We suggest you buy a new laptop computer that meets our Option One specifications (below) before coming to campus. But if you already own a laptop, review Option Two—if it works for you now, it should work for some part of your time here.
Financial aid implications
Before we dive into those details, our director of financial aid wants you to know that the cost of a computer is not included in your direct costs. You may request that the cost of a new computer (up to $2,000) be added to your financial aid budget (increasing the amount you may borrow). Because most students can live comfortably on less than our standard law school budget, there is often sufficient funding already in the budget for a computer.
If you do decide to request an increased budget to include computer costs, our director of financial aid will begin accepting those appeals in early September.
Important exam information
The Law School administers in-person exams with ExamSoft’s Examplify. Their current minimum system requirements can be found here. Please check their requirements before committing to a new laptop. We do not use ExamID, or ExamMonitor.
The laptop computer you'll need
Option one: New laptop
- New Windows laptop
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor or higher recommended. Avoid Pentium, Celeron, or Athlon processors. Minimum preferences: Intel core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3.
- Memory (RAM): at least 16GB (more is better)
- Hard drive: 512GB or larger
- Operating system: 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 (Must have eighth-generation Intel or second-generation Ryzen processor or higher to upgrade to Windows 11)
- New Mac laptop
- Any currently shipping Apple MacBook (MacBook Pro or MacBook Air) with a hard drive of 256GB or bigger should have adequate hardware and software.*
Option two: Minimum laptop
- Minimum Windows requirements
- Processor: Intel Core i3 or Ryzen 3
- Memory (RAM): at least 8GB (more is better)
- Hard drive: 256 GB or larger
- Operating system: Windows 10 or 11 (must have eighth-generation Intel or second-generation Ryzen processor or higher to upgrade to Windows 11)
- Minimum Mac requirements
- Any Apple MacBook manufactured in 2017 or later, with a hard drive of 256GB or higher.
- Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15), Big Sur (11.0), or Monterey (12.0)*
Unsupported devices
While recent Windows Surface Pro tablets are supported, tablets running iOS (iPads), Android, or Windows RT are not supported for exams and are not appropriate laptop computers.
Additionally, computers running Windows 10 S, Chrome OS, and Linux are not supported and will not work with the exam software.
Notes
*The next version of macOS is typically released each year in the fall. Do not update to that version until you have verified that it will work with the exam software.
We currently do not have any information about compatability between Examplify and the upcoming Apple M2 chip. We recommend holding off on purchasing an M2 Apple computer until ExamSoft has verified compatability.