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Education Discounts?

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SVG

macrumors newbie
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Mar 13, 2006
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I am not currently a student, but I see on the Apple website that there's a section where you could choose your school and enter your student ID number. When I entered my old student ID (it's good for life, and I only graduated a few years ago), does Apple have some way of checking your student "status"?

Btw, I am not trying to be unethical, I am curious at this point. :)
 
I've never seen a school that asks for your student ID, but Apple doesn't always check on their online store. Checking all of the thousands of daily orders would be tedious to say the least, so they just take your word for it.
1 in every so many orders is followed up on before shipment, so that may be of note, but I have no idea how many orders are checked.

It would be breaking their rules if you did order though ;)
 
Yeah, please don't order unless you are still a student or faculty member. If this happens enough it could jeopardize the priviledge for the rest of us who are...:)
 
I remember hearing somewhere that they audit some of them, I think they may have even called up my school on one occasion to verify my status.
 
yoda13 said:
Yeah, please don't order unless you are still a student or faculty member. If this happens enough it could jeopardize the priviledge for the rest of us who are...:)
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what?

how would it jeopardize it for real students?

he's endangering it for those who aren't real students, assuming apple decides to get real about policing the policies...
 
gwuMACaddict said:
what?

how would it jeopardize it for real students?

he's endangering it for those who aren't real students, assuming apple decides to get real about policing the policies...
Click to expand...

I think he meant that if it were abused enough, Apple would do away with educational pricing altogether.
 
Is there some good reason why Apple doesn't give elementary/highschool discounts?? Isn't this the market they should really be going after, to turn people into life long Mac users??

Frankly, I'm disappointed that the only discounts are for college students and teachers. I mean, lets face it, the computers ARE quite a bit more expensive than a PC. And as a guy with 4 kids all under the age of 13, saving $100 would be nice.

I'm in the market for a new mac and just very well might have my nephew order it for me as he is in college and just lives down the street from me. Call it unethical, but why can't a working dad with 2 kids in elementary and 1 in middle school get some kind of a break too??
 
VoodooDaddy said:
Call it unethical, but why can't a working dad with 2 kids in elementary and 1 in middle school get some kind of a break too??
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There are other discounts available... teacher, government, etc. Look in to those.

(or lie, and say you're a student- they don't check)
 
The only discounts I see are for college student and faculty and elementary/high school teachers. Unless I'm overlooking it, I don't see anything for elementary/middle school/high school students.

Just is curious to me why the "education" discount doesn't apparently apply to students not in college.
 
VoodooDaddy said:
Just is curious to me why the "education" discount doesn't apparently apply to students not in college.
Click to expand...

Perhaps Apple believes that education before college is essentially "free" for the student. Sure, their parents pay taxes and other expenses, but it's nowhere near as expensive as a 4year University.
 
High school teachers do indeed get a discount from Apple (we are about to upgrade to a 20" iMac from our old iMac 450 DV). Perhaps the lack of discount for elementary and high school students is because very few high schools and elementary schools require the students to have their own computer. I think that most schools, at least in our area, have computers for the students to use at school, and strongly encourage their use. Colleges on the other hand, at least Mizzou where my daughter attends, requires students to have a computer, and they make them available through their own Tech Store on campus, at a pretty good discount, with a nice package of extras.

I'm just sayin'.
 
SVG said:
I am not currently a student, but I see on the Apple website that there's a section where you could choose your school and enter your student ID number. When I entered my old student ID (it's good for life, and I only graduated a few years ago), does Apple have some way of checking your student "status"?

Btw, I am not trying to be unethical, I am curious at this point. :)
Click to expand...

If you were unlucky and ended up getting caught, at worst you would pay the difference and be banned for life from ever getting and edu discount from Apple. This is nothing if your done with school. At worst, it could be considered fraud or petty theft.

In the agreement (If I remember the fine print correctly), it does allow you to get the discount if you are not enrolled in school, but will be attend shortly.
 
gwuMACaddict said:
Perhaps Apple believes that education before college is essentially "free" for the student. Sure, their parents pay taxes and other expenses, but it's nowhere near as expensive as a 4year University.
Click to expand...

Well, not if kids go to a private school (mine do). Its fairly expensive, and by no means do I have money to throw around. Just a blue collar, middle class family.

