@DrGoogle Yeah, it was probably the 15 inch. And those graphics really aren’t great. To get the discrete card (a gt 750m), you have to pay $2500. Even the Razer Blade is a better deal.
For the slim 15" category, the Asus G501 offers a LOT more bang for your buck. At maximum configuration, it has just as good of a screen and superior graphics for $500 less.
She didn’t pay for the graphics card, it was something that makes the pictures much sharper. This was 2 years ago but I believe she paid less than $2000 for the whole thing.
Edit to say it was retina display.
Honestly, I couldn’t tell much difference between the retina display and the regular mac display. I compared them side by side at the Apple store, and couldn’t tell the difference. So for me, it’s not worth the money 
My family has 4 Thinkpads ranging back to 2004, and they all still work flawlessly. So, I would recommend getting something like a quad core T440p.
Post #42, I could tell the difference and I have bad eyesight. Anyway, it was not my decision, kid #2 decide on the computer and I just provided the credit card.
@DrGoogle OK, my bad. Whenever I hear “graphics”, I immediately think of graphics cards.
@NoVADad99 It’s a case by case basis. For me, I can tell the jump from 1080p to quad-hd, but not from that to 4k.
Frankly though, I would take a 1080p AMOLED display over a higher res LCD any day of the week.
You don’t need a top of the line expensive laptop for engineering school. I used an old dell 13" 700m that served me well through college. If I needed to run cad, programming software, etc, I would just use the campus computer. I would just get something lightweight that has basic office software. You don’t want to lug a heavy paperweight all over campus.
@zer0c123 Yes, I do. For my computer science classes, I absolutely NEED a laptop that will run skyrim at 150 frames per second. For extra credit work 
If you are trying to play games on a laptop, you are a sucker.
@boneh3ad It’s only for when I don’t have access to my desktop. I’m not exactly being 100% serious.
Truth be told, coding on a laptop isn’t much fun either. It can be done but a desktop is appreciably better.
Don’t worry about “what laptop” that much. Just get a decent laptop that you like. Your campus should be equipped with computers that can run anything you’ll need. Even though most of it should run on the average laptop too.