2008/2009 Academic Recommendations

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A few academic programs provide specific computer/software recommendations for students due to curricular requirements and/or the technology students are most likely to find "in the field" in a given profession. The following chart outlines the Miami Notebook models that match the recommendations of undergraduate academic programs. Graduate students should check with their program advisor for guidance.

	HP Compaq 6910P	Apple MacBook
Farmer School of Business: All Majors (see FAQ below)
School of Education, Health & Society: All Majors *except* Educational Psychology (which falls into the "All other programs and majors" category below)
School of Engineering & Applied Science: Paper & Chemical Engineering Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Electrical & Computer Engineering
School of Fine Arts: Architecture & Interior Design
School of Fine Arts: Art
School of Fine Arts: Music		Contact School of Fine Arts to discuss
School of Fine Arts: Theatre
All other programs and majors (including all majors in the College of Arts and Science)	Your choice! Any Miami Notebook will work well - no specific recommendations.

indicates majors that will expect you to run Windows on your Mac at some point due to the use of Windows-only applications in the curriculum.

There are a number of options for running Windows on a Mac. Following are the recommendations from academic areas with majors that require Windows on a Mac:

School of Engineering & Applied Science: Run Windows XP in a virtualized environment using VMWare Fusion (added cost item)
School of Fine Arts: Run Windows XP natively using Boot Camp (a component of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard)

In order to run Windows on a Mac, you will need to obtain a copy of Windows. For several of the majors that recommend Windows on a Mac, you may be able to obtain Windows at no cost through a departmental Microsoft agreement once you are on campus and enrolled in a course in that department.

Academic Recommendation FAQs

I will be enrolling in the Farmer School of Business; they recommend an HP, but I prefer to use a Mac. Will that be a problem?

The Farmer School of Business provides the recommendation to use HP laptops (PCs) over Apple (Macs) because it fits best into their learning environment. According to the Farmer School of Business:
"There are many lab and project tasks involving specific software in which a PC is used to teach and is, therefore, easier to learn when away from class. It is not a requirement that a PC is used, but it is a strong recommendation. Students who wish to run Windows using Apple’s Boot Camp technology or in a virtualized environment (using software such as Parallels or VMware Fusion) may do so; however, if the Windows environment on the Mac does not properly run the software, students will need to seek their own solutions, as the School of Business does not have the resources to support the use of applications in these environments. The burden of support will be on the student, if choosing a Mac.”

Note: There are no restrictions on the Miami Notebook model you purchase. If after reviewing the academic recommendation and additional information provided by the Farmer School of Business you still wish to purchase an Apple Miami Notebook, you can certainly do so.