I was recently just admitted into GW for engineering. Do I need a laptop with specific features, because I would prefer a MacBook.
You should maybe wait until either your department sends a message with instructions on what you should buy (you can email them), or wait until orientation week. Colleges sometimes have partnerships and discounts for their students, but you do have to do your own digging sometimes.
Agree with @Laliejour in that you should wait until you hear from your department. If you were in ANY other department I’d say “go ahead and get the MacBook.” However, STEM programs increase the chance that you’ll need something that requires an OS or software that works much better on a different machine.
If you’re worried about it, you really can’t go wrong with a Windows computer. Make sure you get a good quality computer and get a protection plan. Computers get lost, stolen, dropped in swimming pools, run over by mascots…you name it. For the same cost as a Macbook, you can get a Windows machine that’s 3 times faster.
One last thing…NEVER NEVER save your work on your computer hard drive. Get a “Google Drive” or “One Drive” account and save all your work in that. This way, if your computer gets stolen or damaged, you can login to a friends computer and your term paper is still there. And when you get your computer replacement, all your work is still right where you left it.
I’m a fan of Google Docs for writing papers. They make it seamless to write something and allow you to simply pick up where you left off on another computer.