College Guidance
ALL NEW UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS entering UNC Charlotte are required to have a personal laptop computer to support their college experience. In addition, some colleges have additional requirements or recommendations:
| College | Additional Requirements / Recommendations |
|---|---|
| Belk College of Business | All students are required to have a laptop with the Windows operating system. |
| Cato College of Education | No additional requirements. |
| College of Arts + Architecture: School of Architecture | The NinerReady computer is not suitable for Architecture majors. Faculty recommend a computer with the following specifications: – a dedicated processor comparable to 13th Gen Intel CoreTM i7-13700H or (for higher performance) to 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900H; – a graphics card comparable to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3500 or (for higher performance) to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4700. Students may also consider a Macbook Pro with the M2 Pro or (for higher performance) the M3 Pro or M4 Pro chip; – Macbook users in advanced studios (third-year studios and above for undergraduate students and all graduate-level studios) may require the use of cloud-based processing for AI operations. All computers (PC and Mac) should meet the following specifications: 32 GB RAM; – 1 TB SSD hard drive; 15″ minimum screen size (which means the 16″ Macbook Pro, not the 14″); and an external mouse (two-button + wheel). – Students are also expected to subscribe to the full suite of the Adobe Creative Cloud software, and to install Version 8 of Rhino 3D Modeling software (which may be installed initially as a 90-day free trial before purchasing a one-time student license). |
| College of Arts + Architecture: Digital Arts Majors | If you are a Digital Media, Graphic Design, or Illustration student, the NinerReady computer may not meet your needs. Faculty recommend laptops be capable of running the latest version of Adobe CC, which includes video editing. Since our labs are equipped with iMacs, faculty recommend a MacBook with a M1 Processor (or newer), at least 32 GB of memory (RAM), and 1 TB SSD internal storage. Should you choose a Windows laptop, faculty recommend an Intel Core 8 Processor or newer, at least 32 GB of memory (RAM), 6 – 8 GB of video memory (GPU), 1 TB SSD internal storage. Additional recommendations include an external mouse, an external 2 – 4 TB SSD drive, and a drawing tablet. |
| College of Computing and Informatics | No additional requirements |
| College of Health and Human Services | No additional requirements |
| College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences | No additional requirements. |
| College of Science | No additional requirements. |
| The William States Lee College of Engineering | The hardware recommendations are required for Engineering students. See the NinerTech Store for more details. |
Apple’s new Mac Books (with an M series chip) require a Virtual machine (ARM only). The latest version of Parallels Desktop may meet this need and can be purchased from https://software.charlotte.edu.