Do I need new laptop for school?

[Agent007]

For current students - how many of you carry a laptop to school every day? My program starts in a couple of months and I was wondering if it would be absolutely necessary to invest in a decent laptop? Personally I will always choose taking notes over typing - i can write much faster than type, hehe - non trad student here. I was just curious if there are classes where its absolutely essential to have a good laptop?
Thank you for the input!

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[Tnpt12]

I would highly recommend a good laptop. Though I use it every single day as my main way of taking notes (most of my classmates do), a few students just print out the PowerPoints/lectures and take handwritten notes. So its really up to you and I suppose it depends on the teaching system of your particular program. I would ask some people currently in your program if its necessary to have a laptop and if you could get away with not having one on a daily basis.
However, you DO need to have access to a computer of some kind - whether its a desktop at home or at the school. You’ll need to write word docs, make presentations, maybe take online exams/quizzes, do research, etc. Having a good laptop just makes this all much much more convenient.
^^ just from my experience. Really though it probably depends on how your program operates, so just ask some people ahead of you

 

[kdubz7w7]

For current students - how many of you carry a laptop to school every day? My program starts in a couple of months and I was wondering if it would be absolutely necessary to invest in a decent laptop? Personally I will always choose taking notes over typing - i can write much faster than type, hehe - non trad student here. I was just curious if there are classes where its absolutely essential to have a good laptop?
Thank you for the input!

My school actually requires students to have a laptop, although they did not actually verify we each have one. Our faculty discourages taking class notes during lecture on your computer however - they cite research showing you learn better by handwritten notes vs typed. We're allowed to type notes, just discouraged. I take notes on printed ppt slides, that way I can color code and draw diagrams as I go (and I hear you on the non trad, same!! lol). For a couple of classes during lecture, I will have my laptop open to their ppt so that if I want to reference a slide they are not currently on I can easily do so without interrupting the lecturer, and several students do the same thing.
When studying, I almost exclusively take notes in drawing pads (several of us do and swear by it, especially for anatomy). I use my laptop a LOT though to look up images, access ppts, google concepts I do not understand, and so on. And yes, I bring my laptop every day - on the days I didn't think I would want it, I wound up regretting not having it. Most of my cohort brings their laptops almost daily, mostly to use studying between classes. Actually, none of us type notes during lecture, now that I am thinking about it.

 

[toomanyknees]

My school actually requires students to have a laptop, although they did not actually verify we each have one. Our faculty discourages taking class notes during lecture on your computer however - they cite research showing you learn better by handwritten notes vs typed. We're allowed to type notes, just discouraged. I take notes on printed ppt slides, that way I can color code and draw diagrams as I go (and I hear you on the non trad, same!! lol). For a couple of classes during lecture, I will have my laptop open to their ppt so that if I want to reference a slide they are not currently on I can easily do so without interrupting the lecturer, and several students do the same thing.
When studying, I almost exclusively take notes in drawing pads (several of us do and swear by it, especially for anatomy). I use my laptop a LOT though to look up images, access ppts, google concepts I do not understand, and so on. And yes, I bring my laptop every day - on the days I didn't think I would want it, I wound up regretting not having it. Most of my cohort brings their laptops almost daily, mostly to use studying between classes. Actually, none of us type notes during lecture, now that I am thinking about it.

Haha, kdubz7w7, I just asked about this very thing on your thread in the Pre-DPT forum! What kind of laptops do you have/ see around often? I'm on the hunt for a new one!

 

[kdubz7w7]

Haha, kdubz7w7, I just asked about this very thing on your thread in the Pre-DPT forum! What kind of laptops do you have/ see around often? I'm on the hunt for a new one!

Oh hi again, I just replied to that other thread! No real trend. Some Macs, which is frustrating from them because we aren't a Mac campus. I have a nothing-fancy HP, and it gets the job done. I mentioned in my other reply that we will be taking our exams on our laptops soon and I have NO idea what the technical requirements will be when that happens. I downloaded Complete Anatomy (godsend) and my computer handles that. Otherwise I just use it for looking stuff up and writing the occasional paper, nothing too crazy or advanced.

 

[Major42]

One of the most frustrating things for a student is having a laptop that malfunctions, whether it won't connect to the internet, freezes or turns off randomly. It causes undue stress in an already stressful environment. I personally bought a new laptop and haven't had an issue yet. Macs tend to have more issues at my school but that's because it's not Mac friendly. I bought a Surface Book because I love using the detachable screen for presentations, anatomy, and many other things.