Azusa Pacific University

Some advice to students who are weighing a Christian school like APU vs. a non-Christian school:

1. The main value in APU lies in its religion classes. It is entirely different studying the Bible academically than going to an informal Bible study or Sunday School. It is true that your faith can be shaken by theology professors, but also that you learn a whole new way to look at the Bible. Theology classes really grow you up in your faith.

2. APU would be considered a more "liberal" Christian school, in that a wide range of Christian beliefs are tolerated. Professors, while required to be Christians, run the gamut in their personal philosophies. One may believe in female pastors, another thinks the Bible teaches against it, you get the idea. This is not true of some other Christian schools, like Biola, where they take a more unanimous conservative line. APU, since it is non-denominational, will not push a single denomination's theological interpretations on you - they encourage you to find your own beliefs. If you choose a Christian school, consider the theological stance of school very carefully.

3. As a Christian that grew up in public schools, I would go to APU again solely for the experience of going to a Christian school, but not for the reason you'd think. In public school, you are used to being the only real Christian there - it's like you grow up in your faith pushing against a huge boulder of the secular world. Then you go to a Christian school, and the boulder is gone. You're not the only Christian any more, and it's a shock. You're not different, or special for being Christian. And in fact, you look around and realize that this world you idealized is not so great. People are still human, and there are tons of bad, hypocritical Christians around you. You meet some good, legit people, and watch a lot of superficial people give lip-service to the faith. This is a crisis, and through the four years there you have to learn that Christianity is not about Christians, it's about GOD. Going to a Christian school is a different sort of trial, and if you stick it out, you come out with a faith that is hardened and strengthened - your faith is in God, and not wrapped up in the other Christians around you. Now, if you have grown up going to Christian schools, this may not be new to you - you've probably figure all of this out already. And maybe it'd be better for you to go to a public school and start honing your ability to push against the boulder, and live for your beliefs in a non-Christian setting. So if you choose to go to a Christian school (or any school populated by humans), expect to see hypocritical people, and know that it's not a bad thing. In fact, it is part of your learning experience. You'll find a few like-minded people - you'll learn to separate the legit Christians from the fakes - and you'll learn something about yourself in the process.

4. This may be an unpopular topic, but another thing to consider in your decision between Christian vs. Non-Christian colleges is your likelihood to find a Christian spouse. I'm not saying that you are going to college to get married, but I am saying that, from experience, this is the time when you begin dating as an adult, and the possibility of marriage is actually there. For Christians, it is VERY HARD to find a Christian spouse in the "real world" after college. Available Christian people who happen to make you laugh don't come around that often in the world of work. So going to a Christian school increases the chances that the people you date just might end up being people you could marry.

5. Seriously consider the location of your college or university, and think about whether you want to live there FOREVER. A lot of people consider their college choice to be a temporary thing, but over and over I've watched students graduate and get full-time jobs near their school. Often faculty will have nearby connections, and get you that internship your junior year, and surprise they offer you a full-time job after graduation, and you end up dating someone nearby, and there you are, putting down roots in the city where your school is. Four years is a long time, and there is a very good chance that you will stay there once you've started making a life there, so consider whether the location is one where you want to be. If your family is on the East Coast, seriously consider whether you want to be putting down roots in Southern California, because that is what you will be doing by going to APU. Likewise, if your family lives on the West Coast, and you're comparing APU to an East Coast school, consider whether the location of APU makes it more desirable.Summary - APU is a good school. It is respected academically, and provides a solid education. It run by Christians who are trying their best to run it according to how God wants it, but it is not perfect. The experience is definitely what you make of it. You need to manage your expectations and weigh what you are looking for in a school. Most of all, consider where you are at in your faith, and determine if the spiritual, academic, and social challenge of a Christian university is what you need to mature and take your faith to the next level.

