How to Apply

There may be several IP options that would work to help you meet your goals, so we encourage you to keep an open mind! We recommend consulting with IP or academic advisors, family members, healthcare professionals, financial aid counselors, and IP staff throughout your application process.

Here's how to get started:

1) Explore Options

Come to one of our events to learn more about our programs, meet IP staff, Faculty-in-Residence, Faculty Directors, IP Ambassadors, and IP alum. Check out our calendar page to see what's coming up soon.

Check out the IP website for program information and course offerings to see which programs might work for you. Course offerings are posted on each program's page in August.

2) Consult the Experts

Before deciding which program(s) are right for you, we recommend consulting the following trusted advisors:

• Academic Advising 
  • Go to One Stop to get on-the-spot advice.
  • Contact your Major Advisor for major specific advice (check on your Wavenet account to find their contact details).
  • Contact the IP Office to set a meeting with one of our IP academic advisors to receive IP-tailored advising. 
• Financial Aid Advising
  • Connect with the Seaver Financial Aid Office to ensure that you understand how your financial aid and/or scholarships will apply while you are abroad. You may also refer to the Financial Assistance website to answer your general questions and obtain contact information. 
• Family and Friends
  • It's important to talk through your decision to study abroad with your parents or guardians. Parents should refer to our Parent Resources page for more information, and contact us with questions.

Visit our health and safety page for additional information regarding

• Mental and Physical Health
• Prescriptions
• Diversity and Identities Abroad
• Accessibility & Accommodations (including meals)
• Student Veterans and Military-Connected Students Information Page
• Spiritual, Cultural, or Other Adaptation

For additional questions, please come to the IP Office or contact us at 310-506-4230 or international.programs@pepperdine.edu.

How to Complete Your Online Application

1) Either use the "Apply" button on the IP website pages (beginning Aug. 19, 2024) -or- sign in to WaveNet, then click "IP Apps Sum '25 thru Spr '26" under "Popular Links":

2) Complete the intake questions and traveler profile (if you have not already done so).

3) Select your first choice program (ex. Academic Year or Semester - Buenos Aires, Argentina) from the program tiles. Then, under "available terms," select the term that you would like to apply for as your first choice (ex. Academic Year 2025-26) and click "Apply Now."

4) Fill out and submit the online application. Be sure to save your application frequently. You can save, exit and return to your work at any time before the application deadline. You will be asked to complete the following:

• • Personal and Academic Information:

    • Several questions about personal information (including name, date of birth, etc.)
    • What was most influential in your decision to apply for an international program?
    • Indicate if you are a 1st Generation College Student, Transfer Student, and/or NCAA athlete.
    • Academic questions such as your GPA, the courses you plan to take if you are accepted to the program, your major, etc.

  • Short Essay Questions:

    • IP applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with an academic advisor, financial aid advisor, medical provider and/or Office of Student Accessibility (for health accommodation considerations), and their family before selecting their first choice program. (Details are available under "Explore Programs and Get Advice" on the IP website.) Please list the specific actions you have taken in order to determine which IP program best fits your academic, personal, and professional goals. For example: "Met with my academic advisor to reciew IP courses and four year plan; Discussed health concerns with my doctor(s); Met with the Faculty-in-Residence for my first choice program," etc. (1,000 characters or fewer)

    • How have you experienced different cultural environments thus far in your life, and what have you learned from those environments? (This may include foreign language study, travel experiences, work or volunteer opportunities that led you outside your normal cultural environment, etc.) (1,000 characters or fewer)

    • Please describe two things that you are proud of having done. (1,000 characters or fewer)

    • What are your specific reasons for choosing your first choice program? Please address both the location and the particular term/length of time. You may wish to discuss how this program fits your goals (i.e. personal, academic, spiritual, vocational, etc.). (1,000 characters or fewer) 

      
      If you are applying for the DC+ Program, please list the DC+ abroad locations you are open to attending in order of preference (choose from Buenos Aires, Florence, Heidelberg, London, and Switzerland), as well as which semester you'd prefer to be in DC and which you'd prefer to be abroad, if you have a preference. (Note: preferences will be taken into consideration but are not guaranteed.)

    • How do you plan to engage with the local culture and contribute to the Pepperdine community before, during and after your abroad experience? (1,000 characters or fewer)

  • Video Question:

    • Please record a video of yourself (3 min. max.) answering the questions below, then paste the link to your video in the application. Detailed instructions and a sample video are available here.

