My chem e used a Dell 2 in 1. She liked being able to write notes on the screen with a stylus instead of typing during lectures. She liked it so much that she bought a second one after graduation.
Be sure to check with the school directly to see if they have any recommendations. For my D’s school, they specifically recommended PCs over Macs. Your chem e will need to be able to run ASPEN on their laptop and if I recall, there were some issues with installing it on Macs (but again, check with the school).