West Coast folks (or others) - Pepperdine?

[creekland]

Pepperdine just came into my radar today as a higher academic Christian college. Since my middle son would PREFER Christian for undergrad I'm looking into it. This is the son that wants bio-medical or chemical research for his career. Does anyone have any info on it that they would care to share? I noticed they have Bio and BioChem as a major. Do they do research at all? Any idea what their grad school acceptance is? And, for a Christian school, would you consider them liberal, conservative or moderate for both Christian beliefs and social aspects?

 

It's a brand new college for me to consider, so any info is worthwhile whether on here or in a pm. I'd always said I wanted my boys to be within a day's drive of home. CA certainly isn't, but for a potential right fit, I'd bend. His stats are competitive to get into the school and his geographical diversity might assist with scholarships to afford it. It's essentially the same price as other schools we're looking at anyway.

[creekland]

Nevermind. After looking at the Iped site, it doesn't appear to specialize in the Biological sciences at all, so, while Pepperdine might indeed be a nice academic Christian college, it doesn't appear to fit my son who's looking to actively do research at the undergrad level.

 

I'm so glad we have the internet to do research in this day and age!

[Halftime Hope]

into Wheaton. I was a biochem major there at the dawn of time and took some extra biology courses. Both faculties, chem and biology, had research projects under way. Students could help with them both for independent study credit and for summer projects. Sometimes grants were available to offset summer expenditures. The faculty also had collaborations going with Du Pont, FermiLab, and Northwestern. I don't know that much about research in biology, but i know that students' often had their names on published pieces, and several of my peers had patents for medical equipment, so there must have been some really cool stuff going on.

 

I'd call and talk to the department chairs.

 

Fair warning though, Wheaton doesn't offer much merit aid, so if Wheaton is the goal and you aren't independently wealthy, the time to start him looking for scholarship $ would be now. (Grrr! The Wheaton legacy in my family ended with me.)

[creekland]

[You might want to check] into Wheaton. I was a biochem major there at the dawn of time and took some extra biology courses. Both faculties, chem and biology, had research projects under way. Students could help with them both for independent study credit and for summer projects. Sometimes grants were available to offset summer expenditures. The faculty also had collaborations going with Du Pont, FermiLab, and Northwestern. I don't know that much about research in biology, but i know that students' often had their names on published pieces, and several of my peers had patents for medical equipment, so there must have been some really cool stuff going on.

 

I'd call and talk to the department chairs.

 

Fair warning though, Wheaton doesn't offer much merit aid, so if Wheaton is the goal and you aren't independently wealthy, the time to start him looking for scholarship $ would be now. (Grrr! The Wheaton legacy in my family ended with me.)

 

We have toyed with Wheaton in our minds for both our oldest and our middle son. We eliminated them from consideration for our oldest since they didn't have what he wanted as a major (they had it as a certificate). For both, finances are likely to be a major player - hence - we're not sure whether to put them on the "likely to apply" list for middle son either. I do know they send a nice proportion on to grad school, but we're definitely not independently wealthy nor likely to become so.

 

Their location isn't a plus for us either (north, close to Chicago), but then again, the current #1 (U of Rochester) doesn't have location in its plus column either! They are, however, supposedly good with both merit and need based aid and have excellent research facilities. I ought to check Wheaton out for need based aid too now that I think about it. If the current economy doesn't improve, our EFC might get close to 0.

[Halftime Hope]

I ought to check Wheaton out for need based aid too now that I think about it. If the current economy doesn't improve, our EFC might get close to 0.

 

Then it might be doable! :) I'd look into it more. The Wheaton area is quite lovely, and if he is really interested in additional opportunities, Chicago has *much* to offer.

 

He will have to study hard though. If a kid is really smart and has never cracked a book (worked hard), don't send them to Wheaton. My high school's valedictorian flunked out her first semester at W.

[creekland]

Then it might be doable! :) I'd look into it more. The Wheaton area is quite lovely, and if he is really interested in additional opportunities, Chicago has *much* to offer.

 

He will have to study hard though. If a kid is really smart and has never cracked a book (worked hard), don't send them to Wheaton. My high school's valedictorian flunked out her first semester at W.

 

Thanks for your advice. I'll keep it on our "check it out" list. This son studies for pleasure on what could be his off hours. My other two would prefer not to ever crack a book. The oldest can do that and do ok (most of the time). My youngest is learning to study... not exactly willingly. Sometimes I wonder if all three really are related. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'll have an idea of what his real test scores can be after he takes the ACT Saturday. Without time limits he can get them all correct (or might miss one or two - seldom more than that). With time limits he tends to not finish the last 7 or so on math - finishes fine on English, Science, and Writing. We'll see what happens with pressure. He's just a sophomore, so this can be just a practice test if needed. He's talented, but not speedy with math. A high composite score ought to give him many options for merit aid for those schools that offer it. The need based aid will depend on the economy next year (since his first Fafsa will be based on next year's income). Ideally I'd rather the economy pick up than have an EFC of 0... but time will tell.