Hey everyone,

I'm an incoming engineering freshman at Mississippi State this fall, and I'm trying to decide on a laptop before classes start.

I've looked at the Bagley College of Engineering's minimum requirements, but I'd rather buy something that will last all four years (and hopefully beyond) instead of just meeting the minimum specs.

From what I've heard, 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD are a good starting point, especially if I'll be using programs like SolidWorks, MATLAB, AutoCAD, CAD software, programming IDEs, and other engineering applications. I'm also a person who likes to have a lot of browser tabs and multitask pretty heavily.

My budget is around 2,000, but I'd prefer not to spend that much unless it's really worth it. I would like to stick around the 1,300-1,500 dollar range.

A few questions:
What laptop are you using, and what engineering major are you in?
Has Windows been a better choice than macOS for engineering classes at MSU?
Is a dedicated GPU worth getting, or is integrated graphics enough?
Are there any laptops you regret buying?
If you were starting over as a freshman, what would you buy today?

Right now I'm considering laptops like the Dell XPS 15/16, Lenovo ThinkPad P series, Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i, ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14/G16, and maybe the Framework Laptop, but I'm open to any recommendations. My no 1 choice right now is the Lenovo Legion 5i 16" Gaming Laptop (good specs and fits in the budget).

I'm looking for something with:
32 GB RAM
1 TB SSD
Good battery life
Reliable build quality
A great keyboard and trackpad
Enough performance to comfortably handle engineering software for the next four years
I'd really appreciate hearing from current students or recent graduates about what worked well (or didn't). Thanks!

I'm still on the waiting list and it's freaking me out. School starts so soon and I don't want to be without a residence.

I’ll be transferring to MSU in the fall. I’m going to be living at Collegeview apts. I’m a psych major with classes around McCool, Old main, Lloyd ricks, and Allen admin. I’m also in the band.

What parking zones would be best for my parking pass?

I’m new to the zone aspect of parking tags! Any advice or tips are appreciated!!!

Anybody else getting the technical issues box at the bottom?

I accepted about 17,000 in Pell grants and scholarships for the 26-27 school year back in April/may. Now they have vanished from my account with no reason as to why. Any idea?

Im an incoming freshman and was wondering if the annual parking permits were required? or could i just use daily permits/ park mobile for the semester?

Hi! I just moved here to Starkville (25f) a few weeks ago and was wondering where the best places to make connections were? I wanted to try and see if I could make friends before my grad program starts. I’m an English major, love to read classics and dark fantasy as well as write. I like to craft, play games, and have slideshow nights. I know this probably is cringe or whatever but I’m having a hard time trying to find places to make friends. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

I’m selling my MacBook Air M2 I never used for work and was wanting to post here to see if anyone would like to buy it

Hey, I was wondering has anyone taken up the security services job(from simplicity) on campus before? I want to know what I’m getting into since their pay is significantly higher than other campus jobs, which is making me interested.

Hey, I’m an upcoming freshmen at MSU and plan to take complete and total advantage of the meal plan. I’m currently trying to lose fat, so is it possible to do that with the dining hall? Are there a lot of healthy options to choose and how do we prepare our food(do we put the food on our plates or does the staff do the portions?). Also has anyone put on muscle eating from the dining hall. I know it’s a lot I’m just trying to prepare, and this the only place I think I can get student experiences.

Hey! I am a new incoming student, and I was looking for a sublease near campus starting in August (or earlier). Ideally my budget is $400-$600 but can leave some wiggle room. Please let me know if you know of any!

Is there a floor plan for Hull Hall, Not just the room but the whole floor? If so what does it look like?

I'm an incoming freshman and the only 2-3 courses that require materials for me according to bulldog bundle are chemistry (+ lab) and calculus. I can find prices for the actual textbooks easily, but can anyone let me know how much campusknot costs, as well as the MSU manuals for CH 1213 and 1211? Thanks!

Going to try to get a permit this year. Does anyone know if we can use financial aid/scholarships to purchase?