      What are some of the challenges you expect to face before, during and after your study abroad program? What resources will you rely on to meet these challenges? Is there anything else we should know about you? (3 minutes maximum)

  • Emergency Contacts:

    • You will be asked to provide contact information for two emergency contacts. 

  • Consent:

    • You will be asked to grant consent to release program information (including but not limited to contract, flight, and status details) to your parents or legal guardians and/or those you have listed as emergency contacts.

  • Alternate Choice Programs:

  • You can choose to indicate up to 5 additional programs and terms that you are interested in being considered for and rank them in order of your preference. To see which programs and terms are available as an alternate choice, click "add alternate".  
    • If you are not interested in being considered for any additional programs or terms, do not select any additional programs. If you are interested in being considered for one additional program and/or term, select that program and term below. If you are interested in being considered for two additional programs and/or terms, select those programs and terms below...and so on. You will be considered for all of the programs that you indicate.
    • You will first be considered for your first choice program (which is the program you submitted your application for). If you are not selected for that program, you will be considered for your second choice, etc. If you do not want to be considered for a program, do not list it. If you are NOT accepted into any of the programs you have selected, you will be placed on the waitlist for your first choice program and term. Please double check your selections as it is not possible to change your ranking after submitting your IP application.

4) When your application is complete, click "Submit". Students who apply by 12 noon Pacific Time on September 23, 2024 and complete an interview or audition (if required) by October 1 will receive a decision on October 11, 2024. After the priority deadline, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and you will receive a decision usually 2-4 weeks after completing your application. Decisions are usually sent on Fridays.

5) Upon starting an application, a required Demographic Form will populate in your "My Programs" dashboard in ViaTRM. Please complete this form by the priority deadline. This information will not be used in admissions decisions. 

Additional Opportunities:

• OPTIONAL: Upon starting an application, an optional IP Scholarship Application Form will populate in your "My Programs" dashboard in ViaTRM. We encourage students to submit an application for the IP Scholarship by the priority deadline when possible, as it is not guaranteed that funds will be available to allocate after that deadline.
• OPTIONAL: Upon starting an application, an optional Pepperdine Global Fellows Application Form will populate in your "My Programs" dashboard in ViaTRM. This application form is due by Oct. 21, 2024.

IP Faculty-in-Residence are Seaver College Faculty Members who have been chosen to teach and serve in one of our abroad locations. Faculty-in-Residence travel abroad with the students and serve as mentors, professors, spiritual advisors, and much more.

You are strongly encouraged to connect with the Faculty-in-Residence for the programs you are considering before, during, and after the application process. Contact information for Faculty-in-Residence is available on each program's page.

Faculty-in-Residence are available to meet with you to discuss the program you wish to attend. You can email them to set up an appointment.

Ensure that you can receive a decision from the International Programs Office. To do this, you need to ensure your Pepperdine e-mail can receive email messages from Pepperdine faculty & staff, the Pepperdine ViaTRM platform, and the PeopleSoft system.

Ensure that notifications from ViaTRM and the PeopleSoft system are not marked as spam:

1. From your Gmail inbox, ​open the Spam folder​ and locate any email from the​ following ​senders:
   • international.programs@pepperdine.edu
   • @via-TRM.com
   • DONOTREPLY@pepperdine.edu​
   • Wavenet.Student@donotreply.pepperdine.edu
2. Select each relevant email​ by clicking the checkbox to the left of the sender name​ as such:

• With the email selected, click​ the ​"Not spam"​ button at the top of the window, under the search bar​:

​Contact the IT ​Service Desk at 310-506-HELP (4357) ​if you continue to have ViaTRM or PeopleSoft notifications directed to your SPAM folder or need additional technical assistance.

There may be several IP options that would work to help you meet your goals, so we encourage you to keep an open mind! We recommend consulting with IP or academic advisors, family members, healthcare professionals, financial aid counselors, and IP staff throughout your application process.

Here's how to get started:

1) Explore Options

Come to one of our events to learn more about our programs, meet IP staff, Faculty-in-Residence, Faculty Directors, IP Ambassadors, and IP alum. Check out our calendar page to see what's coming up soon. 

Explore our summer program pages to check out our course offerings for each of our programs to see which programs work best for you.

