No dildo?
Please forego the 4 track and just focus on the computer. Even ignoring all the signal processing you can do with plugins and sequencing/editing programs, you will simply have much better sound quality than you'll get out of any cassette 4 track. I hate to say it, but I would even replace that home system with a DAW! I know that's not the answer you're looking for, but I would bet that if you go the DAW route for college, when you come home that outboard stuff will seem pretty useless by comparison. Once you learn something like Cubase or Sonar, you can simply do a lot more within a single program than a whole rack full of reasonably-priced outboard gear can do. You do lose that "hands-on" sort of feel but if you really need that there are actually a number of new controllers that have faders/pots/switches to use on a DAW.