Pepperdine Law Class of 2014 Forum

[user8116]

Let's get this one started! Who else will be taking their classes with an ocean view this fall???

[1ferret!]

Let's get this one started! Who else will be taking their classes with an ocean view this fall???

congrats, and welcome!

[sdubs]

I'm considering it. In w/ 42000 a year

[mia137]

Going to see what UCLA has to say but, even if they match my Pepperdine scholly ($42k/yr) which they won't, I'm probably still coming to Pepperdine. It's been my first choice since my fiance, then my boyfriend, convinced me to pick up an LSAT book.

[patrickd139]

Pepperdine! Now with new dean!

[ericw1]

SDUBS/ MIA137:

I'm in the same boat with the exciting scholarship at pepperdine. Seriously, how does this school pump out so much scholly money? I wonder what percentage of students loose their scholarship after year 1? I was surprised with how many attorneys advised me to try to attend a program that will graduate you with less debt over the higher ranked programs (unless you absolutely must be a fed justice or big law partner). I'm seriously considering Pepperdine because of the scholarship, location (I'd like to work in So Cal), students and faculty. I hear the school is a lot more friendly than the other schools in LA (but that may be hearsay).

Anyone looking at the London Program? Or the combined JD/MBA?

[user8116]

I am also planning on taking Pepperdine up on a very generous scholarship offer and would be really interested to hear people's experiences with remaining in the top 30% of the class to keep their scholarships. Anyone have or hear of any success or war stories?

[1ferret!]

There is no magic to staying in the top third. You will come in full of motivation, and excited to kick azz, but so will the rest of the class. Over half the class came out of undergrad averaging A's, and the other half fell just short of that mark, and so you will have real competition maybe for the first time in your academic life.
Some people make it look easy, and balance a social life with academic performance. Other people spend every waking hour in the library, but when push comes to shove aren't up to the task.
Every year people come in and lose their scholarships for a myriad of reasons. And every year kids come in with less than stellar numbers and blow people away. Bottom line that you must consider is that they give out more scholarships than can be kept. No one knows how many, but conventional wisdom is that probably about 10% more. It is used as an enticement, and if you accept it, you must be willing to face the scenario where you lose it after the first year.

That said, the above is not meant to discourage you, just to try to put it in perspective.

The people I know who kept the scholarship after the first year seemed to me to deserve to keep it. They worked hard, they took the tests seriously, and they were otherwise well adjusted human beings who understood the task before them.

[patrickd139]

I am also planning on taking Pepperdine up on a very generous scholarship offer and would be really interested to hear people's experiences with remaining in the top 30% of the class to keep their scholarships. Anyone have or hear of any success or war stories?

No war stories, just advice: try to get Pepperdine to remove the stipulation, or at least lower it to "good standing."

[Sean1269]

About the scholarships, I am a Pepperdine 1L, I also passed up some "better" schools for the scholly. Here is how it works:

Some people with smaller Schollys i.e. $2,500-$10,000 need only stay in the top 50% of the class. At least that is how it was my year. Larger schollys, 20K,25K,42K need to stay in the top 1/3. While it is true that more than 33% of the student body will receive schollys, that percentage includes those with smaller ones.

From what I can tell, which of course is limited to my circle of friends, those who have scholly's 20K+ have been around that top 25% or better. That being said, I am sure there are plenty of people who will lose schollys come 2nd semester and plenty who will gain one.

Buzz about the new dean: The cat is out of the bag. Students and faculty alike. She is very well respected in the legal world, and according to several professors, they have heard nothing but good reactions from their peers at other Law Schools and Private Practice (this will hopefully influence rankings in a good way...). The new Dean plans to first and foremost work on jobs for students, how she plans to do so has not been announced.


If you have any questions about pepperdine PM or post them here, I'll check back routinely.

[nillumin]

A lot of us got that 42,000 a year didn't we. It will definitely be a competitive environment for sure.

