<p>i really really need an effin laptop, but i heard that students at cornell get discounts on dell and apples? how much is this discount and is it really worth it for me to wait until i start school before buying one?</p>
<p>Cornell does have some deals with dell and apple, but in my opinion they are not really worth it. First of all, all the computers they offer are packaged deals. So if you want to customize anything (like upgrade your hard drive, get more memory, or even get a free printer, etc.), you can’t do that through Cornell. Also, I think you pick your computer up once you arrive at Cornell–they don’t ship it to you earlier even if you order it early. Plus, I don’t think the discounts are that outstanding either.</p>
<p>yeah the discounts are not really discounts they’re just a gimmick to get you to buy a packaged deal with the 3-5 year extended warranty…</p>
<p>skip the warranty and customize it however you want…engineers might want a 4gb ram laptop with a core 2 duo stick and a great video card…</p>
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<p>I have almost no idea what that means… haha</p>
<p>And I’m going to get my laptop in the beginning of summer, maybe right after I graduate high school. I want to give myself the least amount of time before college to mess it up. :P</p>
<p>I purchased my Apple through the online Apple Education Store…I received a discount on the laptop, the RAM upgrade, the wireless mouse and the warranty program. I never bothered with the Cornell Store.</p>
<p>I decided to switch to a Mac for college and my parents bought mine for me as an HS graduation gift. I recommend you get your laptop at least a couple of weeks before school begins…just in case anything goes wrong with it.</p>
<p>apples are pretty expensive even with discount. dell quality is not so good these days. its soso i guess. its cheaper to buy laptops outside</p>
<p>I recently purchased a laptop for College and went with a Sony Vaio. They’re more expensive than say a Dell or HP but they’ve got great quality from what I’ve tested. Plus if you’re looking for the student discount they have something called sony campus or something similar to that anyway, and it offers up to a 10% discount for students on laptops ordered through their online store. Goodluck with the shopping.</p>
<p>I graduated in May, and started grad school in the fall. I bought a new laptop in August, so I had a choice between the Cornell DELL discount, my new school’s DELL discount, or the promotions that DELL had on their website. The discount for the schools turned out to be only 15-20 dollars and I couldn’t change a lot of things. I found a promotion on the DELL website that gave me more memory and an upgraded processor plus free color (I got a green Inspiron 1525) and free shipping! On the Dell website, sometimes there are different deals depending on what you click on. If you look around the site, sometimes you can find a really good deal. My laptop was less than 600 dollars.</p>
<p>does cornell offer laptops as a part of your financial aid package or will i have to buy one</p>
<p>there is an application you can fill out to request “additional aid” for which one of the categories for doing so is laptop/technology…</p>
<p>depending on your type of financial aid this might come in the form of loans, grant, etc.</p>
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<p>This information comes directly from the budget increase request form…note that the 2009-2010 form is not yet available. </p>
<p>Laptops are not factored into a student’s FA package. If you need funds to cover the purchase of a computer you will need to wait until the budget increase form is available (August/September) and make sure your purchase fits with these guidelines. </p>
<p>One time only in alternative loan or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (if the
student has any remaining eligibility). Must provide:
• Invoice or documentation showing estimate of cost (for computer repair)
• Receipt from purchase of computer within two weeks of approved budget increase </p>
<p>fyi…alternative loan = private loan (often requires a co-signer, has higher interest rate than a federal loan)</p>
<p>When purchasing laptops get minimal amount of ram. Add more on your own after you get it for 1/5 the cost. It is really easy to do. Check newegg.com for great deals.</p>
<p>Also, I regret even buying a laptop to bring with me. I brought my desktop and 24" monitor with me (which also has xbox 360 hooked to it) and NEVER use my laptop at school. Use desktop all the time though.</p>
<p>Wait until August and buy a Mac. The summer Apple Education Store discounts for college students are incredible. For example, last year, last year, you got the standard education discount (which is 10-20%), plus you got a ~$300 credit towards an iPod, plus a $50 printer discount.</p>
<p>(This applies for all universities, not just Cornell)</p>