Since your going off to College I would try to spend as little as possible, spend maybe half of that 15k on a car and put the other half in your savings.
That said your not going to find a better budget car than a honda. For $7500 you should be ableto find a decent used honda with a b-series swap and have enough left over to go turbo. 300whp on a stock b-series motor is easy with good tuning. On slicks you will have a high 11 second car, easy 12's on street tires, oh and when your light on the throttle still get 30mpg on the freeway.
That might be a little more work than you want though, so a camaro with an LS1 or better yet a Cobra Mustang might be an option. I like the Cobras and they can be pretty fast with upgrades. Your not going to get the kinda gas mileage a 4 banger will get you though. I can't stand newer 4 bangers like Subarus, Evo's, SRT4's, etc... they cost a lot and are still slow, unless you dump a lot of money into them.
So just get what you want and dont' blow it all on the car! Save some of it at least.
