Academics at Pepperdine are pretty demanding. Most general education (GE) classes have weekly quizzes, while classes which count towards one's major incorporate papers and/or projects, as with most university's classes. While GE classes are not terribly difficult, if a student truly wants to learn from them, they are time consuming. The majority of students taking the three humanities and three religion classes required to graduate rely on past students' notes to get by--thus, the classes have gained a reputation as being "boring" and "too easy". While the private liberal arts university requires more GE classes than California's state schools, some students graduate proud of their well-rounded education, while others complain that the extra classes were a "waste of time".
My experience with coursework at Pepperdine has been that classes are mainly geared towards learning for the sake of knowledge. Most of my professors do not make it a point to note the practical application of any skills we are sharpening; the focus of most Pepperdine classes are not trade-oriented. I imagine major coursework for music, theater, and telecommunications students has an emphasis on the business side of their art, covering what sorts of jobs exist within their interests. I have been both a nutritional science and creative writing major (the latter being my current one) and most of my experience has been that it is up to the student to figure out how they will apply their knowledge in the future. Fortunately, there are quite a few on-campus opportunities to test out different fields, such as journalism, theater set design, and magazine publication.
While I have heard of unique classes like Randall Wallace's (Braveheart) candlelit screen writing hour, in which he creates a cozy environment by candlelight whereby students exchanges tales of their writing struggles and he shares stories of personal experience in return, I have yet to experience such an unconventional class myself. The structure of my intro to creative writing class was purely workshopping, where groups of three students would submit individual work twice a week, and students not assigned to submit that day were expected to read and critique their colleagues' work and be prepared to discuss their thoughts in class. Students who had submitted pieces of writing were required to sit silently and take notes while the other students offered their critiques. This set up led to the empowering of students who were encouraged to lead the class, and my writing improved dramatically from the teaching style. Another emboldening class was a community nutrition course in which the students were assigned to research and produce a six week program to be implemented in the community and to be taught to the target group the following semester. Despite these strengthening, major-related classes, my favorite class at Pepperdine was the first-level humanities class (one which many students yawn through and rely on T.A notes to get by). The blend of art with history and sociology personally made for a fascinating insight into our past which allowed my imagination to flourish.
In small departments of study like nutritional science and creative writing, the head of the department will know most of their students by name. The clear benefit of such is the individualized attention that these students receive, and students who seek extra attention are offered opportunities to further strengthen the skills they pursue through extracurricular work. These valuable opportunities are found with greater ease than if these students had been at a larger university. A decent number of professors live on campus and some invite students over for study groups (this is especially common within the history major). On the whole, professors make themselves readily available outside of class. This is a major bonus since the shorter semesters and longer break periods at Pepperdine make for semesters which feel like they're racing at the pace of a sprint rather than that of a jog. With such speedy semesters, finals sneak up on relieved students before they know it. The downside to the jam-packed three and a half months is that there's little time to breathe; only the most efficient of students can pencil in a social life once they've passed their sophomore year. The rigorous schedule of the university's courses are balanced out by professors who take the time to get to know their students and who genuinely invest their efforts into ensuring the best academic experience they can offer. The majority of classes are no bigger than twenty five students (with classes for one's major being around fifteen students large) so student participation is quite high, as the spotlight would fall on a silent student. As this school gets an F for party life, it seems academics take the wheel to driving students toward their graduation.
Pepperdine students are definitely competitive, yet outside of the classroom, conversations are less intellectual and moreso centered around the entertainment business or theology, if generalizations are to be made. Not a highly intellectual community overall, Pepperdine students are primarily in awe of the sand and surf surrounding them and are eager to indulge in LA, while thanking G-d for the view and putting any personal struggles down to a test from the Lord. While this obviously does not represent each student, those who are the loudest are the ones which are heard.