@biomedicaltennis,
I agree with the other posters here. Good wisdom from all of them. I did not read your other posts, fyi. Just this one.
I will second the motion that you will do best to think entirely for yourself here. Visit both schools if you can, and then decide which school feels like the best fit for YOU. That’s what really counts here. It’s easy to get caught up in what other people might think about “prestige” – or about how other organizations might rank the schools. But the fact is, both are very good schools with very good programs.
If one offers considerably more money than the other, and if both feel like a great fit, then I would advise taking the one with the lowest Cost of Attendance. Nothing like eradicating as much student debt as you can, or saving any available funds for other enriching opportunities that might come along. Always wise, imo.
If all things are equal, then maybe you might weight rankings or career potential or which has the strongest department of choice, let’s say. Maybe. Just maybe.
But yeah, try hard to think only for YOU when making your decision. How do YOU feel about what each has to offer? (rhetorical)
Other quick answers:
- I'm sorry. I can't offer a candid comparison. I have an aggie son. I only know what I've read about Arizona. Can't help here.
- Texas A&M tends to do quite well by their NMF's. There are some solid guaranteed awards that include in-state rates for OOS students. You can read about the guaranteed awards here. https://scholarships.tamu.edu/Scholarship-Programs/National-Scholars#0-NationalMerit®Opportunities TAMU awards more than the guaranteed amounts to some students. My son is an NMF, and he received very generous awards that were well over the guarantee.
- I am one who always understands the intent and nature of your third question. I get it. My son is a very moderate student -- moderate politically, religiously, socially. He fits in really well. Nearly every student I've met through him is similar to him in this way. Of course, I'm meeting his friends -- so that does skew the data. But I would say that yes, a moderate student can easily fit in at TAMU. I would also take a stab at saying in my own son's micro-universe at A&M, the university is LESS conservative than the state of Texas' reputation. A&M has its conservative factions, for sure. I've seen them and my son has told me about some of the ultra-conservatism. But it's not in his sphere. It probably truly is a bit more conservative than a lot of college campuses around the country -- as a whole. And it's located in what is probably a bit more conservative part of the country. But it's not freaky-conservative or "intolerant," imo. I don't think you'll want to run for the hills upon visiting! It's a school of almost 60,000. In ANY school of that size, there's going to be a little bit of something for everybody! My moderate son is extremely happy there and is surrounded by many other like-minded people.
Best of luck to you with your choice! You’re lucky to have a couple of great choices! 