Dear aspirant,

Hope you are doing fine

It is not necessary to carry a laptop as most college will have computer lab facilities. If you are going to a boardin college, then you most likely will be able to use those facilities and thus can survive without one but it is really useful to have a laptop in college. It makes a lot of your work like coding, typing assignments, looking for extra online courses easier. Check the computer lab facilities of your campus and you'll be able to decide how badly you'll need one.

Hope this helps