4th Year Female -- Class 2001

Faculty Accessibility: A+, University Resource Use/ spending: B

This university has few positives and many negatives. Firstly I will say my poor experiences here have nothing to do with the teachers who are incredibly intelligent and are very friendly with time for 1 on 1 tutoring or just time to give advice. The teachers are both wise and incredibly personable and are possible the only thing keeping me at APU. Now to get in to the negatives of a school like APU. The biggest problem I have with this school is the fact that it is a Christian school, while I would consider myself a "Christian" strictly in the sense that I have a relationship with God and Jesus, most people or "Christians" on this campus are narrow minded at best and hypocritical at worst. The board of the school feels the need to prove to everyone that they are a Christian university by setting ridiculous standards and rules to their students including the paradox of allowing non-Christians to attend school here but forcing chapel and God upon these students, and the curfew rule which forces members of the opposite sex to leave your room by midnight on weekdays and one am on weekends (if you are an upper class-man and even earlier if you are a freshman). One of the major points of college is to discover who you are by being on your own, not having rules coerced on you by close minded conservative "Christians." I am currently 20 years old yet I have a curfew. This statement may be the most ridiculous statement I have typed in my entire life. During most of my time at this campus I have felt like I am at Christian camp, surrounded by hypocrites who like to pretend they follow the Word of God when truly they spit a negative image of mediocrity to non-Christians and live by rules and standards that simply do not exist in the real world. I stay at this university for two reasons alone. The first is that the professors I have had for religion classes and philosophy (I am a business major, so these classes are few) have been some of the most influential and intelligent people in my life. The second is that I have found several like-minded students who enjoy real life and not living in a bubble who I love and enjoy to be around. Although I love everyone at Azusa it is sad to see so much wrong with such a great campus, and it is only becoming more strict and rule-based.

2nd Year Female -- Class 2013

Education Quality: A+, Individual Value: F

APU overall is a great school. I haven’t regret coming here. Ill try and break it down to different aspect of the school

Socially
I see a lot of comment describing school comprised of a lot of sheltered, private-schooled, Christians kids that coming here b/c their parents have the money. To be honest, yes there are those type of people here; however, the school is much more diverse than that. I am a Asian-America from Tennessee, NOT raised in a Christian household, NOT sided with the republican party. I found people from all walks of life. My best friend is from Iowa and I know a few others from different states and countries like Germany and Japan. However most kids are from California so don’t be surprised. Therefore weekends can be pretty dead. Make out of state friends who are stuck on campus with you.

The city of Azusa is pretty boring. There not much of a club/party scene. Having a car is very helpful.(almost necessary) LA/Hollywood is about 35min away. The beaches are about 45min away. However the school does provide events and outdoor activities that are fun. Drinking is not predominantly seen. If you don’t want it, you wont find it. However if you DO want it, you can find. That another thing about APU that makes it so great. People mainly come here b/c they want to be here.

APU have some regulation that seem constricting, but it is out of good intentions. There is mandatory chapel 3 times a week, however you get 10 absences. That basically 3 straight weeks of no chapel so its not so bad. There is a curfew. No girls on the dorm floor by 10pm on weekday. 12am on weekends. That does get annoying but it doable. Ive heard it become more laxed in the apartments.

The dorms in general are pretty good and spacious. There are 4 dorm freshmens stay in. Smith(all guys dorm aka Manland), Adams(all girls), Engstrom (Co-ed floor with suit style restroom) or the newest one Trinity (co-ed floor with community restroom). They all are pretty spacious compared to UCLA dorms and Trinity have their own AC thermostat which is awesome. I live in trinity and the brotherhood and bond you get to make by living in that type of environment is priceless. You’re forced to get out your shell and met new people. It just a great experience, I recommend that everyone live in the dorm to get the experience.

Food here kinda sucks. All freshmen are require to have a minimum of a 180 meal plan(10 meals a week) that may seem alittle, but the food become VERY redundant. It basically the same chicken with different sauce. Im am sick of the food, I only eat it cause I don’t want to blow money on fastfood. Food on west campus is better, but after awhile, it become redundant as well. I haven’t met a person who used all their meal plans yet, so don’t get any meal plan above 180.

No Greek system here. Sorry

Academic
Im a Bio Major. The program here is rough. The classroom size are roughly between 15-30. General Ed class are even small. Im not a number in a class, thus NO ONE can really fall through the cracks here. There a lot of individually attention and professor memorize all of their student names. All prof have office hours to allow one on one conference with student as needed. The science field is very challenging, but the professor advocate helping one another other and group studying.

Since this is a Christian school, there are prayers before class. All teachers working are required to be Christians. You would think that it would create a homogeneous senses of the Christian ideology, but surprisingly, that is incorrect. Teacher in the religion classes challenge student to think beyond the norm. They point out conflicts in the bible and question our belief. There were times I walked out of class more confused and dissatisfied with my faith before I walked in. Teachers here really care for the student. It really is amazing.

All in all, APU is definitely what you make out of it. There are a lot of good, loving people here who honestly care for your well being. People are given the choice to do what they want. You can party. You can grow in faith. You can slack off. You can work hard. You’re going to get out what you put into it. I honestly enjoyed my time so far and plan to spend all four years.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Individual Value: A+, Social Life: B