Check it:
I'm 17 and also wanted a brand new car when I turned 16. I was bitching to my mom about her not getting me a brand new one and my limit was decreased to 7500$. I wanted 25000$ lol. Well 7500 got me a 2000 v6 mustang. 5spd. Came with flowmasters. I was siked that it sounded sweet and all the girls wanted a ride in it lol. I learned to drive stick on it. (Replaced clutch 3 months into it). Unfortunately, I made 2 big mistakes within the year of having it. I first got in a minor wreck leaving a small scratch on my front bumper. I got sighted for that and had to go to court and spend 200 for ticket and court cost. A few months later I blew a stop sign and got sited and lost my license for 3 months. Trust me. You don't want to lose your license for 3 months. IT SUCKED! Anyways.. I was driving my moms 2002 Suzuki SUV and decided.. **** I'll do some offroading haha. Well a few weeks later the engine blew. Kind of funny because what ended up happening in the end was my mom going carless for a few weeks until we were going to get my Cobalt and she was going to trade in the mustang for a new car for herself. Problems we ran into... Her credit is **** so she coudln't get financed for the Cobalt.. She had my hopes up soo we waited a few months until she got 4 grand to put down. They still denied her. Luckily my dad and mom are on good terms and he co-signed and we put 3000 down.

Anyways.. back to the point.
You're going to want to learn to drive stick if you plan on getting a ss/sc. You don't want your first brand new car that you are so siked over to get messed up cause you never drove before. Save some money now and by yourself a nice car for 8k or so. I think you'll have trouble trying to get the Cobalt by yourself without your mom co-signing.. Ah wish I could help you more but personally I'd go w/ a nice cheap ride for now to get yourself ready for something like the cobalt.