Originally Posted by
I_like_cereal
Why stay away from the race machine?
For commuting, reliability is much more important than speed. My commute bike uses heavy tires, which undoubtedly slow me down, but I have 14,000 flat free miles on Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, I only have to change them every 8000 miles or so. A race bike is designed to go fast, the designers have made tradeoffs to allow it to go faster at the expense of reliability and ease of maintenance. If the OP had started out saying that he wanted to race, and also get to/from school, it would be different.
Given what we know, I would second the opinions to look at an 80s road or touring bike, or perhaps a hybrid. In my opinion, any commute bike should have fenders. Also, the OP doesn't think that he needs a rack and that his backpack will be enough - I would disagree - in GA, in the summer, he is not going to want something stuck to his back in the heat, and a rack and pannier will help in multiple ways: moves the center of gravity lower, making bike handling easier, and is much more comfortable.