Macbook Pro Retina for Design School - Feedback needed

Hello All,

I am an avid PC user and will soon be switching to a Macbook Pro Retina for design school in the fall and wanted to get some input.

I plan to purchase either refurbished or slightly used from Apple direct or Amazon. I am zeroing in on the late 2012 and 2013 15.4" models with Retina or a newer model (2014+) 13.3" with Retina and wanted to ask a few questions as well as get some feedback.

1. Are these year range/model ranges sufficient enough to handle Adobe CC and other design software?

2. Is the 15.4" a better buy overall or simply for the fact of a larger screen?

3. I'm hoping to find one with 16GB of memory, but from what I have gathered so far these are still plenty capable with 8GB....any input?

I have worked on Mac towers before in previous design courses but have always had a custom built PC or Windows based laptop while at home. These graduate level courses are requiring a Macbook Pro with Retina display and since this will be my first Macbook Pro purchase, I just want to be sure before spending that amount of cash.

Any feedback, input or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

Thanks