Über-Prestigious Pepperdine 2L Taking Questions Forum

[Gatriel]

I think this ^^^^^ should have been a PM. Lets do our best to keep this on topic.

[1ferret!]

meh...

[gothamm]

Gatriel, are you a CA native? If so the whole loyola v. pepperdine dilemma must have entered into your decision making process. Any thoughts on this? Are you ultimately happy with your choice?

[originalmutt]

Gatriel, are you a CA native? If so the whole loyola v. pepperdine dilemma must have entered into your decision making process. Any thoughts on this? Are you ultimately happy with your choice?

+1 I've been offered similar scholarships to both schools, with Loyola offering slightly more money. Even though Pepperdine is ranked slightly higher, every single one of the lawyers I've spoken with have said, all things being equal, go with Loyola.

It's going to be a tough choice for me. The westside is gorgeous and studying on the beach for three years sounds amazing, but Loyola has a more practical and convenient location downtown, and I wouldn't have to move if I went to Loyola. Plus Loyola has more alums, which would seem to help job prospects.

[Gatriel]

No, I'm not a CA native, I am from Texas. I did apply, and was accepted to Loyola, I ultimately chose Pepperdine for the reasons enumerated on the first page of this thread.

Mutt - Consider who you were talking to. I encourage to get in contact with some Pepperdine alums and they would tell you all things considered go to Pepperdine.

Pragmatically in the LA market these two schools are peers. I would encourage you to visit both schools, sit in on both schools' classes, and talk with both schools' students. I can tell you that, albeit while the campus shouldn't have an effect on your decision, it does, at least in my opinion have an effect on ones disposition while at law school. If you are in downtown constantly, and having to fight traffic into down town every day, after a semester and $1500 in gas it would start to get old. Malibu is nice as its the best of both worlds, you can live in Santa Monica or Calabasas (both about 20 minutes away from school) and still be within less than an hour of downtown LA, without the traffic, congestion, and horrible air quality.

Malibu is beautiful, overrated, but definitely beautiful.

I am ultimately happy with my decision, and had I to do it all over again, I'd definitely come here all over again. The only thing I would change is living on campus. If either of you matriculate into Pepperdine next year, DO NOT live on campus.

I think strategically Pepperdine v Loyola if you look at USNWR rankings, and how they rank, Loyola's numbers fit in well with other schools in the 55-65 range. Pepperdine on the other hand is more akin to schools in the 30s with the exception of peer review, which I expect to improve upon the announcement of the new dean. Dean Starr was great, but carried substantial political baggage.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to post up, or others from Pepperdine can answer questions as well.

[originalmutt]

What's the first year schedule like? What's the gym like?

[Gatriel]

Your first semester is 14 hours, and is the basic stuff.

Torts
Civ Pro
Contracts
Property
LRW

Semester II is 16 hours and makes me hate myself

Torts II
Civ Pro II
Contracts II
Property II
LRW II
Crim

[Gatriel]

And the gym is okay, nothing to get excited about. Its getting remodeled in the next year or so.

[originalmutt]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. What time are 1L classes typically?

[Gatriel]

They usually start at either 8:40, 9:10, or 10:20.

[Kronk]

I decided on Pepperdine for a few reasons:
3) For me, the Christian connection. I was surprised though, coming from a small conservative Christian school I assumed Pepperdine would be predominately Christian-conservatives. I could honestly say that 1/3 of the class are Christians, and the other 2/3'rds are other or n/a.

4) Starting Salary - When you look at Pepperdine's starting salary it looks lower than it's peers (as it is less than $100k per year) . . . however when you take those out of the equation who for some reason want to waste a perfectly good JD on public interest and just consider Government and Private sector attorneys its right around $110k per year. The other good thing, is Pepperdine's job placement numbers are accurate. They do not game the numbers, and hire back graduates who couldn't find jobs.

Have you even read the Bible?

Also notable: every school has their salary numbers pulled down by PI and government jobs, so that's a wash.

[Gatriel]

Yes, I have.

Thanks for your contribution to the thread . . .

[Kronk]

Yes, I have.

Thanks for your contribution to the thread . . . . ass clown.

I daresay if Jesus were a lawyer, he would've wasted his J.D. on a public interest career. Definitely wouldn't go into the private sector, and we know the government wasn't a fan of him.

