>>1510596>poorHardtail or rigid. Fullsus is a money pit. With any kind of suspension, you need to get it serviced every 50-100 hours or once a year. Minimum. Servicing a fork is easy and relatively inexpensive. The rear shock, not so much. Usually you have to send it back to the factory. You'll also have to deal with all sorts of potential linkage issues.
>I can only afford 1>college student>commutingCollege campuses are a bike thief's candy box. If you commute on a nice MTB and lock it up outside, it will get stolen. If you have to store it in a dorm bike lockup, it will get stolen or fucked with. If you have somewhere safe to stow the MTB, I'd get something like a Marin San Quentin 3, then get an old beater for your commuting. If you don't have anywhere safe for the bike, get a old-ish rigid 26er, outfit it with good disc brakes, 1x, and maybe a dropper. Use that to develop the fuck out of your skills. Then by the time you can get the nice MTB, you'll either be fast a fuck or you'll wonder what the big deal was.
