Think about the sort of flying you are going to want to do, and what fits best with that. You may not know yet, so waiting a while and trying different types may be the way.
Buying your own is nice if you can afford the type you want, but faced with the choice of something very cheap and basic or a nice tourer that I couldn't afford at the time, I chose to join a group on a very nice tourer (a Piper Arrow III). Fixed costs were shared six ways, which made the inevitable avionics upgrades, engine replacement, etc a lot less painful.
I flew all round Europe in that Arrow and put a lot of hours on it.