Hello @confusion101 I totally get where you are coming from!! I am the worst at making decisions (of any size, from choosing something on a menu to life decisions). I was actually really surprised by how natural this decision came to me since it was a huge source of stress for me for a long time.
I think that the most helpful thing I did in making this decision was visiting the campus. I know that this is not possible for everyone, so I’ll just give you the gist of my perspective.
UT Dallas was a perfect fit for my personality. It seemed like a fairly quiet campus with a strong nerdy undercurrent. There was happily a lack of crazy party people and everyone seemed very motivated and studious. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this; I fit perfectly into this campus culture. The only thing is is that I want to be surrounded by different people and different personalities. I know that they were there, somewhere, but the campus felt very homogeneous in terms of personality. I didn’t feel like there were the kinds of opportunities that I would need in order to grow and find my place. Yes, there were study abroad programs, symphonies, ballets, etc that are so valuable in becoming cultured and gaining a better perspective of the world. I know that I would have been successful academically and likely joined and excelled in multiple clubs, but I wanted more. Texas was also really cold…In comparison to the 70 degree weather I left behind in CA, that morning with 20 degrees was not fun!
UCF on the other hand felt completely different. For one thing, my first thought was that it was so green!! The more that I talked with the students and staff, the more I felt at home. Everyone seemed so excited about what they had, are, and will be doing. I met so many different majors and personalities. I saw so many opportunities to get involved on campus and in Orlando. I felt that the school and its students/staff wanted me to go there and I did too. I loved the campus layout, the staff, the students, the NM program, my major program, the housing, the area. The only thing I didn’t love was the alligator that I could have sworn I saw in a lake near the hotel. But it was dark…so I don’t know…
I guess all of that may seem arbitrary since it’s all opinion/perspective, so here are a few more concrete differences. When I visited, I saw that there are a crazy amount of CS and engineering majors at UTD while UCF seems to have a larger variety. UTD’s campus is more modern/industrial in that it seems very pre-professional, while UCF has more trees/greenery along with a mixture of architecture styles. (One thing to note is that UCF has this small area with a bunch of hammocks that people nap/study in! I suppose that kinda sets the tone for the uniqueness of the UCF campus culture) UTD definitely does not have the Greek life/party presence that UCF has, although that can be easily avoided by choice. UCF has better food, more options and nicer layout to the cafeterias. UTD has a better/daily bus system for when you need to grocery shop; UCF’s bus to Publix only runs on Tue and the bus to Target/shopping center runs on Fri/Sat evening,
As far as summer housing goes, I am not worried. I did the math on comment #17 of this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/2057290-updates-and-info-for-those-students-looking-to-become-nms-with-the-ucf-golden-knights-fall-2018-p2.html
Basically, if you set aside about $1100 of the scholarship every semester, you will be able to cover the housing(Fall/Spring/Summer), books, tuition and have ~$176 per week for personal expenses, including food, toiletries, club costs, and fun money. This seems like a pretty darn comfortable weekly allowance! This is of course an estimate and may change if you take a different number of credits, have a car, etc. I do think that the first year may actually end up being a bit easier since the housing deposit and enrollment deposit go toward the cost of housing/tuition for the first semester.
I hope this was helpful! I know it was long winded but I don’t feel like there is a short way to answer these kinds of questions just like there is no easy way to choose a college. Good luck on making your choice! UTD is a wonderful school, just not for me.
I did make separate posts for my full review of UTD and UCF awhile ago on the 2018 National Merit thread. If you can’t find them, I can send you the link/comment #.