2) Consult the Experts

Before deciding which program(s) are right for you, we recommend consulting the following trusted advisors:

• Academic Advisor
  • Go to One Stop to get on-the-spot advice.
  • Contact your Major Advisor for major specific advice (check on your Wavenet account to find their contact details).
  • Contact the IP Office to set a meeting with one of our IP academic advisors to receive IP-tailored advising.
• Financial Aid Advisor
  • Connect with the Seaver Financial Aid Office to ensure that you understand how your financial aid and/or scholarships will apply while you are abroad. You may also refer to the Financial Assistance website to answer your general questions and obtain contact information. 
• Family and Friends
  • It's important to talk through your decision to study abroad with your parents or guardians. Parents should refer to our Parent Resources page for more information, and contact us with questions.

Visit our health and safety page for additional information regarding

• Mental and Physical Health
• Prescriptions
• Diversity and Identities Abroad
• Accessibility & Accommodations (including meals)
• Student Veterans and Military-Connected Students Information Page
• Spiritual, Cultural, or Other Adaptation
  
  

    For additional questions, please come to the IP Office or contact us at 310.506.4230 or international.programs@pepperdine.edu.

1) Either use the "Apply" button on the IP website pages (beginning Aug. 19, 2024) -or- sign in to WaveNet, then click "IP Apps Sum '25 thru Spr '26" under "Popular Links":

2) Complete the intake questions and traveler profile (if you have not already done so).

3) Select your first choice program (ex. Summer - Switzerland) from the program tiles. Then click "Apply Now."

4) Fill out and submit the online application. Be sure to save your application frequently. You can save, exit and return to your work at any time before the application deadline. You will be asked to complete the following:

• Personal and Academic Information:

  • Several questions about personal information (including name, date of birth, etc.)
  • What was most influential in your decision to apply for an international program?
  • Indicate if you are a 1st Generation College Student, Transfer Student, and/or NCAA athlete.
  • Academic questions such as your GPA, the courses you plan to take if you are accepted to the program, your major, etc.

• Short Essay Questions 

  • IP applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with an academic advisor, financial aid advisor, medical provider and/or Office of Student Accessibility (for health accommodation considerations), and their family before selecting their first choice program. (Details are available under "Explore Programs and Get Advice" on the IP website.) Please list the specific actions you have taken in order to determine which IP program best fits your academic, personal, and professional goals. For example: "Met with my academic advisor to reciew IP courses and four year plan; Discussed health concerns with my doctor(s); Met with the Faculty-in-Residence for my first choice program," etc. (1,000 characters or fewer)

  • How have you experienced different cultural environments thus far in your life, and what have you learned from those environments? (This may include foreign language study, travel experiences, work or volunteer opportunities that led you outside your normal cultural environment, etc.) (1,000 characters or fewer)

  • Please describe two things that you are proud of having done. (1,000 characters or fewer)

  • What are your specific reasons for choosing your first choice program? Please address both the location and the particular term/length of time. You may wish to discuss how this program fits your goals (i.e. personal, academic, spiritual, vocational, etc.). (1,000 characters or fewer) 

    
    If you are applying for the DC+ Program, please list the DC+ abroad locations you are open to attending in order of preference (choose from Buenos Aires, Florence, Heidelberg, London, and Switzerland), as well as which semester you'd prefer to be in DC and which you'd prefer to be abroad, if you have a preference. (Note: preferences will be taken into consideration but are not guaranteed.)

  • How do you plan to engage with the local culture and contribute to the Pepperdine community before, during and after your abroad experience? (1,000 characters or fewer)

• Video Question 

  • Please record a video of yourself (3 min. max.) answering the questions below, then paste the link to your video in the application. Detailed instructions and a sample video are available here.

What are some of the challenges you expect to face before, during and after your study abroad program? What resources will you rely on to meet these challenges? Is there anything else we should know about you? (3 minutes maximum)

• Emergency Contacts:

  • You will be asked to provide contact information for two emergency contacts. 

• Consent:

  • You will be asked to grant consent to release program information (including but not limited to contract, flight, and status details) to your parents or legal guardians and/or those you have listed as emergency contacts.

