I presume you are a student. Hence you would have least total cost of Ownership as the top priority. Choose a car that will have -
1. Good FE
2. Low maintenance
3. Long lasting (At least for next 4 years) - So that you can change the car once you start earning.
You seem to be in US so go for any Japanese Car that has run less than 90K miles. Manual shift will be cheaper.
PS - Your profile shows you are 1970 born and 38 years old. is that a typo or are you just kidding here.
