Hi Tigerkat,
It’s great that you are putting so much consideration into this whole process! I’m sure it can almost seem overwhelming at times 
So, I just wanted to tell you about my daughter who is going into her junior year at UMCP. She was in the same boat as you just a few years ago. Had gotten into several select school (Johns Hopkins, CalTech, Vanderbilt, Princeton, UPenn. All had given her some money but not 100%) She also got a full Banneker Key Scholarship to UMCP. She hopes to get into med school, so she went with the full ride at UMCP knowing that she will have lots of future costs with med school (if she gets in). She is majoring in bioengineering and is in the Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) Honor Program. While at UMCP she has been a research assistant in 2 different research labs, is TAing a bioengineering class this semester (for work study) and has had so much support from the ILS professers and community. This past summer she was accepted into the summer scholars program at the University of Maryland Medical School (which is only available for students at UMCP). She is also in various clubs. She really enjoys being at Maryland and feels that the ILS staff has really helped her with what she needs to get done for med school (research, volunteer hours, shadowing doctors, course load, LORs just to name a few things). If you have any questions about UMCP, I can give you my daughter’s contact info. Good luck with this whole process!! This is such an exciting time for you!