Über-Prestigious Pepperdine 2L Taking Questions Forum

[Gatriel]

Thanks for the additional input. It is always good to get other's input as well.

[Midnight Rider]

Slightly off topic, but any recommendations for diversions on Thursday? I'm signed up for the tour, but have some down time before the appointment in the afternoon. Also, to get a feel for the student body/neighborhood, is there an after class spot for drinks or dinner that might be a good representation when my tour is over?

[Gatriel]

Slightly off topic, but any recommendations for diversions on Thursday? I'm signed up for the tour, but have some down time before the appointment in the afternoon. Also, to get a feel for the student body/neighborhood, is there an after class spot for drinks or dinner that might be a good representation when my tour is over?

It depends on what time your tour is. Like StyroformWar said, all grades and 1L sections have a lunch break at the same time from 12:30 to 1:40. You can go to the Caf, which is on the lower level, ocean side of the building and just mingle around with everyone. If you're looking to do something before then, find out through Colleen (administrative assistant) if you can sit in on a 1L class. You also have the option if you want to see the neighborhood, walk out of the law building and go to the intersection of Seaver Drive (the street that you came up on to get to the law school) and the law school faculty parking lot, and wait for a Pepperdine shuttle. It'll take you around campus, and you can see what is here.

[Gatriel]

How was your visit?

[lalalawya]

Does Pepperdine offer scholarships to current students? (i.e students in top 10% receive 4,500 a year or something of the sort)

Thank you!

[Gatriel]

Does Pepperdine offer scholarships to current students? (i.e students in top 10% receive 4,500 a year or something of the sort)

Thank you!

I haven't directly heard of this, scholarship money is kinda like your age or how much money you make, it doesn't really get talked about . . . . however

If you finish top of your class, and are paying sticker, I have a hard time imagining them not giving you something. When the school is forced with the choice of losing top students to higher ranked state schools where a student might qualify for instate tuition, or take some scholarship money revoked from other students who lost it due to class rank and redistribute it, the logical decision appears quite obvious.

[arhmcpo]

Does Pepperdine offer scholarships to current students? (i.e students in top 10% receive 4,500 a year or something of the sort)

Thank you!

Yes, if you have good enough numbers to transfer to a higher level law school (i.e. T14) they will offer you scholly money to stay. As far as I know this is a universal practice amongst law students for top finishers after 1L.

In boom times, according to NALP almost 1/3rd of law students would receive offers from OCI. That is significantly less now and Pepperdine is no exception. I would say Top 10% landed BigLaw SA's, Top 10-20% landed somewhere in midlaw; and after that it was a bloodbath.

Don't know how people have done with Gov. jobs but with the private sector dying, way too many people are applying for Gov. jobs, and the number of positions are shrinking their too. Los Angeles DA and PD offices have had a hiring freeze for like 2 years and who knows when they'll start hiring again.

It is downright ugly out there people. Pepperdine is really no better or worse off than Hastings Davis or Loyola. I actually think UCLA and USC might be hardest hit in terms of expectations because kids who go there expect to get BigLaw jobs that just don't exist in the same frequency anymore. Alot of people go to Pepperdine planning on working in PI or Gov. which is probably why a lot of the early 1L events focus on those fields.

Gatriel is spot on as to social life. Very active, lots to do. Unusual mix of religious people and party-ers here. Law school is much more liberal than undergrad - probably 50/50 democrat compared to republican or liberatarian. Housing advice in this thread is also spot on.

Pepperdine is a good up-in-comer school but everyone should be aware that unless you go to HYS, job prospects will be uncertain at best, wherever you decide to go.

[originalmutt]

What's the price range for decent off-campus housing?

[Gatriel]

What's the price range for decent off-campus housing?

Depends on where exactly you live, but for "decent" expect around $800-1200 a month. The further away from the ocean you go the cheaper it becomes.

[originalmutt]

What's the price range for decent off-campus housing?

Depends on where exactly you live, but for "decent" expect around $800-1200 a month. The further away from the ocean you go the cheaper it becomes.

Thanks. That's very reasonable for LA. How hard is it finding roommates? What is the commute like from Santa Monica or Venice?

[originalmutt]

Just got my acceptance letter today with scholarship money!!!! So I will definitely be coming back with more questions as I make my decision.

[Gatriel]

Congrats man! My best friend from HS just got his acceptance letter in the mail yesterday. Very exciting times.

The commute from Santa Monica isn't bad, nor would the commute from Venice be that bad either. Once you get on PCH traffic is pretty free flowing absent rock-slides, car accidents, or the like. Another place to look is Calabasas, up Las Virgines at the Archstone Calabasas and Malibu Canyon Apartment complexes.

I think its healthy to live off campus. You are better able to compartmentalize your life, if you live on campus, its like you're always at school. Have you visited campus yet?

[originalmutt]

Congrats man! My best friend from HS just got his acceptance letter in the mail yesterday. Very exciting times.

The commute from Santa Monica isn't bad, nor would the commute from Venice be that bad either. Once you get on PCH traffic is pretty free flowing absent rock-slides, car accidents, or the like. Another place to look is Calabasas, up Las Virgines at the Archstone Calabasas and Malibu Canyon Apartment complexes.

