As mentioned in the other computer thread, some students will use the computer lab to run stuff like AutoCAD and then have more flexibility with the laptop they choose. Both my engineering s’s had PCs in college, though later switched to macs (they are in silicon valley, where thats pretty much the norm). Good luck!
The ThinkPad series is aimed at a professional market as opposed to the consumer market. Generally speaking they allow higher end components (processors, RAM, screens) and are therefore typically more expensive. They also typically offer more security features (e.g. a TPM) though some of the non-ThinkPad line also have those. They’re also typically built more durable. Again, though, this all feeds into the higher price.
We shopped for an engineering laptop in 2014. D is in architectural engineering and needs to run Revit. She prefers Windows, needed windows to run the software, so we didn’t shop mac, even though everything we have at home is Apple. She is also very petite and needed/wanted lightweight and portable. She ended up with an ASUS Zenbook with discrete graphics, SSD, and I don’t remember how much RAM. It was a compromise–something that would run Revit acceptably when needed but light enough to carry to class. It works for that purpose and she’s been happy with it. We haven’t been terribly satisfied with durability. She is careful, but it still had to be sent in for warranty repair on the hinge. FedEx lost it and opened a claim, but Asus had actually recieved it and one day out of the blue she got it back, repaired. She never wants to do that again, but once again the hinge is getting more and more tempramental. It’s easier to get service on a Mac, in our experience.
Big Bang for the bucks…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FJFN2DC/ref=twister_B01HVOE6VQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Our son (CS major) saved for years during high school to purchase a high powered laptop to take to college ( a Razer Blade). My feedback to him was that it was far over powered for what he needed: Intel i7, discrete Nvidia graphics GPU, 16Gb memory, etc. Turns out (in his specific case) that he was right and I was wrong. He uses it extensively for programming, and is using the GPU to accelerate machine learning code. It is a little heavy, but surprisingly compact. This is a very specific case but an example of when more power in a laptop is a good thing.