My D is pre-med, not pre-dental, but I assume the pre-health tracks are similar. For that reason we were seeking merit to save on undergrad, as many others have encouraged up thread. She applied to a mix of schools that “frequently” give merit and some reaches with competitive merit (mostly LACs since that was her preference). All the schools she applied to have been mentioned up thread, and she was quite successful with the schools that frequently award merit and also got a couple of competitive merit scholarships. The schools that offered merit (excluding the competitive scholarships) lowered the COA to a range of $22k (Furman) - $41k (Case).
One of the ways she narrowed down her initial application list was to request calls with the pre-health advisor at the schools she was considering. She asked questions about not only the advising but also the resources for volunteering/internship/shadowing opportunities. This helped her weed out a few schools.
Much like your mom told you, I encouraged her to dig into the campus culture to find a place she would be able to maintain a healthy social life and participate in extracurriculars she enjoys. If she does continue to medical school, that social life will go away! She also considered any reputation for grade deflation or hyper-competitive environment as GPA is important for med school applications.