[mia137]

I am also planning on taking Pepperdine up on a very generous scholarship offer and would be really interested to hear people's experiences with remaining in the top 30% of the class to keep their scholarships. Anyone have or hear of any success or war stories?

No war stories, just advice: try to get Pepperdine to remove the stipulation, or at least lower it to "good standing."

My understanding is that that is not possible. Do you know something different??

[patrickd139]

I am also planning on taking Pepperdine up on a very generous scholarship offer and would be really interested to hear people's experiences with remaining in the top 30% of the class to keep their scholarships. Anyone have or hear of any success or war stories?

No war stories, just advice: try to get Pepperdine to remove the stipulation, or at least lower it to "good standing."

My understanding is that that is not possible. Do you know something different??

Only that other schools are willing to do so. If you were negotiating for more money, that's one thing. Negotiating to lower the standards to keep the money they're offering doesn't seem nearly as offensive.

Plus, a school that will not lower the stipulations to good standing signals several things to me; not the least of which is that they're expecting to recoup some of that scholarship some how. I would hate for that recoup to come from you.

[sdubs]

How do you even go about asking for the to lower the standards? I feel like that announcing to the school that you don't have confidence in yourself to do well in law school.


PS. Just booked my flights out to admitted students day =)

[1ferret!]

when exactly is admitted students day?

[irishvt14]

I am sorry to crash your party here, but I was just wondering if someone here could tell me what my chances are at Pepperdine? 163/3.32 LSDAS, tons of extra-curriculars (class president-spoke at college graduation), good recs...I applied pretty late though so I know that hurts me. I would love to join you all in gorgeous Malibu! Congrats on your acceptances and scholarships! Any thoughts you have are appreciated!

[mia137]

I am sorry to crash your party here, but I was just wondering if someone here could tell me what my chances are at Pepperdine? 163/3.32 LSDAS, tons of extra-curriculars (class president-spoke at college graduation), good recs...I applied pretty late though so I know that hurts me. I would love to join you all in gorgeous Malibu! Congrats on your acceptances and scholarships! Any thoughts you have are appreciated!

Based on the TLS Stats chart, you're pretty borderline. Best of luck to you!!

(I'd also like to know about Admitted Students Day. I didn't see anything about that in my package.)

[Sean1269]

I am sorry to crash your party here, but I was just wondering if someone here could tell me what my chances are at Pepperdine? 163/3.32 LSDAS, tons of extra-curriculars (class president-spoke at college graduation), good recs...I applied pretty late though so I know that hurts me. I would love to join you all in gorgeous Malibu! Congrats on your acceptances and scholarships! Any thoughts you have are appreciated!

Based on the TLS Stats chart, you're pretty borderline. Best of luck to you!!

(I'd also like to know about Admitted Students Day. I didn't see anything about that in my package.)

163 was the median LSAT last year, 3.6 was the median GPA. I dunno if more people applied this year than last year, but I would suspect they are trying to keep their medians, especially the LSAT, this year. I would say you will get a waitlist then accepted if you have good softs and a good major. Best of luck you to you, I hope everything works out!

[sdubs]

Admitted students day is April 8th. Theres a postcard with a picture of campus that says "Wish You Were Here" in the packet and admitted students day info is on the back of it!

[arhmcpo]

Just fyi - new Dean Tacha spoke at the law school in her 'opening address' of sorts. She said her 3 priority goals in taking over the law school are:

1. Make going to Pepperdine Law School more affordable.

2. Raise the National Prestige and Academic Prestige

3. Renovate and completely redo the law school building and facilities.

She said she sees her primary worth to the school as being her national contacts and network and intends to spend much of her time traveling around the country making deals with government/law firms to hire Pepperdine grads and raise the profile of the school.

She also suggested that she would try to personally meet with high level applicants in future years (through home visits?) in an effort to recruit the highest performing applicants nationally.

She stated she does not intend to teach courses in the Fall or Spring semester (bummer) since she intends to be traveling often, however she said she would like to try to teach a winter or summer accelerated session. She has previously taught appellate advocacy related courses at Duke for decades; and she intends to establish an American Inns of Court at Pepperdine (if you don't know what that is - look it up cuz its awesome).

