When I was an aero-eng student, I took up microlighting, and got a lot from it - I still do.
However, I think definitely in your position you should go for gliding -you'll gain as much towards your understanding of flight, and you'll almost certainly find a better social scene as well. Compared to some of us, you still have relatively more time than money as well, and this suits gliding well. Also there are often cheap university gliding clubs.
When it's time, and you have the money, turning your gliding experience into a PPL will be straightforward enough.
G