I am in med school and had to drive back in that storm last night too. Uphill and unplowed roads in the woods of NJ. I got to one hill and a construction guy said you can’t get up, a Subaru was stuck on the side, and a Land Rover LR4 spun out and was backing down. I smiled and kindly said thanks, closed the window, and turned my Jeep knob to Snow and drove straight up it with factory tires. It passed all the other cars without much of a struggle. My family has owned Land Cruisers, Land rovers, And many others but nothing seems to ever do as well in the snow as Jeep.
You might be able to get a Cherokee or a Compass with Active Drive 2 which is actually 4x4 and not AWD. I would highly recommend a Jeep with all terrain tires. I have never ever been stuck and drive in the dead of storms and many unplowed uphills.
People rave about Subaru’s but it isn’t a car for me. They’re not exactly that cheap, they’re not great looking, and the majority are underpowered.