FAQs: Applying to Seaver College

For purposes of admission to Pepperdine University, international students are defined solely on their citizenship/residency status. If a student does not hold citizenship or permanent residency in the United States, the student is classified as an international student.

The admission committee looks closely at an applicant's academic record, GPA, standardized test scores (if submitted), background of service and leadership, and character as exhibited in references and short answer/personal statements.

Admit Averages (Mid-50%):

High School GPA: 3.7-4.0 (unweighted and only including academic classes)
Transfer GPA: 3.73-3.97 (unweighted)
SAT Total: 1320-1470
ACT Composite: 29-33
TOEFL IBT: 101-110

Yes, Pepperdine offers evaluative interviews for first-year students applying for fall. Visit the Admission Interviews page for additional interview information and to register.

There are no minimum courses you have to complete.

Transfer applicants are high school graduates who have taken any college units before or after graduating high school. Students who have not graduated from high school or who have graduated from high school without completing any college coursework should apply as a first-year student.

For the Fall 2025 term, Pepperdine offers only Early Action admission consideration for first-year students for the fall term. Early Action is nonbinding, meaning applicants are not required to enroll at Pepperdine if admitted.

The Early Action application deadline is November 1, and applicants will receive an admission decision by January 10.

The Regular Decision/ Transfer application deadline for fall is January 15, and applicants will receive an admission decision by April 1. 

The enrollment deadline for all fall applicants is May 1.  Applicants will receive the same consideration for admission and financial assistance regardless of whether they apply for Early Action or Regular Decision. For a complete application timeline, check out the Apply Now page.

Admitted Early Action applicants will receive a preliminary financial aid award offer in January based on the projected cost of attendance for the following year. The award will be finalized in mid-March, and admitted students will be notified to check their student account to review their final financial aid award offer.

No. Academic scholarships for admitted Early Action applicants will be based on the original submitted documents, materials, and test results that were used to make their admission decision.

No. Instead, you can reapply for the two subsequent academic terms. You can find more information about reapplying here. 

Applicants that were postponed to Regular Decision can provide updates on their recent academic and extracurricular achievements through the postpone form in their Pepperdine Application Portal. They can also contact their Admission Counselor to demonstrate continued interest in Pepperdine. We do not recommend submitting any additional materials to the Office of Admission, as it will not have an impact on the admission decision.

No,  the SAT/ACT are optional for all applicants during the admission process. However, international applicants may need to submit test scores or certain grades to demonstrate proof of English proficiency.

Please note that SAT/ACT scores are required in order to be considered for the Regents Scholars Program scholarships. Please refer to "Scholarships" section of the Financial Assistance website for more information. 

No. If you choose to submit ACT or SAT scores, the optional ACT writing test and SAT essay are not required, and scores from these optional components are not considered.

Pepperdine requires proof of English proficiency from all international applicants. The TOEFL exam is one way to fulfill this requirement. However, there are a number of other assessments which the University accepts as well. Please see Step 5 on our Application Steps page for more details.

Yes. If you would like for these test scores to be a factor in your admission decision, you may self-report them on your application, enter them through the form in your Pepperdine Application Portal, or have the testing agency send them to Pepperdine through an official score report.

Yes. Pepperdine superscores the SAT and ACT, meaning we combine the highest section scores from each test date to create the highest possible total score. It is therefore to your advantage to send our office the results from each time you took the test.