The first thing you will realize about Pepperdine is how much it feels like high school, and how little it feels like college should be. Beginning with orientation, it's going to feel like Bible camp with all the praying and preaching and activities they have you running around doing. Once school starts, you will notice the cliques that are being formed. There most noticeable cliques are the different Greek groups and the different athletic teams, but everyone ends up forming their own little clique. The way Pepperdine is setup fuels the growth of these cliques. For example, one of the cliques you will probably be a part of is with either the people in your suite or the people in your dorm. Pepperdine's freshman housing, with 8 people in a suite and 6 suites per dorm, makes it difficult to hang out with people outside your suite, but makes it very easy to become close friends with the people living in your suite.
From my experience here, the one thing I hate most about Pepperdine is its administration, EXCEPT for President Andy Benton. Pepperdine says in its mission statement "Pepperdine University is... committed to the highest standards of... Christian values". The truth is that the school is about money first and God second. Pepperdine will do anything to squeeze another dollar out of you. Tuition went up 6% this year, to about $48000 with housing. The university claims that its International Programs, which Pepperdine does a good job with, costs the same as regular tuition. This is true, the tuition is the same. But what they are leaving out here is that they tack on an additional "International Fee". For the cheapest program, this fee was another $3000 per semester abroad. Another thing about Pepperdine is that because it is a private university, Pepperdine takes it upon themselves to change the rules however they please, without cause or necessarily notifying you (the student). This last year, Pepperdine amended the student handbook to say that RA's and DPS (campus-officers) can go into a student's room and search for alcohol or drugs without reasonable cause. If that does not infringe on rights enough, Pepperdine also did not tell anyone that they changed this rule. Also, the tour guides will knowingly deceive you (example, they tell you the HAWC is where students get food at night, and they tell you it is open 24/7, which it is, but the food closes at 12). If you end up coming here, do not be surprised by all the things you were "misinformed" about.
Malibu is not a college town. There is no such thing as public transportation here, and nothing is within walking distance. Anywhere you want to go off-campus requires that you drive there. The closest grocery store is close, but is literally the most expensive grocery store I have ever seen. The only food place open late (1 or 2AM) is Jack in the Box. If you want to drive "through the canyon" (about 30 minutes just to get through it), there are more options, but it becomes a very annoying drive just to get food.
If you want to go to a school that has school pride and has exciting sporting events to go to, don't go to Pepperdine. The only game worth going to is the rivalry basketball game against Gonzaga. Even though we have a top-10 men's volleyball team, people won't come out to the games. Even our top-30 baseball team, with it's gorgeous stadium, can't fill up seats. But, the upside of the lack of school spirit is that all of the games are free, EXCEPT for the Gonzaga game.