As high school students graduate and move on to college one of the many decisions that they are going to face before moving in is buying a computer. They need to figure out which one is right for them. The decision of what computer to buy kinda depends on what career path they are going to take. The typically choice for college students is a laptop since its portable and is easy to take to class. Some universities even encourage students to buy a certain type of laptop because of different features and benefits that they have. One of the main issues with this is that some universities may recommend a pricer laptop and some students may not be able to afford.
In previous years the University of Missouri School of Journalism recommended that all of their incoming freshman to buy a MacBook Pro and also buy an iTouch as well. The University of Missouri’s reasoning for this was that MacBook Pros had more features that journalism students would benefit from. Another reasoning was that the School of Journalism primarily used Macs in all of their computer labs and that if a student owned their own Mac it would be easier for them to use. A major concern that a lot of incoming students had was that MacBooks are also double the price of a PC. The basic MacBook Pro starts at around $1100 while the average PC costs around $550. You can see that their is a huge difference in price that many students might not be able to afford. Another concern is that students are afraid that they might not use all the feature of their computer to help make up the difference. Especially with today’s economy people are more hesitant to invest that much money into a laptop even though they are excellent laptops. After much debate the University of Missouri decided that recommending such an expensive laptop might not be the best decision on their part. One of the main reasons why they first started to recommend Macs was that many students currently enrolled preferred Macs over PC and then used this information to help the incoming student make their decision.
The University of Missouri isn’t the only school that has technology requirements some other schools have this as well. The University of Phoenix doesn’t specifically say which laptop they prefer but they give guidelines on their website to help students make their own judgements. On their website they list different features that students should look for in a computer that will help maximize their college experience. Some students prefer this because than they can make their own judgements on what laptop to buy.
After the past couple of years Universities across the nation are realizing that students and their parents and more cautious of their money and want to make sure that it is going towards the proper needs. Almost everyone had to re-evaluate their want and needs because of what happened with the economy. Universities cutting back on their technology requirements or recommendation is a very good thing because students will feel less pressure about getting a certain type of laptop.
Emily Miller is a sophomore at the the University of Missouri majoring Journalism and Political Science with a French minor. She was born and raised a Chicagoan but is currently living in Columbia, Missouri. She’s actively involved in the American Advertising Federation, Mizzou for Movember, a member of NSCS and a writer for the Odyssey newspaper and J-School Buzz at Mizzou. After graduation she wishes to pursue a career working for a marketing, advertising or public relations firm. Emily a passion for traveling and her life goal is to completely fill out a passport. She lives by the motto, “Live each day like it’s your last.” Follow her on Twitter at @Miilleerrr.