I think its healthy to live off campus. You are better able to compartmentalize your life, if you live on campus, its like you're always at school. Have you visited campus yet?

I have been on the campus before, but I haven't gone on an official tour. The view is stunning.

Do you know if any buses run from Santa Monica or Venice up to Malibu? How convenient/accessible are they?

[Gatriel]

I have been on the campus before, but I haven't gone on an official tour. The view is stunning.

Do you know if any buses run from Santa Monica or Venice up to Malibu? How convenient/accessible are they?

I don't think any buses run. Sorry man.

[dr123]

,

[Gatriel]

I have no idea, you can email the CDO to ask, and I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help you out.

PM me if you want our CDO email.

[arhmcpo]

What's the price range for decent off-campus housing?

Depends on where exactly you live, but for "decent" expect around $800-1200 a month. The further away from the ocean you go the cheaper it becomes.

Thanks. That's very reasonable for LA. How hard is it finding roommates? What is the commute like from Santa Monica or Venice?

Commute from Santa Monica or Venice will be about 35-45 minutes most days. If there's no traffic you can do it in 30 mins (i.e. coming home late from school) You take PCH up the coast and as long as their isn't a lane close - traffic flows well. Last school year I could count on 1 hand the number of times their was a bad crash or something that essentially made the commute really terrible - so by LA standards thats not bad at all.

Most 1st years live on campus or calabasas. They choose campus if they don't know anyone, its a safe option, fewer distractions, but very expensive. Calabasas is cheap rentals by LA standards and only 15 mins from school so thats also a popular choice. 2L's and 3L's tend to live in West LA/Hollywood, Venice/Santa Monica because the quality of life is so great but the commute is longer and rent can be pretty expensive.

[Gatriel]

Most 1st years live on campus

Avoid this. Here in the next month or so the Facebook group for next year will post up, and you can find room mates on there. Ms. Sackinger the receptionist has a 3" binder full of rooms for rent in Malibu. Calabasas is definitely the cheapest route, and you can get a lot of house/apartment for the money, the only risk is if Las Virgines has construction or there has been a car accident you are completely screwed.

Santa Monica is nice, however you're going to pay a pretty penny for the zip code. I would recommend staying in the Malibu or Calabasas area, but give Santa Monica a shot if that is your scene.

[General Tso]

How does Pepperdine place in NorCal/Southern Oregon, like the general area between Chico and Eugene?

sounds like McGeorge country to me

[Gatriel]

sounds like McGeorge country to me

Blatant anti-Pepperdine trolling







(I think. . . .my sarcasm detector might be broken)

[spicymeatball111]

i am very interested in healthcare law, but I only see one healthcare law class listed in the course descriptions, is that really all pepperdine offers?

[Gatriel]

This I am unsure of. I believe the course catalogue is up to date.

[idfatq]

everyone should be aware that unless you go to HYS, job prospects will be uncertain at best, wherever you decide to go.

this is misleading. while you may be right that the only places where jobs are certain are HYS, phrasing it this way comes off as an attempt to make the rest of the 190 or so other law schools sound like equals by bunching them nto a pile called 'uncertain-at-best job prospects'. It's not an issue of "are job prospects certain at x school or not?" --> "No? OK then they're all the same anyway". People care about HOW uncertain job propsects are, considering there's a huge difference between the uncertain job prospects at Columbia versus the uncertain job prospects at Pepperdine.

i'm just a casual observer but this isn't the first time i've seen a comment like this so i just needed to get that off my chest. of course, the only places comments like that are posted are at the end of posts where students at low-tiered schools have to admit their dismal job prospects. it's like those "159 LSAT... but I didn't get a good night's sleep, didn't study, and am not a standardized test type!" posts that make you go

stop trying to make yourself feel better by trying to pull down better schools, just say it as it is: job prospects are worse here than a whole bunch of the schools ranked above us, just as job prospects are better here than a bunch of schools ranked below us. if you're still interested in our level of job-uncertainty, here are some more things i can tell you about the school.

[Gatriel]

I'd like to throw out there that we beat Hastings and Davis in bar passage this past year.

Pepperdine should be ranked in the 30s right now all things the same other than peer review. For those of you who do not know how USNWR ranks schools, 25% of the entire score is peer review and 25% is what judges and lawyers think about us, I believe the latter should be of greater importance, but whatever.

Law, especially academic law is a very politically liberal and secular environment. Many academics when rating Pepperdine for USNWR see a politically conservative Christian school and immediately mark it down for no other reason than its founding & tradition. Notre Dame suffers the same problem.

Given that USNWR won't change it is a simple fact we must live with. Mark my words though, as we begin to make our bar passage and other achievements more widely known, academics who for the most part are indifferent to Pepperdine will being to rate it higher than lower.

[1ferret!]

everyone should be aware that unless you go to HYS, job prospects will be uncertain at best, wherever you decide to go.

this is misleading.

did you really just selectively quote a two month old post? If you read the entire post, I think you would find that it did a fair job of explaining the reality of prospects for Pepperdine students

You can troll for columbia or any other school in the top 100 all you like I suppose ... but it sounds like someone needs to spend more time finding a job than trolling on internet boards....just a thought....