I haven't really thought about this until now but here goes...
I game on my laptop that cost me a little over a grand, maybe $1300. Obviously gaming on laptops drastically reduce their lifespan, so I was wondering this: Could I put together a good gaming rig in the event that my laptop dies as well as get a cheaper laptop for schoolwork during class without costing that much more than the original laptop?

I noticed after reading this that the title question wasn't asked. Do any of you use a desktop if you're at college? Is it an inconvenience?

It's only an inconvenience if you don't have space for it, otherwise it's only an advantage.

You could build a good gaming desktop for much less than $1300 then pick up a netbook or something for ~$400 or less for class. I used a desktop for my dorm room (and gaming) then a laptop (that couldn't game) for class. Worked perfectly. ...until my POS laptop started overheating and eventually died, but I beat the crap out of that thing.

I wouldn't say this for anything but the battery specifically. As far as the rest of the hardware goes laptops have a problem with dust after a year or so, being so cramped inside, which contributes to overheating. This can be fixed with judicious use of compressed air.

But unless you're just pushing the thing transistor-meltingly hard with games on highest settings, I can't imagine it'd be a determent.

But I'm biased, having just spent more money than I care to admit on a laptop of my own to replace my desktop. I don't plan on gaming on it though, which is half the reason I made the switch in the first place. I have a mixed opinion on laptops in general too. One Sony Vaio laptop not only lasted for over 5 years of use, but also survived a 15 foot fall off the top of some stairs (well the screen broke, but it still got use with an external monitor for years after that). Then one HP Pavilion laptop just up and died one day after less than a year of normal light use, got sent in for repairs under warranty, and then up and died again a month later. Consequently stay far away from HP and their ilk. They saturate the market, but it's a bad decision to buy from them.

I have high hopes for the Lenovo X220 I've ordered. 7 hour battery life normally, i5 2520M CPU. Not for gaming, but it'll hold down Morrowind just fine I think.

I'm bringing my rig to college and then going to buy some cheap, efficient laptop.

I used to have a pc that I would play some games on, but it died.... What I did was played games on my desktop, and then used my laptop for school work and stuff like getting on the forums and what not.

I brought my desktop to college, and after the inconvenience of actually getting it there safely (had to ship it cross-country), it wasn't an inconvenience at all. Sure there were a few times I wished I had a laptop, but I was glad to have my gaming rig with me, especially because it's good enough to be used for Maya. And I never ran into another person in both of the dorms I was in who had a desktop instead of a laptop, though it's not like I met every person in the dorms. Suffca's got a good plan I think, but he already has a rig built. Maybe you should consider just getting a standard, non-gaming laptop to use for general college stuff, and wait for the gaming laptop to die before spending money on a gaming rig.

I still have a year before college, but I plan on taking my desktop(s) and laptops there. Also the Internet will hopefully be very fast.