One thing to be aware of In West Chester is the fact that there is a restriction on student housing and the town is not currently giving out any additional student rental permits; unless the property already has a student permit, the student subset of the market will be out play.

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing or vacation rentals.

Currently, i'm a graduate student in mechanical engineering, but can't see myself working my whole life for a company that will limit my potential.

@Declan KasterIf you were flipping like @Josh Caldwell, a turnkey operator a la @James Wise or a wholesaler, a twitter feed could be a good way to shoot out new properties for sale to a population of potential buyers.As a buy-and-hold investor specializing in student accommodations we have thought about using twitter to let existing tenants and potential tenants know of upcoming vacancies.  

I'm also having an issue with financing because I'm currently an unemployed student.

Take a good look at student housing see below.Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

I am currently a college student who lives with my parents and has loans to cover tuition. 

Priorities for most people should be: FoodShelterClothingI look for things out of the ordinary (and usually find them): Big expense items (new phone, new tv)Cable service worksInternet service worksCollege student still has enough money to buy beerThere are assistance programs for just about everything:This link describes 4 different types of medical assistance https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11445.pdfI'm sure they exist, but I have never heard of a registered nurse not having medical insurance or not knowing how to get medical assistance.

@Aaron Mikottis Interesting...with the influx of new students each year at NIU, I would find Dekalb to be a strong rental market as well.  

As far for Athens, I knew that it is a college town so its an obvious good idea to rent out to students but I did not think about Football season.