She is Methodist, (not Church of Christ), and said that her faith was a primary reason for her decision to leave the bench and become dean after never seriously considering that before.

Interestingly, when a student asked if she would consider allowing gay or atheist groups to form as law school groups, she said she was not prepared to answer, but considered herself a "highly inclusive" person and it would be "pretty hard" to deny people that right. Everything about her manner said "yes" to this question but I wonder if this is a situation where the (moderate) law school is bound by rules articulated by the (conservative) undergrad and President Benton .

As future 1L's these are much more relevant points to you than to current students, since such policy and substantive changes usually take 2-3 years at least. Dean Tacha officially takes over in June 2011 and is currently still hearing her last circuit court cases.

[crossingforHYS]

SDUBS/ MIA137:

I'm in the same boat with the exciting scholarship at pepperdine. Seriously, how does this school pump out so much scholly money? I wonder what percentage of students loose their scholarship after year 1? I was surprised with how many attorneys advised me to try to attend a program that will graduate you with less debt over the higher ranked programs (unless you absolutely must be a fed justice or big law partner). I'm seriously considering Pepperdine because of the scholarship, location (I'd like to work in So Cal), students and faculty. I hear the school is a lot more friendly than the other schools in LA (but that may be hearsay).

Anyone looking at the London Program? Or the combined JD/MBA?

I'm debating Pepperdine with the same amount of money (42) and I must tell you that I took a tour and the dean (as well as a number of students) told me that only about 3-4 students loose the scholorship each year, but mostly it is a very rare occurance.
Hope this helps!!! I also met a couple people that choose Pepperdine over Vandy that were helpful .

[1ferret!]

Admitted students day is April 8th. Theres a postcard with a picture of campus that says "Wish You Were Here" in the packet and admitted students day info is on the back of it!

I kept that postcard for the longest time.....until I decided to send it to my friend in Illinois during the dead of winter.

[melanne89]

I got my acceptance a few weeks ago, still waiting on UCI and UC Davis, but I just can't get Pepperdine out of my mind since I went to visit the campus. My only concern is that the conservatism of the school may impact the teaching, any thoughts on that? Or pros and cons in general?

[arhmcpo]

I got my acceptance a few weeks ago, still waiting on UCI and UC Davis, but I just can't get Pepperdine out of my mind since I went to visit the campus. My only concern is that the conservatism of the school may impact the teaching, any thoughts on that? Or pros and cons in general?

I would say the faculty is similar to a typical college in its political/social views. Most professors seem liberal and a few are notably conservative. Its very balanced; most professors don't push their beliefs so you can't really tell but like most university faculties - most professors are liberals or moderates. The student body is more conservative than the faculty and I would say the student body is about 50/50 in terms of libertarians & republicans compared to democrats. Most of pepperdine's die-hard conservative reputation comes from the undergraduate campus and other parts of the pepperdine university system.

You can't really assume faculty will be like a school's reputation - keep in mind John Yoo (aka Mr. Torture Memos) is a Professor at Boalt...

[StyrofoamWar]

I got my acceptance a few weeks ago, still waiting on UCI and UC Davis, but I just can't get Pepperdine out of my mind since I went to visit the campus. My only concern is that the conservatism of the school may impact the teaching, any thoughts on that? Or pros and cons in general?

Another Pepperdine 1L here. I had the same qualm when I initially looked into Pepperdine, as I have some decently strong liberal beliefs. So far this year, I have had 0 professors push a political agenda on me. The only real aspect that reflects Pepperdine's conservative/religious leanings in my experience is the presence of a Christian Legal Society on campus, which is completely 100% optional. As far as student makeup goes, people are all over the place politically, religiously, and just about every which was on any issue.

In short, it's a diverse group that is in no way pushy with any beliefs (other than the occasional student who likes to engage in political debate, regardless of position). If you're worried about the conservative nature of the school affecting your education, rest assured that you have no worries.