Graduate Application Process and Requirements

Create and complete your online graduate application

• For a list of CollegeNet PAFs please visit our Application Resources webpage. 

Submit additional required materials (i.e. transcripts, GRE score) by the appropriate deadline. For program specific requirements, please see below.

Please mail all additional materials to:

Pepperdine University
Seaver Graduate Admissions Office
Attn: Leslie Seah
Graduate Program in _________*** 
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4280

*** Here, please state your intended program, i.e., Divinity,  Ministry, Post-baccalaureate in Nutrition, Religion, Screen and Television Writing.

Please note that you are considered an international student if you are a citizen of a foreign country and do not hold the permanent resident visa (green card) in the United States. Please submit official:

1. TOEFL scores and an International Student Data form, listed on the OISS New International Graduate Students webpages, to the office of Seaver Graduate Programs.
2. Duolingo English Test Score of 130 and above.

We do not currently accept the IELTS.

Admission Requirements

Master of Divinity

The Master of Divinity degree is defined by accrediting agencies as a three-year program. The total number of hours varies. The requirements take into account the educational backgrounds of students with differing undergraduate majors. For students transferring into the program, the last 36 units (excluding any language courses and field work) must be taken at Seaver College. Transfer credit will be accepted from other graduate degrees and programs if it meets specific M.Div. requirements.

The language requirement, which may be taken as a graduate or undergraduate, is one year of instruction and one reading course in both Greek and Hebrew.

Master of Science in Ministry

Students entering the degree program must apply and be admitted according to the admission procedures set forth in conjunction with the M.A. in Religion. Since the M.S. is a professional degree, persons entering the program need not have majored in religion as an undergraduate. While work in the biblical languages is admirable, it will not be a deciding factor for admission to this program.

Master of Arts in Religion

A year and a half of a relevant foreign or classical language should be completed at the college level for all disciplines. For a specialization in New Testament, the requirement is Greek; for Old Testament the requirement is Hebrew; for the other disciplines, consultation with an advisor is necessary.
In addition, those students choosing a specialization must have completed 16 units of upper-level undergraduate work in religion, 12 units of which must have been in the area of specialty. For the specialization in church history, these units may include approved history courses; for Christian thought, these units may include approved philosophy courses.

Application and Application Fee

Please complete the online application for graduate admission and submit the $65 application fee.

Essays

You will be asked to submit a personal statement and a brief essay regarding your goals as a graduate student.

Official Transcripts

Submit one official transcript from each institution you have attended (including extension work). Please note: International transcripts, including all key information, must be translated into English.

Letters of Recommendation

Submit three letters of recommendation. Once you have finalized your application and submitted it, your recommenders will be sent a link through which they may submit an online recommendation. If they prefer to mail a hard copy recommendation, please use the address listed above in "Step 2." Two recommendations should be academic and one should be personal. The personal reference may be from an employer, minister or friend who is not related to you.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The Religion and Philosophy division of Seaver College graduate programs in Divinity, Ministry and Religion is test optional. Although we do not require test scores, you have the option to submit either official test scores through the testing agency (ETS for GRE scores) or self reported test scores by emailing a scanned copy of your test scores. If test scores are self-reported at the time of application, official test scores will be required upon admission to Pepperdine.  

Official scores should be sent directly to Pepperdine University (Institution Code R4630) from the Educational Testing Services. For further information regarding times, fees, and places where exams will be given, contact GRE-ETS, P.O.Box 6000, Princeton, NJ 08641 or www.ets.org/gre Please note that when scheduling the exam, official scores will not reach us until approximately four weeks after you request they be sent.

Academic Writing Sample

Please submit a senior thesis, research paper or critical essay which uses the standard citation and bibliographic format appropriate to your academic discipline.

Resume

Please submit a current resume.

Admission Requirements

The ISPP program is not a graduate degree program and in order to be eligible for the certificate program-ISPP at Pepperdine, one must have either completed a bachelor's degree in nutrition OR have completed the DPD undergraduate nutrition courses with a bachelor's degree in another discipline. In addition, one must have submitted an acceptable application in the past 5 years to DICAS through a previous national match and been unmatched to any supervised practice program.

ISPP candidates should meet the minimum application standards of Pepperdine University and hold a DPD Verification Statement along with proof of a D & D Digital unsuccessful matching. There are eight (8) spots available that will be awarded on a year-by-year basis from qualified applicants.

ACEND Policies

ACEND policies for ISPP allow the following individuals to apply:

• Graduates who did not match with DICAS in the past 5 years but possess a DPD verification statement.
• Individuals holding a doctorate degree with a verification statement from an accredited DPD program.

