MacBook Pro for College Student

my take on this is slightly different - as a college student you should list out first the task you would need this machine for

1. writing - assignments
2. video watching or movie watching
3. learning some pro software like fcpx/3dmax etc (considering the heavy ones) - fcpx works fine on macbook pro/ 3dmax may struggle(on 13inch ones)
4. may be learning coding
5. playing some average games (not heavy ones) - sometimes;

16gb RAM with 256 gb would be fine for that- for atleast 3-4 years to come..

you should get 3 year warranty, to have peace of mind + and and external 1tb drive for data backup..

not sure if you are considering 13inch macbook pro or 16inch ones..

the extra advantage of 16 inch is that it has a faster processor and and extra graphics card...but that is needed for persons who would use it for graphics and video editing.

16GB refers to RAM not storage. I would not get less than 512GB storage and 16GB RAM.

I always get the most I can afford. Resource demands will increase in future years. If you can afford 32GB RAM get 32GB.