Pepperdine University supplemental essays
Pepperdine University asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is one supplement plus the Common App personal statement: two pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 1, 2026, Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Regular Decision closes January 15, 2027. The prompts carry this limit: (300-500 words). Every Pepperdine University prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against admission.pepperdine.edu/apply/undergraduate/first-year-applicants.htm. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required · (300-500 words)
Pepperdine is a Christian university where all are welcomed and encouraged to challenge each other in the pursuit of truth. Students, faculty, and staff members from all backgrounds participate in conversations of faith inside and outside of the classroom. Considering that Pepperdine is a Christian university, why are you interested in attending and how would you contribute to conversations of faith on campus?
Pepperdine calls this the "Pepperdine Essay Question" and introduces it with: "In addition to the Common App Personal Essay, applicants are required to submit a written response via the Common App to the following Pepperdine question". College Essay Guy's 2026/2027 guide reproduces the same prompt but states the limit as "(500 words)"; Pepperdine's own page says (300-500 words), so the first-party limit is recorded.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this prompt
Your Pepperdine University checklist
One supplement, required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- SupplementRequired(300-500 words)
It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.
Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
Paste your essay for a free read
Have it in a document? or drop one here (Word, PDF, or Text).
Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against Pepperdine University’s own prompts is on the Pepperdine University essay review page.
Getting into Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University admits 62.9% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1290-1450 on the SAT and 29-32 on the ACT.
About 6 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 3,553 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1290 | 1370 | 1450 |
| SAT reading and writing | 650 | 680 | 710 |
| SAT math | 640 | 690 | 740 |
| ACT composite | 29 | 31 | 32 |
What SAT score do you need for Pepperdine University?
A 1450 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1370 at their midpoint, and a 1290 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 29, 31 and 32. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for Pepperdine University?
- Pepperdine University sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1290-1450 on the SAT: a 1290 sits at the 25th percentile, 1370 at the median and 1450 at the 75th. A score at or above 1450 is a clear strength in the application; below 1290 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Pepperdine University reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Pepperdine University?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 29-32 on the ACT, with a composite of 31 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 29. Reported by Pepperdine University to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Pepperdine University?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for Pepperdine University is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Pepperdine University admits 62.9% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into Pepperdine University?
- Pepperdine University admits 62.9% of the people who apply, which is about 6 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Pepperdine University costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Pepperdine University essay questions, answered
- Does Pepperdine University have supplemental essays?
- Yes. Pepperdine University asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: (300-500 words).
- How many essays do you write for Pepperdine University in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Pepperdine University admits 62.9% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: University of San Francisco (USF) (61.7%), Sarah Lawrence College (61.7%), The College of New Jersey (62.3%), Wabash College (63.3%), Southern Methodist University (63.3%), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (63.5%).