• Alternate Choice Programs:
  

  • Please note that programs that require an interview or audition (including Faculty-led programs, specialty programs, Language-Intensive programs, and internship programs) will not be available as an alternate choice. You must apply for one of these programs as a first choice, complete the interview and/or audition and provide any required supplementary materials in order to be considered.
  • You can choose to indicate up to 5 additional programs and terms that you are interested in being considered for and rank them in order of your preference. To see which programs and terms are available as an alternate choice, click "add alternate".  If you are not interested in being considered for any additional programs or terms, do not select any additional programs. If you are interested in being considered for one additional program and/or term, select that program and term below. If you are interested in being considered for two additional programs and/or terms, select those programs and terms below...and so on. You will be considered for all of the programs that you indicate.
  • You will first be considered for your first choice program (which is the program you submitted your application for). If you are not selected for that program, you will be considered for your second choice, etc. If you do not want to be considered for a program, do not list it. If you are NOT accepted into any of the programs you have selected, you will be placed on the waitlist for your first choice program and term. Please double check your selections as it is not possible to change your ranking after submitting your IP application.

4) When your application is complete, click "Submit." Students that apply by 12 noon Pacific Time on September 23, 2024 and complete an interview or audition (if required) by October 1 will receive a decision on October 11, 2024. After the priority deadline, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and you will receive a decision usually 2-4 weeks after completing your application. Decisions are usually sent on Fridays.

Additional Opportunities:

OPTIONAL: Upon starting an application, an optional IP Scholarship Application Form will populate in your "My Programs" dashboard in ViaTRM. We encourage students to submit an application for the IP Scholarship by the priority deadline when possible, as it is not guaranteed that funds will be available to allocate after that deadline.

Faculty-Led Programs

If you are applying for a Faculty-Led program you may be required to complete an interview or audition with the Faculty Director for your program. This is the faculty member that will travel abroad with you and teach classes as part of your program. You will schedule this interview/audition after submitting your IP application. Attend your interview/audition at the scheduled date and time. If you need to change that scheduled date or time, please contact your interviewer prior to your interview/audition time. Contact information for your Faculty Director is available on your program's page. Please view our Summer Programs page to find out details of whether or not the program you'd like to apply for will require an interview or audition.

Internship Programs

If you are applying for a summer internship program such as Washington, D.C. Internship, you you may be required to complete an interview. You may also be asked to provide a sample resume and cover letter. If you are invited to interview, be prepared to discuss your career aspirations and to describe the type of internship you hope to secure.

Language-Intensive Programs

If you are applying to a language-intensive program such as an Upper Division Spanish program, you will be required to complete an interview with the Faculty-in-Residence for your program. This is the faculty member that will travel abroad with you and teach classes as part of your program. You will schedule this interview after submitting your IP application. Attend your interview at the scheduled date and time. If you need to change your interview date or time, please contact your Faculty Director prior to your interview time. Contact information for your Faculty Director is available on your program's page.

Campus-Based Programs

If you are applying to a summer campus-based program such as Florence or London, you are usually not required to complete an interview. However, you are strongly encouraged to connect with the Faculty-in-Residence for your program before, during and after the application process. Contact information for your Faculty-in-Residence is available on your program's page.

Interview tips:

• Treat this like a job interview. Dress nicely and arrive on time.
• Be yourself! Your Faculty-in-Residence wants to get to know you.
• Think about your answers to these questions:
  • Why did you apply for this specific program?
  • What do you hope to gain from this experience?
  • What challenges do you expect to face abroad and how will you manage them?

Ensure that you can receive a decision from the International Programs Office. To do this, you need to ensure your Pepperdine e-mail can receive email messages from Pepperdine faculty & staff, the Pepperdine ViaTRM platform, and the PeopleSoft system.

Ensure that notifications from ViaTRM and the PeopleSoft system are not marked as spam:

• From your Gmail inbox, ​open the Spam folder​ and locate any email from the​ following ​senders:
  • international.programs@pepperdine.edu
  • @via-TRM.com
  • DONOTREPLY@pepperdine.edu​
  • Wavenet.Student@donotreply.pepperdine.edu
• Select each relevant email​ by clicking the checkbox to the left of the sender name​ as such:

• With the email selected, click​ the ​"Not spam"​ button at the top of the window, under the search bar​:

​Contact the IT ​Service Desk at 310-506-HELP (4357) ​if you continue to have ViaTRM or PeopleSoft notifications directed to your SPAM folder or need additional technical assistance.