thegigglefactory

Hey Everyone, I finally heard back from all my schools. I was extremely disappointed to find out that I had not been accepted to my first choice. Similar to other stories, I had the blessing of the professor I wanted to work under, had an extremely strong application (in my opinion), and had solid letters of recommendation from individuals in the field. However, I was only accepted to one university. The school is University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and I am very nervous about this choice. First of all, it is several hours away from where I had hoped to be. I am worried about leaving family, lifelong friends, and my significant other. I don't want to sound whiney, because after all I was accepted at least somewhere. However, the thought of this adjustment is making me feel sick to my stomach. I don't have a problem meeting people, but the city is very, very small. I'm afraid I will have nothing to do and no one to do it with. I am curious as to whether anyone here has, first of all, experience with the school, and second, any experience similar to mine that would help give me some guidance. Much appreciated.

It all depends on what you need. That answer sucks so, I'll give my opinion. The first laptop I had in college was a Dell Inspiron. It became completely destroyed within six months of owning it due to normal wear and tear, and this is not covered by warranty. I personally know two other people with the exact same laptop who experienced the same issue. As far as the hardware goes (i.e., the framing, plastic, etc) they are not well-built computers. I would highly suggest that you look elsewhere. As far as macs go, everyone I know who has one loves them. They are actually required by a program at my university, and so a good number of people here use them. I personally do not like them for several reasons. First, I do not like the user-interface. It is quite a bit different than other operating systems and makes me feel like it was designed to be visually appealing versus having good utility. Second, the software (and thus the computer) becomes obsolete at very regular intervals. This is how Apple stays in business -- attracting loyal customers who are willing to buy the new model every time one is released. The software will inevitably become more and more incompatible with the computing world as more updates are made to the operating system. Finally, I do not like the "culture" surrounding the stereotypical mac user. That is simply a matter of opinion. Having said that, they are very well built machines that are durable and high-performing. Whether or not you get what you pay for depends upon how much you actually enjoy using a mac. Personally, I knew that my main computer needs would be browsing the internet, writing papers, and researching. Therefore, I bought a computer with a low amount of hard disk space, low RAM (because I had not intended to play video games), a sturdy frame, a highly functional keyboard, a huge screen, and a fast processor. The first thing I did when I took it out of the box was completely wiped the disk and installed Linux. I have had the laptop for three years now and it runs exactly the same as the day I first bought it. I don't recommend that you go the route I did, because I just went with what I knew I needed. Just ask yourself what it is that you expect to do with the computer, and what you actually need. I spent $398 and am very happy with my HP.