Miami/Tulane/Pepperdine

[Anonymous]

Not going to get into the religion aspect. But there are a few. Some Catholic others not.
Besides Pepperdine, the TOP 100 non catholic ones are typically not very serious about their Christianity (yes you, SMU, TCU, etc….). Baylor is still decent.
On the Catholic side, outside of ND, GTown, BC, Villanova, Santa Clara, USD, LMU.

[Anonymous]

What is wrong with TCU and SMU and how does it differ from Baylor or Pepperdine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I meant to say Miami all the way tiled with Tulane….

not sure what you're trying to say but I'm fairly certain you're wrong.
UMiami was ranked #38 by USNWR in 2011.
UMiami was ranked #49 by USNWR in 2021.

meant to say that in 2025, Tulane and Miami were tied, despite 50 years of Tulane being ranked higher than Tulane every year but 2011. Historically Tulane has been ranked higher than Miami. Not by much. Same with Pepperdine.
2021 - Tulane 42, Pepperdine & Miami 49,
2022 - Tulane 41, Pepperdine 49, Miami not top 50
Jump to 2025: Miami 63, Tulane 63, Pepperdine 80

We just toured Pepperdine with our rising Sr. We also toured Miami 2 weeks ago. Wow. You can’t beat that campus setting. Incredible. The staff, so nice. Went above and beyond accommodating us for the tour. They have this new $300M project being built that looks amazing. It will put most school’s health centers/gym to shame, and with a view of the pacific…..

I really liked the liberal arts college. It is basically a liberal arts school for undergraduates. Close knit community. Safe environment for a girl.
While we did like Miami, it is a different universe. My daughter was leaning Miami until she went to Malibu. Let’s see what the application season brings us.

of the 3, Miami is the only one making testing a requirement in the Fall. You can still apply too Tulane and Pepperdine test optional.

At our school in Boston, Miami has become a very popular university in the last 3 years. What was that about?

What was what about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with TCU and SMU and how does it differ from Baylor or Pepperdine?

Texan here with friends and family at all the Texas schools. AFAIK, the only school of the 4 that is overtly religious is Baylor. TCU and SMU are "Christian" in name only

TCU - Good business school especially for networking in Texas. More laid back than SMU. Happy kids. Reflects Fort Worth. Probably attracts UMC kids who couldn't get into UT and didn't want A&M, etc.

SMU - More polished, preppy and worldly than TCU. Also good business school and Texas networking. Can be socially stressful/shallow. Reflects Dallas.

Baylor - Very Baptist and they are open about this. Require religious/bible-oriented classes too. (I think 6 hours.) Reflects Waco.

Pepperdine - I don't know much about it aside from it has a preppy/Maga-lite/evangelical reputation here in Texas. Doesn't seem like it reflects Malibu but I am not Californian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with TCU and SMU and how does it differ from Baylor or Pepperdine?

Texan here with friends and family at all the Texas schools. AFAIK, the only school of the 4 that is overtly religious is Baylor. TCU and SMU are "Christian" in name only

TCU - Good business school especially for networking in Texas. More laid back than SMU. Happy kids. Reflects Fort Worth. Probably attracts UMC kids who couldn't get into UT and didn't want A&M, etc.

SMU - More polished, preppy and worldly than TCU. Also good business school and Texas networking. Can be socially stressful/shallow. Reflects Dallas.

Baylor - Very Baptist and they are open about this. Require religious/bible-oriented classes too. (I think 6 hours.) Reflects Waco.

Pepperdine - I don't know much about it aside from it has a preppy/Maga-lite/evangelical reputation here in Texas. Doesn't seem like it reflects Malibu but I am not Californian.

This is basically Spot on. Similar situation here. We are in Dallas, but have nieces and nephews graduating from and currently attending all of the above.

The only few things here I disagree with is the SMU kids being more polished than TCU….I just don’t see it. other than the Park Cities attitude is reflected in the local student body (I live in Park Cities and it is not a positive thing. )
There is a big crossover in applications over the last 5 years between SMU and TCU.
SMU and Baylor are basically tied on Rankings with TCU slightly behind both of them. Yes Baylor is more religious, but it is also a “better/bigger”research university. Their endowment is more than twice the size of TCU’s and SMU’s.

As for Pepperdine I have a niece there now and one that graduated 2 years ago.
It is and it has been better ranked than these other 3 TX privates for as long as anybody can remember. It is a completely different environment. Smaller than the other 3, which means much smaller classes, easier access to professors. Technically a Liberal Arts undergraduate college. Not sure MAGA lite is fair. Yes it is more religious, but it is much more diverse than the TX schools. I dont think Preppy is the right word. They all have their share of rich kids. Pepperdine does a better job with diversity, but the top 5% at Pepperdine is ridiculous wealth wise.

I would still rank them this way: Pepperdine > SMU/Baylor > TCU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with TCU and SMU and how does it differ from Baylor or Pepperdine?

Texan here with friends and family at all the Texas schools. AFAIK, the only school of the 4 that is overtly religious is Baylor. TCU and SMU are "Christian" in name only

TCU - Good business school especially for networking in Texas. More laid back than SMU. Happy kids. Reflects Fort Worth. Probably attracts UMC kids who couldn't get into UT and didn't want A&M, etc.

SMU - More polished, preppy and worldly than TCU. Also good business school and Texas networking. Can be socially stressful/shallow. Reflects Dallas.

Baylor - Very Baptist and they are open about this. Require religious/bible-oriented classes too. (I think 6 hours.) Reflects Waco.

Pepperdine - I don't know much about it aside from it has a preppy/Maga-lite/evangelical reputation here in Texas. Doesn't seem like it reflects Malibu but I am not Californian.

I would still rank them this way: Pepperdine > SMU/Baylor > TCU

Agree 100%.

[Anonymous]

SMU > Pepperdine > TCU > Baylor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMU > Pepperdine > TCU > Baylor

based on what? It hasn’t been the case ever in USNWR rankings….not even close. I’m in Dallas. Unless you are a mom or live in the Park Cities you would not post this….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMU > Pepperdine > TCU > Baylor

SMU mom back in action. Nobody cares….