<p>Current students or folks in the know-- How are students handling their printing at Smith? Do some students have printers in their rooms, in their residences, go to a centralized printing location, or other? Is printing out, and students submit reports etc electronically to their profs?</p>
<p>Please advise, and thanks.</p>
<p>D</p>
<p>You can print in any of the libraries, but it costs money, same for copies. When I was there a few years ago, everyone got 50 free pages worth of printing at the start of the school year (loaded on your OneCard) and after that you had to pay (I think it was five cents per page for black and white, and 10 cents per page for color, might have gone up). To assist with this, there are OneCard loading machines in the main library. </p>
<p>50 free pages doesn’t go super far when your “short” paper average is 8-10 pages. So pretty quickly I was on to pay per page printing. That being said, I probably spent less than $20 on printing for the semester. The second semester of my first year I bought a printer from a student who was graduating in January. It was not that fast and ink is expensive, so more often than not I would still go to the library to print from the laser printers there. Having the printer in my room was more about convenience than saving money, sometimes I just didn’t feel like walking 10 min through the snow to the library. Many of my friends also had printers, so occasionally I would ask to print on theirs, but as a regular practice this was frowned on since it wasted other people’s time and ink. </p>
<p>Most professors did not accept emailed submissions, you were required to turn in your paper at the start of the class, printed out, or it was considered late. I can understand why, sorting through emails and trying to print or read each submission on a computer would be a major hassle for a prof. Occasionally they’d take an email if you had a very good reason or if they weren’t going to be on campus the day papers were due.</p>
<p>sap ^^^^ thanks David</p>
<p>Just asked my d for her advice (rising sophomore). She says emphatically BRING a printer. Just about everyone does and those who don’t end up asking to use their friends’ printers which gets annoying. She also said, yes, you can use the library’s but it can get very inconvenient if you are writing a paper late at night or notice a typo at the last minute.</p>
<p>njcdmom-- We will bring a printer. Thanks. David</p>
<p>You no longer get the 50 free pages of printing (though that would be very nice). Black & white is still 5 cents per page, but color is 35 cents. I have gotten by quite easily using only library and computer lab printers as have most people I know. Also, there are ways to get access to free printing. Engineers have free printing available in one of the classroom spaces. Also, most research labs have printing available to students in the lab. Between these two resources, I only pay for printing if I am in a big rush and need to use the most convenient printer en route to where I am going.</p>