Version: 2008
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Tech resource guide

By Chris Ulbrich

The connection between students and technology is undeniable. With professors posting lecture notes online and universities offering registration and courses over the Web, education has truly gone digital. Here is a list of U.S. News and World Report's top 50 universities and the technologies that each recommend in order to help make a student's academic life a little less stressful. Don't see your school below? Go to our tech checklist for tips on preparing for your first day of school.


Note: Universities generally want your system to have a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM for software, an Ethernet port and Cat-5 cable for wired networking, and an 802.11b/g card for wireless networking, especially for laptops.

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# UNIVERSITY NAME Campus network Wireless access Online registration Online classes Hardware discounts Recommended or required gear
1. Harvard University Yes Yes     Apple; IBM PC: Pentium 4 or compatible processor; 512MB RAM; Windows 2000 or XP
Mac: G4 or G5 processor; 256MB RAM; 40GB hard drive; OS X
2. Princeton University Yes Yes (dorms in fall 2005) Yes   Apple; Dell Special laptop packages recommended
3. Yale University Yes Yes     Apple; Dell; Gateway; IBM PC: Pentium III, 4, M; 256MB RAM; Windows 2000 or XP Pro
Mac: G3 or G4; 256MB RAM; OS 10.3
4. University of Pennsylvania Yes Yes Yes Yes Apple; Dell; IBM PC: Pentium III 1GHz; 256MB RAM; Windows 2000 or XP
Mac: G4 533MHz; 256MB RAM; OS 9.x
5. Duke University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; IBM PC: Pentium 4/Pentium M 3.4GHz/1.4GHz; 1GB/512MB RAM; Windows XP Pro SP 2
Mac: iMac G5/PowerBook G4; 512MB RAM;OS X Tiger
6. M. I. T. Yes Yes     Apple; Dell; Compaq; IBM Special packages recommended
7. Stanford University Yes Yes Yes Yes Apple; Dell Mac: G3; 256MB RAM; OS X
8. California Institute of Technology Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; Gateway; HP; Sony; Toshiba n/a
9. Columbia University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; others through third-party dealer PC: 200MHz CPU; 128MB RAM; Windows 2000
Mac: PowerPC CPU; 128MB RAM; OS X 10.1
10. Dartmouth College Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell Special packages recommended
11. Northwestern University Yes Yes Yes     PC: Pentium 4 3.0GHz/Pentium 4 2.4GHz or Pentium M 1.6GHz; 1GB/512MB RAM; Windows XP Pro SP2
Mac: iMac G5 1.8GHz or eMac G4 1.25GHz/iBook G4 1.33 GHz, or PowerBook G4 1.5GHz; 1GB/512MB RAM; OS X 10.3
12. Washington University in St. Louis Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Compaq; Dell; Gateway; HP; IBM n/a
13. Brown University Yes Yes     Dell; Apple PC: Pentium 3.2GHz/1GHz; 512MB RAM; Windows XP Pro w/NTFS
Mac: 1.6GHz/1.25GHz G4; 512MB RAM; Mac OS X 10.3
14. Cornell University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; Gateway; HP; IBM; Red Barn PC: 266MHz Pentium-class processor; 256MB memory; Windows XP
Mac: G3 processor; 256MB memory; OS X
15. Johns Hopkins University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; IBM/Lenovo Special packages recommended
16. University of Chicago Yes Yes Yes   Dell; Apple Special packages recommended
17. Rice University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; HP; IBM/Lenovo; Sigma PC: 2.8GHz-3.2GHz Pentium 4; 512MB RAM; Windows XP, Linux, Unix
Mac: 1.42GHz to 2.3GHz G4 or G5; 512MB RAM; OS X
18. University of Notre Dame Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; Gateway; IBM PC laptop: Pentium M 1.5GHz; 512MB RAM; Windows XP Professional
Mac laptop: G4/G5 CPU; 512MB RAM; OS X 10.3
19. Vanderbilt University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; Gateway; Toshiba No general recommendations; prefer systems from Apple, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba
PC: Pentium III; 256MB RAM ; Windows 2000/XP
Mac: G3 or G4; 256MB RAM; OS 9
20. Emory University Yes   Yes   Apple; Dell PC: Dell Optiplex, Latitude, or equivalent; 512MB RAM; Windows XP Pro
Mac: iMac G5 or PowerBook
21. U.C. Berkeley Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; HP; IBM/Lenovo; Sony n/a
22. Carnegie Mellon University Yes Yes Yes Yes Apple; IBM; others by order PC: Pentium- or Celeron-class 2.8GHz/1.4 GHz; 512MB; Windows XP Pro
Mac: 1.2MHz or any G5; 512MB; OS X 10.4.1
Unix: Pentium or Celeron class; 512MB RAM
23. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell; IBM Schools have various recommmendations; PC minimum config: Pentium III; 256MB RAM; Windows 2000/XP
Mac: G3 CPU; 256MB RAM; OS X 10.2
24. University of Virginia Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell Recommend approved systems from school store; otherwise, PC minimum config: 1.2GHz CPU; 512MB RAM; Windows XP Pro
Mac: 800MHz G4 CPU; 512MB RAM; OS X 10.3
25. Georgetown University Yes Yes Yes   Apple; Dell PC: Pentium 4 3GHz/Pentium M 1.60GHz; 1GB RAM; Windows XP Pro
Mac: iMac G4 1.6GHz or Power Mac G5 2.0GHz/iBook G4 1.33GHz; 1GB RAM; OS X 10.3
# UNIVERSITY NAME Campus network Wireless access Online registration Online classes Hardware discounts Recommended or required gear
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