Civil Engineering student?

Are there any civil engineering students who use Mac? My sister is going to CSU Sacramento and is going into engineering and she is looking into buying a computer and was originally just going to buy a Macbook until we stopped to think about whether it would be okay for her as a civil engineering student. My question is, is it possible to use a Mac as a civil engineer student without having to run Parallels/Bootcamp etc.? If any one who is/has doing/done it, please let me know!

Hi el pinguino, Welcome to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
Congratulations to your sister and to you for being supportive.
Is there any comment in literature from the CE Department or their web site that is to the point. Can she access syllabi for courses she will be taking. Drafting Courses may be critical.
Students / Educators get a nice discount. If she is not a student now, waiting may be a good idea.
Francine Schweider, a frequent poster in these forums has made a point worth considering. Buy while Mac OS 10.4.x Tiger is still the version. Buy Leopard later, again student discount available. Then she can have both available. Some apps may not be up to Leopard immediately.
I taught Engr Statics and Properties of Materials for 34 years at FCC and some at CSUF.

Similar Messages

  • Will macbook air suit civil engineering student

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    The MBA's all ship with dual-core cpu's, while the MacBook Pro's can be had with quad-core cpu's, so no, a MBA will not have the computational capability of a Pro model, especially for heavy numeric processing.  The Pro's can also be had with more RAM, and much more mass storage if you stick with a conventional hard drive.  The Pro's graphics hardware is also considerably superior to the Air's.
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  • Questions about MacBook pro as a civil engineering student.

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    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
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  • Future Engineering Student?

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    Since you will be going into engineering i believe you will be using design apps like AutoCAD and other such utilities. All such apps require a lot of raw processing power. which means a lot of graphic intensive prosesses as well.my suggestion to you would be to go for the 15" MBP and go for the base model. Retina or non-retina display is completely up to you. That is all a matter of what appeals to your eyes but go for the base model in whichever lineup you go for. I believe they start with the 2.3 GHZ quad core config and also has 1 GB of discrete graphics in that, which in my opinion should be powerful enough for your work and also future proofs the notebook for at least 4-5 years. Hope this helps.

  • Macbook Air capabilities for Aerospace Engineering Student

    Well, I'm a soon-to-be highschool senior, and I'm looking to buy a Macbook for college. I plan on majoring in Aerospace enginering. I know the 15" rMBP with the dedicated graphics card would be optimal, but that is out of my budget. However, I have two options picked out, and I'm curious of your opinion on what I should buy.
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    This is not the case anymore, as the Air now has the PCIe based Flash storage, Haswell Processor, Intel Graphics 5000, 108.11ac Wi-fi, and astounding battery life. Another reason for me leaning toward the MBA is because of the ghosting screen problems on the rMBP. If you haven't seen that problem yet, just simply google (or bing) it.
    In most of the places I've researched, the Air with this processor is boasting Geekbench scores of the rMBP, and it is keeping up with speed tests against the rMBP 13".
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    Thanks for your help!

    I second the above opinion, as I am an Electrical Engineering student currently. I've been using an 11" Air for everything (full options, i7, 8gb, 512ssd). I was using a mid 2011 and i just got the new 2013 model and I have to say both have performed outstanding.
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  • W530 - Engineering Student

    Hi Guys,
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    Welcome to Lenovo Community! smilemoar
    If you are using W530 for CAD / modeling software, it's worth it. With NVIDIA Quadro GPU, your work will be probably render faster compared to IdeaPad Y-series running GeForce GTX.
    Your build is nice and go for it if you have the budget. For operating system, it's up to your preference. Somehow, Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, however some games are still not compatible with Windows 8 (e.g. MapleSEA) and you may need some time to get used to Windows 8 interface.
    For mSATA, I would recommend this.
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    Battery: Depend on your usage. If you have to game or render heavy stuff on the road for long period of time without AC, you may consider another 9-cell battery slice. (Total you will have 9+9 cell)
    Integrated Mobile Broadband: If you are using Internet on the road. In Singapore, commonly people would either use a USB Mobile Broadband docket provide by the ISP or set up a hotspot with a Internet plan smartphone and connect.
    Peter 
    W520 (4284-A99)
    Does someone’s post help you? Give them kudos as a reward, as they will do better to improve | Mark it as solved if the solution works for you, so it could be reference for others in the future | Please do not email me regarding technical problems, you could post it in the forum
    =====================================
    Sound Enhancement (Post comments, share mixes, etc.)
    Dolby Home Theater v4 ; IdeaPad Slate Tablet

  • Engineering student wanting a macbook pro! HELP!!!

