals.

There is an LGBT law society. People's sexuality doesn't seem to be really out in the open and talked about, but it is better at the law school than what I heard it is like at the undergrad school. I know there are some really strong leaders in the faculty at the school who are advocates for LGBT society. You won't be discriminated against or looked down on, law school students tend to be more liberal than their UG counterparts (Pepperdine included).
Also there clearly is a strong faith side to the school, biggest example being the Christian Legal Society, that have events on/off campus.

They can be pretty good with negotiating, depending on the year. I'd reach out and try to get ahold of Shannon Phillips (Admissions Dean) or another higher up in order to really try and negotiate it.

[Apizzle]

In today via status checker. Would love to attend, but I would take a pretty big scholarship to make moving to Malibu make sense for me.

[Knp]

Submitted application mid-january and status is still at incomplete, should I call to find out what the hold up is? I dont believe I am missing anything..

[Tburg]

Submitted application mid-january and status is still at incomplete, should I call to find out what the hold up is? I dont believe I am missing anything..

Probably. I submitted Jan 28 and I received my acceptance two and a half weeks later.

[Yazzzay]

I was accepted a month ago, good $$ and am trying to decide if Pepperdine (or even USD) is worth it. I think I love the school, but not so much the employment prospects.

Looking at LSN, their numbers are dismal. Pepperdine has a 45.5% employment score, and is behind UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA region...They also fell 12 spots in the ranking in only one year. Any thoughts on all this? Or basically why you are choosing Pepperdine over others?

I have no ties to the area (actually from abroad), but wouldn't mind living in California after graduation, but it seems like it's going to be a struggle to get a job. If any 1Ls or up see this, your input would be great!

[KD35]

I was accepted a month ago, good $$ and am trying to decide if Pepperdine (or even USD) is worth it. I think I love the school, but not so much the employment prospects.

Looking at LSN, their numbers are dismal. Pepperdine has a 45.5% employment score, and is behind UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA region...They also fell 12 spots in the ranking in only one year. Any thoughts on all this? Or basically why you are choosing Pepperdine over others?

I have no ties to the area (actually from abroad), but wouldn't mind living in California after graduation, but it seems like it's going to be a struggle to get a job. If any 1Ls or up see this, your input would be great!

(I'm a 1L there now)

One, year to year law school rankings aren't necessarily the best indication. . . because technically the new rankings come out the 11th, so we will be able to see what the new rankings are. If Pepperdine stays down that lower or drops lower, then you might have a solid point there.

The employment prospects aren't terribly great. It really depends what you want to do with the degree. You won't get a BigLaw job unless you're top 5%, if that. And that's a true BigLaw job (V100), not this "oh over 250 lawyers so that's BigLaw" view. Art. III clerkships aren't easy either, but there are a couple DC judges who try to hire 1-2 Pepperdine clerks a year (from what I've heard). Fed CoA clerkships are rarer to come by than BigLaw, but those aren't really easy for anyone to get.

How much $$ is good $$ to you? Namely, what would the cost of attendance be? I wouldn't have gone here if it weren't for the good money I received. I'm essentially having to just pay for a little more than CoL and I wouldn't have gone here for much less than that.
You won't get handed a job here but I do believe (from what I've seen) you can get a 'good' job out of here two ways: Top 10% or working your butt off to network. I do sincerely enjoy the school and the people though. And if you put out an effort with your professors/administration, they will go to bat for you. Spent a good amount of time meeting with professors this semester and last semester and I've received several offers to do RA/write recs for externships/clerkships already. That being said, I did well last semester.

Overall, I'm really happy with my choice. I had a choice to go to higher ranked schools with some $$ and a couple T25 schools but I decided here and I'm not regretting it because I'll be nearly debt-free leaving law school and am in a position to get a good paying job/chance to be flexible with what type of legal job I want.

If you have more specific questions about certain types of jobs, regional placement, etc. just post it here and I'll try to get back to it ASAP. Hope that helped.

TL;DR is that it is a school filled with good professors and people. That's not the reason you go to law school though, and you need to do really well at the school in order to get a Art. III clerkship/BigLaw job. To get a good job, you need to do pretty well or network your butt off.

