There are a lot of good laptops in that price range these days. The deciding factor is probably going to be non-technical : OS preference, style / design, customer service. That said, here are the ones I've been looking at:

MBP 13": Yeah, it's really 1199, but it's worth the extra cash if you want OSX (and you'll get it for less if you can claim student status). You already have a MBP, so this is an obvious choice. Added bonus: they just got a refresh, so you're looking at shiny new tech.

HP Envy 14: The route to take if you are in love with the MBP's style / build quality, but don't really care for / need OSX. Specs stack up pretty well against the MBP 13, even considering the refresh (Thunderbolt notwithstanding). Currently my personal frontrunner since I use Ubuntu as my primary OS.

Lenovo Thinkpad T410: The anti-Mac. Batman's Tumbler to Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini. Not much else to say about it; Thinkpads' reputation is easily as legendary as that of MBP's when it comes to performance and indestructibility.

Honorable mentions - Macbook Air / Lenovo IdeaPad U260 : If you're into the ultra-thin-and-light thing, these are the two to look into.

Side note: if you decide on any route other than the MBP, you'd be wise to wait a little before purchasing. Other manu's have been waiting to put out refreshes of their lines as well due to the Sandy Bridge fiasco. For all we know, Apple might not be the only one with LightPeak / Thunderbolt / whatevertheycallit for long.