These are all excellent schools for a pre-med student, so any place will be fine academically. They will all give you the college experience you are looking for–sports culture, social life, etc.
I’ll focus on the ones I know best. I’ll focus on the weather a little because there are vast differences, even though that makes more of a difference during the spring semester (January-May).
UCLA/UCSD: UCLA is beautiful. It’s in LA and has access to a lot. LA is very much a sprawling city (not much of a downtown relative to the size), so it will extend for miles and miles around you. UCSD also has a nice campus. It’s in much more of a suburban area and is a very short drive to a nice little beach area. Weather is as good as it gets. I don’t know UCSB very well, though it’s supposed to be very beautiful with a big party neighborhood right by campus. I’d say pretty much the same about USC. Campus is different than UCLA but still pretty spectucular.
Austin is a great little city, maybe the mostly highly regarded one in the US. There will be lots of fun nightlife and clubs. The campus has a fairly urban feel, less traditionally campus-y. Austin is considered a liberal island in a conservative state, though I don’t know the local culture well.
Georgetown has a very nice traditional campus right on the Potomac River. It’s in DC but is an old historic river port city and has its own vibe. The C&O canal is adjacent to campus and provides a 190-mile long hiking, biking, running travel that is very beautiful. Students seem very poised, accomplished, and affluent. The last scene in the movie “The Exorcist” is shot on the stairs leading down from the campus to Georgetown bars/restaurants. For US students, it probably has the most competitive admissions of any school on your list.
Madison, Wisconsin is a great college town and is immediately adjacent to the campus. The school is large and sprawling. Two lakes are on either side of Madison, and the campus is right on one of them. The biology programs are world-class. Big-time Big Ten sports. It will get cold toward the end of the semester and is brutal early the next semester.
Michigan State and UIUC would be most similar to Wisconsin–large upper Midwest state flagships, outstanding programs, cold winter weather. I have not been to MSU, though my daughter’s friend is a student and loves it. UIUC is an excellent school especially for science/engineering. Frankly, though, I found the campus and surrounding area to feel pretty rundown. I think the state is having financial troubles and funding is down for schools, you’d have to check that though.
All of the below schools would have great weather, even hot at the beginning of the semester:
Chapel Hill is actually just about my favorite college town. Great bar/restaurant area (Franklin Street/Carrboro) immediately adjacent to spectacular campus. Like Wisconsin and UT, it is one of the highest ranked state flagships and is very competitive in admissions for OOS students because NC only allows a small % of OOS students (same true for Texas). With the limited info about you, I might think UNC your #1 choice.
Georgia and Athens where it is located have great reputations, but I have not been there since I was a kid. It will give you primo colleges sports and social life. Football team will be outstanding next year, and it is a huge tailgating school, so that would be fun 5-6 weekends in the fall. (Largely true also for Wisconsin and some of the other state flagships here.)
Miami will give you all of Miami. Student body is extremely affluent, and it will be an upscale party/social scene. I don’t know the school well though.
LSU will be very southern and more culturally conservative, if that appeals or not. Again, it’s a very good school for pre-med, but I might consider it the one on your list where an exchange student might most likely have the most difficult time integrating, though we love Aussies, and I’m guessing it would go great for you.
AZ is a southwestern version of the typical US state flagship school. It has a diverse student population and seems like it would be a fun school (I know AZ pretty well, but not the school). It might be a good choice if that part of the US appeals.
Good luck!
