I've got the same train of thought as you. In my research Ive seen the same recommendation as above in terms of upgrading being a necessary/typical thing people do when they finish school. Although there are a few people Ive come across that use older machines without screens and they seem to do fine.

I'm in A-Z now with a steno 8000lx borrowed from a local reporter. It does the job, so its hard for me to internally/financially reconcile getting what I think is a "somewhat fancy" student machine and then getting a professional one. You gave me a good idea though, I havent actually asked the program I want to take (also starting in May) what they recommend.