The terms of the scholarship are a little unclear. Where does the latitude enter the picture? Are you talking about buying another computer for sound work? Why? You're not exactly hurting with a 2.53G dual core Intel, although if you have a choice, find out the minimum specs for Avid Media Composer. I think it's 2.4 but can't remember exactly. Whatever it is, try and get it.
I mention Media Composer because the Avid Suite uses ProTools for sound, and that is a great place to be.
PC based Protools, not Mac Based. There's not a damn thing wrong with Mac. I can tell you, as fast as technology changes, your software support needs to run to keep up. Apple has traditionally been on top of all those changes, especially in web based and broadcast digital video. They slipped when the iPod made them rich, from what I hear, and Avid has jumped into the void. As a student, you can buy MC5 and ProTools student discount from Academic Superstore. Pinnacle never used to do this. It is a company with a marketing department on the move. Learn about Avid. Final Cut, I think, was built from parts bought from Avid, the traditional Hollywood favorite.
You didn't mention your major. That's a very important item. If you plan to major in media, they should have specified the graphics card and the HD should be 7200rpm. The cache needs to be right, too. I forget, L2 or L4. While you are at it, have them ship with a couple of extra 500 - 1000 hard drives, Seagates if you can get them, both for backup and speed.
When you say transfer options, I wouldn't worry about that. Most of us save the finished work and shelve the hard drives or erase the original data. By the time you graduate, 100 GB Sandisks ought to be about ten dollars
So, there's a bunch more stuff to think about.
If I were a student and had the money, I'd get the Power Mac Tower before the MacBook Pro, even though I love my MBPro