<p>We are trying to decide what type of laptop to buy for our freshman daughter. Mac or PC? Pluses or minuses of using one over the other at ND? She will be in Arts and Letters. </p>
<p>It’s certainly a personal preference, but our experience was that nearly every one of our children’s friends at ND had a MacBook Pro. That is also what they chose. That being said, you can get support on any brand of laptop you purchase. Notre Dame does have a discount on the Mac that we took advantage of. We just mentioned it at our Apple Store and we were given the discount (about $150 each).</p>
<p>If she was going for engineering I might have said a PC, but for Arts and Letters, I’d just go with her personal preference. My S had a PC and my D uses a Mac in college – both work fine. </p>
<p>Just about any laptop will work well for most students. I personally am in the minority of students who use a Chromebook - a cheaper alternative to a standard type of laptop. While there are issues with this (e.g. I can’t easily connect to printers wirelessly), it works just fine for my needs. Be aware also that there are computers literally everywhere on campus. This includes both Macs and PCs. So, no matter what, your daughter will be able to get her work done. All University computers are equipped with the specialized software that some majors will require. </p>
<p>I will agree with those who say that most students do tend to own Macs. (The MacBook Air seems to be a popular option right now.) But, like I said, anything will work. </p>
<p>Good luck! </p>