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: Any current-generation x64-based processor of over 2GHz and at least four cores.
- Memory (RAM): at least 16GB (more is better)
- Hard drive: 512GB or larger
- Operating system: Windows 11. You might be able to get a better deal on a laptop by going through IU's link.
- New Mac laptop
- Any currently shipping Apple MacBook (MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, not the new Neo) 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 or better
- Memory (RAM): at least 8GB (more is better)
- Hard drive: 256 GB or larger
- Operating system: 64-bit Windows 11 (at least 23H2)
- Minimum Mac requirements
- Any Apple MacBook manufactured in 2018 or later, with a hard drive of 256GB or higher.
- Operating system: macOS Sonoma, Sequoia, or Tahoe*
Unsupported devices
ExamSoft has not confirmed if the new MacBook Neo will run Examplify. Until they do, the MacBook Neo is not recommended.
Tablets running iOS (iPads), Android, or Windows RT are not supported for exams and are not appropriate laptop computers.
Additionally, computers running Windows 10, Windows 11 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.