I heard from a friend who heard from a friend (yeah, yeah, I know) that many colleges require Macs because their networks, printers etc are all configured for Macs, not PC’s.
I made the mistake of mentioning this in passing to my rabidly anti-Apple 9th grader. (No, I have no idea why, I find the rabid Apple fanboys and the rabid Apple haters equally silly. It’s a tool. Buy the one that works best for you and get a grip.)
He has now declared that priority #1 in choosing a college is that it not require Macs because if he has to use a Mac he’ll die or worse. Sigh.
Based on a quick look at this board, the Mac requirement doesn’t actually appear to exist, but I just wanted to confirm directly with CC. So, is it common or even heard of for colleges to require or very strongly suggest Macs rather than PC’s?
Networks and printers don’t care if you are Mac or PC. My kids’ colleges were fine with either. He can rest easy, it won’t be an issue for him to take a non-Mac anyplace.
A student’s computer life may be somewhat easier matching the school’s infrastructure. Our LAC was Mac, said by the IT department to be less susceptible to nefarious hackers.
I’ve never heard of this happening - though I guess some schools may be that picky.
Most schools don’t set a requirement for your computer’s OS. Generally they will release a list of computer recommendations with Windows and OSX options. Though those are just recommendations. So long as you know how to use your computer, can adequately complete your work, and can use all “required software” most schools won’t care if you’re using a OSX, PC, Linux, etc.
We can argue the relative merits of each OS until we’re all blue in the face. But in the end, if you can efficiently get the work done who cares what tool you use.
Well I think a basic Windows laptop is usually all that is needed for the average college student. If they are majoring in engineering or CS they might want to check with department what they recommend.
I for one would never pay as much as a Mac costs for use by my college kid.
For a price perspective, a $1000 computer costs 68 cents per day over its projected lifetime of four years. If it has to be PC, at least get a good one.