If you think you can manage a mortgage, taxes, insurance and the upkeep of a home while paying your student loans then buying is not  bad idea but if you think you will overstretch yourself renting is nto bad either.

If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general.

Quote from @Martin Jones: YouTube gurus will tell you to borrow money from someone else, but that's bad advice for a beginner.

Not that that is a bad thing as some are on lower comp plans but they are at the mercy of all having "overlays" and have to sell their loans.

I think it's a bad investment.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Too bad AppFolio won't return my calls or emails...

They're not bad people, and they do want to spend their time with loyal clients. 

A good score is an easy "yes", but a bad score is an "ask more questions" in my process.

Yes, if it is that bad you will have constant headaches.