    Ok, so my heart has been set on a macbook pro for a WHILE now.
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    My plan was to buy the 15" MacBook Pro @ 2.4 ghz and up the memory to 4 gb...
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    Please relax.
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    You were told wrong.
    Macs are PCs just like everything else on the market. Therefore running Windows on them is no different than running it on any other PC.
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    I'm sure the computer engineering department at your school has the definitive list of what you'll need.

  • HT5634 What do I do now and how do I do it? (BootCamp & Engineering student probs)

    I'm an engineering student and I really need to get my computer to run software that my classes require, so I decided to install BootCamp. It was a very difficult process, and after much time and patience, I got passed the partitions-step and restarted my computer. When I did that, I was taken to a black screen that mentioned something about a "bootable disk." I called Apple and they said I need to install Windows, but I couldn't do that on the spot so the guy just helped me get my computer to run normally. My question is, how do I move on from here? How do I install Windows on my computer and which one should I use? Also, what kind of disk do I use? I'm not as technology savvy as I should be so please bear with me. FYI, the software I currently use is MathCad Prime and I will be using AutoCAD this quarter. I also have access to free Windows because of the fact that I'm a college student.
    ANY HELP IS IMMENSELY APPRECIATED!
    Thank you.

    Hello harely95,
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    For more information on this, take a look at:
    Boot Camp: Installing Windows 7 Frequently Asked Questions
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3986
    Best of luck,
    Mario

  • Civil Engineering Applications

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  • Construction / Civil engineering

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    were you looking for a scientific calculator and a graphing calculator? there are sis files in the applications section of the dailymobile forums. You could search and ask there as some of the independent app developers post there.
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  • As an engineering student why would you buy a Mac over a PC?

    Hello Everyone. I am an egineering student and I have an important question. Why would I buy a Mac over a PC? What are the advantages to engineers in using Mac. When I ask sales people they can only tell me that they are secure, and easy to use, but I am not sold. Anything you can share whether it's software related, hardware related, personal stories, company success, anything will be of great help. I am not looking for an answer for one particular type of engineering. Anything related to any field, mechanical, industrial, electrical, bio, anything would help. Thanks in advance.

    Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions. 
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  • Laptop Recommendations for a Future Engineering Student Using Arch

    First: I don't know if I am posting this in the right place, so I apologize in advance if it doesn't belong here.
    In September, I'm going to be starting an Electrical Engineering program at University and since I'll be in residence, I'm going to buy a laptop.
    Since there seems to be such a diverse, professional crowd here on the forums, I thought this would be a great place to ask.
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    Last edited by Jessehk (2008-07-15 18:26:23)

    Jessehk wrote:Thanks for all the responses!
    Hey, I'm always looking for new converts.
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    Any tips?
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    Did you scour the Net for coupons? Also, depending on your credit card, you can sometimes shave off another 5-7 percent by purchasing through the credit card's member portal. You might find some info here (which is probably VISA-USA, but might direct you).
    Last edited by dhave (2008-07-16 16:00:50)

  • I'm a pc user, going to enroll in NTU Civil Engineering in SG, I was wondering, can i use an Ipad for my next 4 years? Will the Ipad run AutoCAD? My gf's going for USM pharmacy, can she use an ipad for her course? Both of us would use Office a lot.

    Please kindly help me, this might be my first switch to Apple.

    No, the iPad is an iOS device, running a lightweight operating system.  It does not run MacOS (which is what you want to run Microsoft Office and AutoCAD) like an iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.
    Please see the Autodesk System Requirements of AutoCAD for Mac.
    I suggest you visit an Apple Store to get your hands on the products for yourselves. The staff is very knowledgeable and will help you find the right solution for your needs.
    Edit: Color me surprised, a mobile version! I would check with the Engineering department and see if using the mobile version is suitable or not as it has a limited tool set. I would lean towards a laptop like the other poster above.

  • Will 13 in Macbook Pro with Retina 2.6 ghz be good enough for engineering student

    I'm purchasing a new macbook and not really sure which one to get. I have been thinking about getting the 13 in 2.6 ghz Macbook Pro with Retina, but will that be good enough for engineering programs such as AutoCad?

    I agree that it would be slow, but the biggest limitation is RAM. 4GB simply won't,  er, cut it.
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  • Macbook Air i7 3.3 Ghz Vs Macbook Pro Retina i5 3.3 Ghz, Which more suite the engineering student?

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    So here is the thought process I used to buy:
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