There's no point in buying an expensive computer your first year. You most likely won't even use it. By the time you get to your final years you'll find it will no longer perform adequately. 

Once you get heavy into your studio I can safely say that you shouldn't be spending a whole lot of time at your home.  For your first laptop I recommend trying to keep things under $1000, and use it for taking notes, writing, etc. very light tasks.  Use the lab computers as much as you can, then when the time comes do some research and build your own studio rig.  A laptop won't stay relevant very long with any design, graphics, modeling programs, so just use lab computers.

You should use the labs as much as possible. Not only are they going to be much better workstations, you will be around others which will keep you on task and give you resources if you get stuck. You can always lean over and ask a 3rd or 4th year student for help when you are in the lab. At your apartment you are much more likely to go crack a beer. 

If you want a laptop that can do a little architecture work on the side, keep an eye out on NewEgg or Costco.com or Amazon.com for a Windows laptop with an Intel i7, at least 12 gb of RAM, and discreet graphics. Check those boxes and the computer will mostly do what you want. You would have to spend a ton of money to get a truly "good" mobile workstation for architecture.

I can recommend the laptop that I was using for 2 years already - Asus n56vz
That's not the newest model, but its performance is quite good for architecture, both for 2D and 3D. Two major minuses are the weight and only 3 hours without charging. It costs about $1300 in the US, I think.