B&H is a store, you can google them as “B&H Photo”. Here is their link too if it makes it easier https://www.bhphotovideo.com/
They sell a lot stuff for photo and video like their link suggests which includes computers like Macs. They have very good discounts sometimes
If you can afford it try to go for 16 GB of Ram. Regarding storage, if you’re at around 50% storage of 256 GB then you could probably stay but could also start thinking about the 512GB. If you’re at around or above 75% storage of the 256 GB then you definitely should consider the 512 SSD. If you have gone 3 years without getting near 75% then you would probably be fine with 256 GB especially if you also do iCloud storage.
If gaming is what you want then I would be careful with getting a Mac. Unless maybe it’s something like the Sims maybe? Check what type of games you want to play is what I’m trying to say because you may be limited. Also the 16 GB of ram may be helpful here depending on what is playable that you also want to play.
Refurbished has worked great for me but only if it comes directly from Apple. Compare student pricing with the refurbished. I would also recommend that you checkout B&H for deals. Especially during Black Friday sales. I got an M1 Max with 64 GB of RAM and 2 TB SSD to replace my old 13” MacBook Pro from 2015. This was a couple months ago and the sales on the older M chips are great.
If you’re having to worry about it I would say don’t even consider a Mac for this. Get something that will reliably allow you to go through your course workload without the need to have to depend on on-campus labs if posible.
Intels used to be able to do boot camp but I would not recommend you get an old Intel Mac. Get a a Windows machine that meets your needs.
Parallels may work but you’ll have to research all the software you need to see if it will even be able to run on the ARM architecture.
Look up the chrome extension Keepa. It will help you see the historical prices of products being sold on Amazon to see if it actually a deal. I would also compare it to Apple, go build a computer with the same specs there to compare the “normal” price. Also you can look into B&H Photo, they have really good deals sometimes on Macs. That’s how I got a really decked out 14” MacBook Pro