[Kevin]

I'd check with the school first. Some schools issue computers to the students or have special pricing available for computers and/or software. As far as printers go, before making a purchase, again, I'd check and see what the school has in terms of access to printers. It might be hundreds of dollars cheaper in an academic career to simply print off anything which needs to be printed at the computer lab, and the need for that is probably declining anyhow as many professors will allow her to submit assignments in electronic form.

I'd stick with PC over Mac unless the school says otherwise just to avoid compatibility issues. My law school used a piece of software for final exams which allowed us to type our finals (very helpful for me since I type around 75WPM).

She should also buy as powerful a computer as she can afford because it'll be limping along 4-5 years from now when she ends her academic career.