I'm an upcoming Freshman for the Fall Semester and I'll be staying in Nunnelee Hall.

What lot would you recommend attempting to park in?

I took out a private student loan (yes ik im screwed) and it’s still not certified? Is that normal?

I’m moving to Starkville in like less than a week with my best friend, and honestly I need new people to meet. I have really bad anxiety, but I’m trying to force myself to social more so I’m not miserable. 21 F, alt. , very very VERY much into other women.. for what it’s worth.

Hi! Me and my boyfriend got full rides to Mississippi State University. After Mississippi aid gets added to our accounts, we will both be receiving some money back. I was wondering when would we get this money back?

hello! so i got awarded HELP, which as far as i know, is supposed to cover all fees not paid for by my other scholarships (full pell grant, star student scholarship, and 8,000 freshman merit scholarship). i checked my financial dashboard today, and it said my net cost would be around $6,000 dollars? i'm extremely confused, as my scholarships and aid were supposed to fully cover tuition. is this just from the personal expenses/transportation costs? i thought those were just estimates and weren't actually a part of your tuition. i could be completely wrong, but everything that i've seen, read, and been told has pointed to me being full ride. i was hoping maybe someone here could help me so i don't have to stress with reaching out to financial aid! (which of course i will if i must, i just thought this could be quicker and easier)

Hello! I’m an upcoming freshman & will be staying in Griffis Hall. I see that we’re able to loft our beds, but I have questions about how: Do we have to supply our own “kit?” If so, is there a certain kind anyone recommends? Thanks!

I currently work at a Walmart but in case I can’t transfer, what’s a good on campus job that will allow me to balance my school work well and still support myself? I plan on going into electrical engineering so ima need as much time to study as working. School may provide the best time for me. I’m tryna get atleast $12. Help me out

Hey all, I have a 3.0 gpa on the dot after my first 2 years at state, yet my merit scholarships aren’t appearing for me to accept for this upcoming school year. i took well over the minimum and passed the minimum number of credit hours to be considered “full time”, and my gpa is above the threshold to keep academic scholarships. i’m already set to be in roughly 60k+ in debt after this school year, i would REALLY not like to lose this extra money because i’m already cooked when i get out of college and don’t want to place a bigger burden on myself. who can i contact and get in touch with to solve this matter?

Anyone in town do pickup soccer? If not would anyone join a GroupMe if I started one?

I don’t know anyone in town who plays

I wanted to comment on the original post that im pointing out in this rant, but either moderators deleted it or the OP deleted so im just gonna leave this here cause its been bugging me for days ⬇️

Im a HUGE advocate for mental health awareness, and I saw a previous person with a mental health disability get dragged by a few ppl in the comments because they wanted to sneak their ESA in. and those few ppl were SO disrespectful. Like the person said they were in the process of getting the paperwork done, and that they were in a single dorm by themselves, and ppl were just saying “oh thats disrespectful to ppl who actually have a disability” or sarcastically saying “mental health alright”.

I just wanna say that nobody has the right to tell someone who they don’t know that their disability is fake. SOO many people have that mindset, and causes many to go untreated, suffering for years. Of course there are people who fake disabilities for a certain outcome, but that does not mean everyone with a disability is faking it.

If having a pet truly helps relieve symptoms of whatever they have, let them. Especially since the OP was in the process of getting that paperwork done, and it was obviously a last resort plan.

Even then, It’s not the OPs responsibility to care about making sure everyone around them feels comfortable. In college closed mouths don’t get fed. PERIOD. I also remember someone saying something along the lines of “the DRC doesn’t have to give you accommodations, the world doesn’t revolve around you.” Like the DRC is a resource, if im paying between 18k-42k per year im gonna take advantage of all the resources I can get, and if I can’t im gonna make sure that Im comfortable to the best of my ability.

Like our school already has a history of discrimination against POC, don’t discrimination against people with disabilities be next on the list bro 🤦‍♀️

‼️Leave opinions, I would love to have a debate with ygs