personally if I was a student I would not bother with a gti (insurance, repairs ,etc)- unless you are loaded! there are a lot of better things to do with your money when you are a student! visiting other countries with your exchange students , etc.
you could get a nicely styled bog standard golf for the money you mention and would be fine for road trips !
when I was looking I saw a couple for less than 4000 but they looked poorly and are usually not too clean inside.