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I hope this isn't too off-topic, since I am considering applying to Pepperdine for 2009, but can anyone tell me what the role of religion is on campus? I am an atheist and a lesbian (actually, my partner is a transgender man), and not having visited the campus I wonder if it's a place that would be appropriate for me to apply. I am not interested in being the only gay person on campus or being simply tolerated by a conservative environment. Is this a ridiculous question for a law school that asks about your (presumably Christian) ethics in the application?

Thanks.

Thisis a good question and I hope you get a frank answer. I've had questions regarding UIUC;S enviroment for lgbt students.

If you really want an answer, I believe it is a personal question that you need first hand experience to judge. Go take a tour of the law school during the year, sit in on classes and see how you feel. Bounce questions off current students and formulate an opinion. Will there be people there who will be unaccepting? Yes. Will there be those people anywhere? Yes. Go see first hand how you feel there and that is the only way to find out. Now, Pepperdine has an incredibly diverse student body who are of different races, religions and backgrounds. Now go visit and see for yourself.

Thanks for your reply. I guess I'm saying that I have relatively limited resources when it comes to visiting schools and want to be as educated as possible before deciding which schools to visit. While I realize that there are people who both would and wouldn't be accepting anywhere I apply, I was just asking for some insight from those who have had the opportunity to visit the campus.

Did anyone go to the barbeque? How was it?

The bbq was good. The food got cold, however. And there were not enough utensils. People were rather nice, but I would have liked to see more people show up.

What did the rest of ya think about it?

Awe sorry sd4shizy...I guess I should've gone to the bbq. It doesn't sound like it was that much fun. Did you visit the school before you made your decision?

Yes I did. I also visited Southwestern and Loyola. And I am by far happiest with Pepperdine. I feel it has the most to offer. Did you visit others as well? If so, which ones?

I also visited Southwestern and Loyola. I waited an hour for the tour guide to show up at Southwestern! The work-study student who eventually gave me the tour was super nice but didn't really know her stuff. I don't think she even knew that Southwestern had dropped even more in the rankings this year. The tour guide at Loyola told us he wasn't going to sugar coat things. The whole time I kept wondering if he was Loyola 2L. Everyone on campus seemed so distant and never smiled. They seemed so unhappy. Loyola was my first choice until I visited (and then got my ridiculous financial aid package). I finally visited Pepperdine where everyone was sooooo helpful. I've emailed a few of the students I met, and a few emailed me first. The only thing one of them disliked was the career development office (CDO). The number of firms that do on-campus interviews there is miniscule compared to UCLA, USC, and Loyola. The person who told me this said Pepperdine has been trying really hard to improve their career services. She wasn't in the top ten percent, but still did the OCI thing and didn't get any offers. But, she networked well and had a good job waiting for her when she graduated. She told us not to rely on the CDO, but to network as much as possible.

Lawgirl, I felt the same way when I visited LLS. The people seemed bitter, very serious, and the staff was not very helpful. My tour guide Chris had a fairly negative outlook on law school. In some sense, it was as though he was trying to talk some of us out of it. lol. Plus, he promised me that he would send me some information if I emailed him and he didn't respond even though I attempted to contact him three or four times.

Also, I raised funds for UCLA Law, and many of the Alums teach at LLS. Guess what, the ones I came across are so...

No offense to LLS, both Pepp and L produce excellent lawyers. But from my personal experience, I know I'll be happier at Pepp.

Lawgirl, have you seen their forum? That snowboard (sn) guy is obsessed with posting. They have a multitude of people who are on it and post nearly everyday. I find that bizarre and overzealous.

Watcha think?

I hope I don't get in trouble for this post.


I thought it would be great to spice things up a bit!

I think almost everyone-- including the snowboard guy-- is extremely bored. Everyone's waiting to start law school, and for some reason, the summer is going by so slowly. I have to admit that most days even if I don't log in, I might go to the TLS boards and view the active topics just to see if there are any interesting questions.

I believe I had the same tour guide as you sd4shizy. The only thing he seemed to like about Loyola was the summer abroad program, which is obviously very far from the bleak LLS campus.

Did you get that legal writing book Pepperdine sent? I started reading it and doing the exercises a few days ago, and then the pages started falling out of the book. It's nice to know we'll have an assessment at orientation.

I do think our Pepperdine board is getting a bit dry, so thanks for trying to spice things up! I'm surprised the LLS posters haven't found your post yet. You might be fueling the Pepperdine-Loyola rivalry (assuming there is one).

And, where did all of the Pepperdine people disappear to?

I'm still lurking around, although my attention to this board kind of tapered off after I made my choice and helped some other people with theirs.

They sent you a legal writing book? I've been backpacking for a while so I haven't been home to pick up the mail in over a month... How long are the assignments?

The exercises in the legal writing book are simple, but there are 18 exercises and a little over a 100 pages of text. It's not too bad. They also sent a letter with a flash drive and information about computer use on campus. I have a Mac and didn't realize I wouldn't be able to take exams on it at Pepperdine (or print info from it). The letter said something along the lines of Pepperdine not supporting or recommending the use of Mac computers I really love my Mac and just got it this year. I'm soooooo disappointed. I think I'll just borrow a PC for exams. The letter also said they'd be mailing class schedules this week! I hope everyone has sent their updated official undergrad transcript to the Office of Admissions. I believe they need it to enroll you in classes.

Lawgirl: Don't fret, I was making my big decision between getting a Mac or PC this summer and I called Pepperdine to check on their compatability with Mac and the information technology center told me that this is the first year that Macs will be compatable with the exam software. So, I would give them a call and see what program you need for your Mac, I think they told me OSX or something like that! But, your Mac will be fine!

Really??? I hope so! That means they didn't update the computer information they sent us last week. Thanks Socallawmak! I'll contact them today.

Classes are up on Wavenet now. The Legal Research and Writing class as well as the Criminal Law/Procedure class are missing. I heard that the Criminal Law class may have been moved to an upper division requirement, but what about the Legal Research and Writing class? Maybe when we receive the schedules in the mail, they'll explain.

What section is everyone in? Also does anyone know if we can get a book list now since we have our classes, or do we have to wait until orientation?

Section 3, anybody else?

Section 1

Section 2. Pepperdine doesn't put book lists on the internet (well, at least they didn't last year). You have to go down to the bookstore or call to see if the books are in to buy them. The main guy in the bookstore said it was to keep people from getting the wrong book/edition though it probably has a little something to do with them wanting all the business. I definitely prefer an online book list. Anyone know what's going on with our missing legal writing class?

I heard they might have up to 5 professors for that so they are stll working on that one, I called the school today and they told me they are mailing out schedules today and that will have our Profs names on it as well...that's what I am waiting on! And then we have Crim Second semester only I hear!

I got really excited because all my classes end at 3:00 PM or before. I really hope they don't slap me with a legal writing class that goes to 5 PM or beyond. That'll do some serious damage to my commute. Wow, we're really all in different sections so far.

I emailed a 2L about finding out the books she had to buy for certain professors, and so far we only had one matching prof, and she said she would let me know the book for that prof for Torts, so when I get that info I will post that up.

Socallawmak wrote:Section 3, anybody else?

I'm also in section 3. Have you received any of the materials people are talking about? I didn't get anything.

Well this is pretty damn confusing... I also got a letter, but mine says I am in section "B", and then proceeds to list all of the legal research classes on a separate sheet without specifying which one I'm in.