[arhmcpo]

Gatriel, are you a CA native? If so the whole loyola v. pepperdine dilemma must have entered into your decision making process. Any thoughts on this? Are you ultimately happy with your choice?

+1 I've been offered similar scholarships to both schools, with Loyola offering slightly more money. Even though Pepperdine is ranked slightly higher, every single one of the lawyers I've spoken with have said, all things being equal, go with Loyola.

It's going to be a tough choice for me. The westside is gorgeous and studying on the beach for three years sounds amazing, but Loyola has a more practical and convenient location downtown, and I wouldn't have to move if I went to Loyola. Plus Loyola has more alums, which would seem to help job prospects.

I think you should just visit both schools as much as possible, sit in on classes and see which one feels better to you personally. These are peer schools presently, if there will one day be a significant difference between them in turns of the prestige of your degree, there's no way to know now. Loyola has a much "bigger" school feel, as in more people while Pepperdine has a small school feel, I always went to massive state schools so I wanted a smaller school feel, so that was a factor I considered.

Also, if you have scholarships from either school try to leverage that against the other to get more money

[Gatriel]

Also, if you have scholarships from either school try to leverage that against the other to get more money

This is great advice. Good luck!

[originalmutt]

Gatriel, are you a CA native? If so the whole loyola v. pepperdine dilemma must have entered into your decision making process. Any thoughts on this? Are you ultimately happy with your choice?

+1 I've been offered similar scholarships to both schools, with Loyola offering slightly more money. Even though Pepperdine is ranked slightly higher, every single one of the lawyers I've spoken with have said, all things being equal, go with Loyola.

It's going to be a tough choice for me. The westside is gorgeous and studying on the beach for three years sounds amazing, but Loyola has a more practical and convenient location downtown, and I wouldn't have to move if I went to Loyola. Plus Loyola has more alums, which would seem to help job prospects.

I think you should just visit both schools as much as possible, sit in on classes and see which one feels better to you personally. These are peer schools presently, if there will one day be a significant difference between them in turns of the prestige of your degree, there's no way to know now. Loyola has a much "bigger" school feel, as in more people while Pepperdine has a small school feel, I always went to massive state schools so I wanted a smaller school feel, so that was a factor I considered.

Also, if you have scholarships from either school try to leverage that against the other to get more money

I will definitely be doing that. I'm mailing my diversity scholly app this weekend and when I hear back on that I'll try to use that to bump Loyola up.

[Gatriel]

Goodluck man. Keep us in the loop as to what transpires.

[lretter]

any luck of admission with a 3.47 and a 151 lsat?

softs include 6 years securities law experience and some other pretty interesting stories..

[gothamm]

any luck of admission with a 3.47 and a 151 lsat?

softs include 6 years securities law experience and some other pretty interesting stories..

mm...your chances are slim. When did you apply?

Are you considering a retake? remember that pepperdine accepts feb. LSAT scores.

[lretter]

I'm actually submitting this week because i was waiting on some LORs to finally arrive :/

But i am considering retaking next year, if i end up taking a break...

[gothamm]

Chances are slim to none.

Definitely retake.

[arhmcpo]

any luck of admission with a 3.47 and a 151 lsat?

softs include 6 years securities law experience and some other pretty interesting stories..

Maybe a waitlist somewhere if your softs are truly amazing. In the era of US News, schools can waitlist you and let you in off the waitlist late enough that your numbers don't get calculated in the gpa/lsat medians that get put into the rankings. Cuz your lsat number is poison to any T1 school in many T2 schools in the rankings and the gpa ain't great either.

With great softs maybe somewhere would bump you in after a waitlisting. But if your softs are really that great, why not just retake - in the scheme of things beating the lsat is a lot easier than all the things you probably did in your 6 years in securities.

[Danteshek]

any luck of admission with a 3.47 and a 151 lsat?

softs include 6 years securities law experience and some other pretty interesting stories..

what were you doing? just curious

and yeah, you need to retake. you probably won't get into Southwestern with those numbers, much less Pepperdine.

-LLS student

[lretter]

i was the division manager of the edgar department of a us sec licensed edgar filing and investor relations firm. Got the job at 18 and will probably "retire" once(if) i get into law school...

[Gatriel]

While you're enthusiasm is good to see, a 151 is below median. I seriously doubt it would happen unless you develop the cure for cancer or something along those lines.

Definitely retake.