Well just a quick reiteration- buy the laptop...makes your life way easier here. Don't buy and bring a "perfect" computer because it meets the specs, you wont even have administrative rights to install software on it.
As for college applicants go, I personally believe that it depends on the what the person went to school for, how well they did and most of all, their enthusiasm toward KP and the maritime industry and why it is a better option than where they currently attend. I don't think that the type of college matters. I earned an associates degree in welding prior to coming to KP and I believe that this degree was looked upon favorably (for obvious reasons). I was immediately offered a slot to NMMI (also coincidentally a 2 year college) purely to improve my math grades, which in the end really helped me pass calc 1 and 2 here at KP. Personally, I don't think that KP would have looked at me (a C+ high school student) in the same sense if I went to StateU and started my 4 year degree in Underwater Basket Weaving.
My personal belief in regards to classes at the community colleges is this, take the hard classes (calc I and II, Calc-based Physics, Chem I and II, Prob and Stats, etc.) and some basic ones like Econ and English I and II. Gain a lot of exposure to the course material, do as well as you can and learn how to ask for help if needed. SAVE your class syllabus from your college classes and bring them with you, this way if you want to get out of a certain class, you can present it and a transcript to a department head and possibly get out of it. This is usually done on a case by case basis so I wouldn't call Admissions to ask them about a list of classes that USMMA will grantee accepting.
If all else fails, at least you have exposure to the material and you can now apply it to the classes here. Believe me, the classes here move MUCH quicker than a traditional college class so to be able to have an entire semester of exposure will no doubt help you in the end.