Thing is, a lot of teachers make as much or more than I do, so why are they getting a discount?

$100 really isn't that much money. I doubt $100 is gonna make or break someone from going to college for 4yrs. And no, its not gonna break me either. But if they are getting an education discount, I think it should apply to all students regardless of your current level of education.
 
Sharewaredemon said:
They do check, but infrequently.

I'd say it isn't worth the risk of getting "caught"
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Out of curiosity, what are they going to do? Send the Apple police after you? :)

I'm kinda half-joking but seriously, what's the "risk" of being caught?
 
VoodooDaddy said:
Well, not if kids go to a private school (mine do). Its fairly expensive, and by no means do I have money to throw around. Just a blue collar, middle class family.

Thing is, a lot of teachers make as much or more than I do, so why are they getting a discount?

$100 really isn't that much money. I doubt $100 is gonna make or break someone from going to college for 4yrs. And no, its not gonna break me either. But if they are getting an education discount, I think it should apply to all students regardless of your current level of education.
Click to expand...

Somehow I doubt Apple's real goal is to give teachers a break, but more to hopefully keep teachers/edu staff with Apple, which could influence their school staying Mac or going PC.

In other words, the edu discount for teachers is a much smaller number than the hordes and hordes of parents out there. I guess all those $100 discounts would add up to a number Apple doesn't like. The current way can help keep teachers on Macs.

Of course, my theory doesn't actually carry over to the college level. My only guess is that Apple is hoping to get lure in more college kids because aren't they the group most likely to squander money left and right? :p
 
Abulia said:
Out of curiosity, what are they going to do? Send the Apple police after you? :)

I'm kinda half-joking but seriously, what's the "risk" of being caught?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, I haven't read the fine print so I do not know.

I've wondered this as well.
 
It is fraud (Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain) - I'd imagine you could be prosecuted in most countries for doing it. I mean, if you’re a man - You wouldn’t claim to be a women when buying car insurance for a cheaper quote.

Whether or not Apple would do anything about it is another matter, but its still unethical imo.

-----opinion-----
The whole idea of the student stores, I would imagine, boils down to marketing. They give students a small break, allowing them to get a cheaper computer whilst at Uni/whatever to complete their studies - Brand loyalty follows because of this "generous" offer and therefore they have a customer for many years to come after the student leaves education.

So if I was Mr/Miss/Mrs/Dr Big Cheese at Apple, I would be miffed if non-students broke my evil genius plan and got cheaper products without the sense of gratitude that a student will probably have (think lots of debt) - So I can see them doing something about it in the future - maybe tightening up the system somehow.


Critical Thinking is fun! (Got my AS Level exam in it tomorrow...)
 
codo said:
It is fraud (Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain) ... You wouldn’t claim to be a women when buying car insurance for a cheaper quote.
Click to expand...

Unless your a woman, which I am not. It's tempting. Very tempting. But I digress.

codo said:
Critical Thinking is fun!...)
Click to expand...
It is the central focus of the university I attend. No matter how long I attempt to improve my thinking process, and attempt to think critically, I will never be perfect. Reminders and different perspectives are always welcome.
 
Eniregnat said:
Unless your a woman
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lol nope! - All guy here.

Eniregnat said:
It is the central focus of the university I attend. No matter how long I attempt to improve my thinking process, and attempt to think critically, I will never be perfect. Reminders and different perspectives are always welcome.
Click to expand...

I've got another year at college before Uni - Considered doing it because it’s just so useful. But I'm such a news junkie, so I will probably end up doing some form of journalism.

The AS Critical Thinking course is pretty basic, to be honest; we just look at the credibility of evidence amongst a few other things. Never the less, it’s certainly interesting.
 
If you want a real discount...

wait until you are actually in college...

then get the Apple Student Developers membership for $99 and save alot more than just the Edu discount.
 
I don't think we need any more discussion about how to abuse Apple's educational discount.

You might or might not be required to show or prove ID.

You might or might not get caught.

It might or might not be illegal (probably isn't) but surely is against Apple's policies and abuse of said policies won't be tolerated here.

I equate it somewhat to parking in those "reserved for pregnant mothers" spots. Sure, you might get away with it, and maybe it isn't prosecutable, but it certainly isn't acceptable.
 
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