Application and Application Fee

Please complete the online application for graduate admission and submit the $65 application fee.

Essays

You will be asked to submit an essay in 1,000 words or less with specific topics that must be included in the essay. Refer to the application form for details.

Official Transcripts

Submit one official transcript from each institution you have attended (including extension work). Please note: International transcripts, including all key information, must be translated into English. You are to include DPD courses as approved by verification statement in each college you attended.

Letters of Recommendation

Submit three letters of recommendation. Of the three recommendations, one recommender should be from an employer/supervisor, and one from the DPD director.

Experience

You are to list experience related to dietetics, and pertaining to the NCSP program in the last five years. Details to be included are: Employer, Position, Start-End Dates, Hours per week and Paid or Volunteer.

Verification Statement and DPD Requirement

You must have completed your DPD requirements before beginning the program. A verification statement is required for full admission.
To be eligible for an ISPP you must provide written confirmation of an attempt to match through DICAS D&D matching system.

Resume

Please submit a current resume.

Pepperdine's two-year MFA in Writing for Screen and Television trains students for a vocation as screenwriters and prepares them to become cultural leaders in the entertainment industry. Courses in the program focus on the storyteller in conversation with contemporary culture through the lens of ethics, philosophy, film studies, and religion.

Application and Application Fee

Please complete the online application for graduate admission and submit the $65 application fee.

Essays

You will be asked to submit a personal statement and a brief essay regarding your goals as a graduate student.

As you write the essays and select the script to submit in your application, please consider the Pepperdine mission of strengthening lives for purpose, service, and leadership as well as our program conviction that a storyteller can be a cultural leader. Our MFA Program in Writing for Screen and Television is not just about screenwriting in general, but exists to train, nurture, and support writers to make a positive global impact. The scripts need not be G rated. They can have the difficulties, even the horrors of life in them, but there should also be some redemption, transformation, personal growth, something that puts those "bad things" into the context of making a positive impact. Consider, as an example, Toni Morrison's Beloved. The horrors of life are profoundly, graphically present in the novel and film, but we also see Sethe's strength and Paul D's love for this woman who refuses to break in the end. Even scripts with a tragic conclusion can ask us to examine the truth of what it means to be human. We ask that you meditate on these things as you go through the application process.

Official Transcripts

Submit one official transcript from each institution you have attended (including extension work). Please note: International transcripts, including all key information, must be translated into English.

Letters of Recommendation

Submit three letters of recommendation. Once you have finalized your application and submitted it, your recommenders will be sent a link through which they may submit an online recommendation. If they prefer to mail a hard copy recommendation, please use the address listed above in "Step 2." Two recommendations should be academic and one should be personal. The personal reference may be from an employer, minister or friend who is not related to you.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The GRE is not mandatory for this degree program; however, it is highly recommended and may be influential in the decision-making process for admission to the program.

Three Essays

1. Personal Statement
2. Goals as a Graduate Student
3. Statement of Intent and Purpose for Writing as a Vocation

In addition to the personal statement as well as an essay regarding goals, applicants are required to write a Statement of Purpose and Intent for Writing as a Vocation. This third essay should address the applicant's sense of vocation within the context of Pepperdine's Mission Statement.

Resume

Please submit a current resume. Include writing credits or other relevant experience.

Script Writing Sample

The writing sample may be a television script or a feature screenplay and should follow standard formatting practices, 25 page minimum. Excerpts or complete scripts are both acceptable. No plays, poems, essays, creative nonfiction, fiction or journalistic work. Please include this in your application when submitting your attachments.

• All students whose native language is not English must submit scores on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). A minimum total score of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based), or 100 (iBT version) is required. Information concerning this test in your country is available from TOEFL, Educational Testing Services, Princeton, NJ 08540, U.S.A. Phone: (609) 921-9000. We currently do not accept the IELTS.

Seaver graduates and current students are not required to send us a hard copy of your degree posted transcript.

Seaver College Graduate Programs Office

Pepperdine University
Thornton Administrative Center, 3rd Floor
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4280

Assistant Dean: Dana Dudley  
Phone: 310.506.4280

Program Manager: Leslie Seah
Phone: 310.506.6079

Graduate Programs Directors & Coordinators

Nutritional Science Certificate Program

• Director and Coordinator: Sunnie Delano
  310.506.4321

Religion  

• Director: Dyron Daughrity
• Coordinator: Tiffany Ferguson
  310.506.4352

Screen and Television Writing 

• Director: Leslie Kreiner Wilson
  310.506.7152
• Coordinator: Geneva Moore
  310.506.7513 

For additional information, see our Frequently Asked Questions.