[owlie]

I was accepted a month ago, good $$ and am trying to decide if Pepperdine (or even USD) is worth it. I think I love the school, but not so much the employment prospects.

Looking at LSN, their numbers are dismal. Pepperdine has a 45.5% employment score, and is behind UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA region...They also fell 12 spots in the ranking in only one year. Any thoughts on all this? Or basically why you are choosing Pepperdine over others?

I have no ties to the area (actually from abroad), but wouldn't mind living in California after graduation, but it seems like it's going to be a struggle to get a job. If any 1Ls or up see this, your input would be great!

DISCLAIMER: I go to Loyola, not Pepperdine, but the ranking/employment stuff seems like it applies equally to both schools.

On rankings: As KD35 said, year to year rankings don't mean a lot, and if you look, pretty much every West Coast school after USC/UCLA took a hit, because US News finally started integrating employment numbers into the ranking system (or so I'm told).

On employment: There's no way around it. The numbers are bad. Having no local ties isn't the end of the world, but you probably have to factor in the kids who come to law school with attorney parents and the connections that come with. They'll have an inside shot at jobs, all else being equal, and they probably make up a nice chunk of the 45.5% that end up employed. LLS talks up their whole "biggest alumni network in L.A." thing, which has proven to be more than talk, in my experience. Alumni have bent over backwards to help out some of us, so again, as KD said, you'll probably have to 1) not suck, and 2) network your butt off. I'd think Pepperdine, as a smaller school, would have a pretty supportive alumni base, no? For this summer, I know a lot of people who lined up judicial clerkships (half Superior Court, half federal/bankruptcy, with a couple A3's in there for the ones who crushed fall semester), and a couple with public interest gigs, but the private employers either haven't hired yet or my section is just getting their butts kicked. So employment prospects depend a lot on how you do (which you can't really predict) and what you want to do. Good luck!

[Knp]

Submitted application mid-january and status is still at incomplete, should I call to find out what the hold up is? I dont believe I am missing anything..

Probably. I submitted Jan 28 and I received my acceptance two and a half weeks later.

Called and she said that the stack is almost completed. Should find out soon!

[Yazzzay]

I was accepted a month ago, good $$ and am trying to decide if Pepperdine (or even USD) is worth it. I think I love the school, but not so much the employment prospects.

Looking at LSN, their numbers are dismal. Pepperdine has a 45.5% employment score, and is behind UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA region...They also fell 12 spots in the ranking in only one year. Any thoughts on all this? Or basically why you are choosing Pepperdine over others?

I have no ties to the area (actually from abroad), but wouldn't mind living in California after graduation, but it seems like it's going to be a struggle to get a job. If any 1Ls or up see this, your input would be great!

(I'm a 1L there now)

TL;DR is that it is a school filled with good professors and people. That's not the reason you go to law school though, and you need to do really well at the school in order to get a Art. III clerkship/BigLaw job. To get a good job, you need to do pretty well or network your butt off.

Thanks a lot for the info! I got $25k a year, but I'm hoping to negotiate with some higher offers. They already randomly bumped it up to that without my prodding so idk if they'll go any further. I appreciate the honest feedback. I may have some more questions for you later!

[Yazzzay]

I was accepted a month ago, good $$ and am trying to decide if Pepperdine (or even USD) is worth it. I think I love the school, but not so much the employment prospects.

Looking at LSN, their numbers are dismal. Pepperdine has a 45.5% employment score, and is behind UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA region...They also fell 12 spots in the ranking in only one year. Any thoughts on all this? Or basically why you are choosing Pepperdine over others?

I have no ties to the area (actually from abroad), but wouldn't mind living in California after graduation, but it seems like it's going to be a struggle to get a job. If any 1Ls or up see this, your input would be great!

DISCLAIMER: I go to Loyola, not Pepperdine, but the ranking/employment stuff seems like it applies equally to both schools.

On rankings: As KD35 said, year to year rankings don't mean a lot, and if you look, pretty much every West Coast school after USC/UCLA took a hit, because US News finally started integrating employment numbers into the ranking system (or so I'm told).

Ya I'm looking forward to seeing what the new rankings are. Thanks for the info! I wish i had applied to Loyola as well.