I studied there for two years before transferring to Westminster in California - I wouldn't waste my time. In fact if I could get my money back and start over again by heading straight to WSC I would do so without hesitation.
While it used to be known in the 70's (during the time in which one of my uncles took his degree) as a seminary for putting ministers into CBA pulpits, it is now primarily an institution for cranking out Christian (more or less) counselors. Things may have changed in the four years since I last attended, but when I was there I was one of six M.Div students who were seeking preparation for regular pastoral ministry. All the rest were either in counseling, youth ministries, whatever. Their counseling program is fully integrative, and hopelessly compromised. The counseling students regularly got into debates with the M.Div. students in class, because the presuppositions being taught in those two tracks regarding the nature and use of Scripture and the importance of applied theology were so radically different.
Western is by no means Reformed, although they have hired on a few Reformed-ish Baptists such as Todd Miles and Art Arzurdia. Breshears actually enjoys his attempts to undermine and caricature Reformed theology. It was this habit of his that caused me to actually read Reformed theologians after my first semester of classes, and to realize that a) most of the time he didn't know what he was talking about (he's a Baptist for crying out loud
), and b) when he did know what he was talking about he failed to ever come up with an effective counter argument, except by way of caricature. Gerry began as a strongly Calvinistic baptist before taking his Ph.D. at Fuller, and, well, you can probably guess the rest...
Gerry is a strong, though guarded, proponent of Egalitarianism, and he pushes the Charismatic cause at times as well. In some issues he can be difficult to read, because he will push the stuff, and then at an unexpected moment actually give a good Reformed/biblical critique of particular elements. Over all their theological department is unstable however, and you will be wading through a lot of lightweight and/or unhelpful material that will set you back in your studies. I have jettisoned almost all of the books that I had picked up while attending there.
Their language program leaves much to be desired, and even though I had taken a full year of both Greek and Hebrew while there, it didn't even scratch the surface of what I was able to learn in this area at WSC. Part of the problem is the students, and not just the faculty. I believe that the language instructors would truly liked to have gone further, but many of the students are part-time commuters with a low view of serious study, and they practically necessitated the approach that had to be taken. In fact, right after I began courses there, they had to make the "classical track" of learning optional (since hardly anyone was taking it), and offer a second option of language study which basically just taught the students to figure out how to run Bibleworks for themselves. There was no vocab memorization, no understanding of grammar (which BW cannot give you), no understanding of linguistics or how to engage in word studies, no required proficiency in sight-reading, etc. YOU WILL NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGES AFTER COMPLETING YOUR STUDIES THERE. I place that in caps, because the languages are one of the most important things that you will take into your pastoral studies and pulpit preparation from your days at seminary. If you do not get them there, I doubt that you will ever have the opportunity to pick them up again.
Their chapels were mostly a mix of motivational lightweight speakers, and popular/charismatic worship times. No weekly preaching from the profs to set you an example and to edify in sound doctrine, no outstanding guest ministers for lecture series; I stopped going after about three or four months. Why waste your time when you could be reading Luther or Turretin, or playing with your kids?
They did have a few good profs there when I began, such as Drs. Greg Allison and Bob Vogel, but those men left to begin teaching at Southern Seminary about six months after I began my stay at Western. It was a real loss, and in at least one case it was due to that prof's serious disappointment with the direction that the seminary had taken.
The bottom line is this: if you are serious about advancing your studies in the languages of Scripture, in deepening your understanding of Reformed theology, in really understanding the task and objectives of Christ-centered preaching, of being in an environment where you will be sharpened by other men of similar conviction, and of not having to endure the constant clashes with numerous students of deficient theology and low personal standards - go elsewhere. It is just a run of the mill, broad evangelical, academically sub-standard institution.
Man, you're thinking about coming all the way out to the West coast for that? Why not just bear a little due South and wind up at WSC?