a desktop can give u better performance, gaming, video editing and such for that budget if you go with a laptop its gonna be pretty good also with that budget one good thing is you can take it anywhere, most restaurants and cafes or bookstores and such near big colleges that ive seen have wireless access
final answer - if you are going to be taking it everywhere with you...like taking notes in class or if you get bored in class you can always mess around on ur laptop...great time pass as we all know then get a laptop but if you get a desktop its easier to deal with and better performance...also if ur a gamer go with the desktop