The course isn't that bad, just getting more edgy now with the semester almost being over.
Now here is what I came up with:
Motherboard and CPU Combo: Core i5 4670K and ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer -
$339.98
Toshiba Q Pro 256GB SSD -
$159.99
CoolerMaster Hyper EVO 212 -
$34.99
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 -
$52.99
CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W -
$79.99
EVGA 02G-P4-2763-KR GeForce GTX 760 2GB -
$249.99
Seagate 1TB HDD -
$64.99
Corsair Carbide 330R -
$69.99
Total =
$1,052.91
The build is a bit over budget. However I think the extra money is worthwhile in order to have the extra space on the solid state, that will it will be more usable in the coming years. Feel free to change the case out to something more to his liking. I could try to find some cheaper parts with the PSU and case to free up money, so he could maybe get a GTX 770. Then again that is also possible if you just get a 120GB SSD instead. All depends on what you two want to do.