I am an Arizona resident and am having such a hard time choosing. I have heard great things about Barrett but also that U of A is a better “pre med” school. I really have no idea. I have visited both and I am somewhat turned off by ASU’s campus but that is not a big deal. U of A is beautiful, but I really just want to go wherever has the best academics and opportunities for me going into the medical field. HELP
In terms of overall academics and in pre-med and opportunities (like research, shadowing and volunteering), UA is better hands-down. However, Barrett at ASU is actually better than the honors college at UA (thanks to how ASU focuses primarily on its honors students as opposed to UA which cares about all students in general). Don’t get me wrong, UA honors is a great place to study. I am attending UA honors right now and I absolutely love it.
Based on what you indicated your interests are, I would say UA is the better option for you. UA even has a pre-med dorm (Graham-Greenlee) which you may also want to consider along with the two honors dorms at UA. However, don’t be too quick to turn down Barrett as it provides good opportunities for pre-meds as well. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask or message! 
I don’t know, U of A doesn’t seem as prestigious. But that may not be true
No @alord1234 State Universities tend not to be that ‘prestigious’, they are designed to support students from that state to gain an undergraduate degree. Prestige often comes from ‘selective admissions’, only of state Universities only UC Cal & UCLA tend to have selectivity.
U of A tends to be a little more ‘respected’ in Arizona as they do have a real ‘pre-med’ and ‘pre-pharm’ programs with UMC internships and the like, ASU can work but you will probably find it easier to assimilate into a pre-pharm or Med program through UofA.
As to prestige, No neither U of A nor ASU are prestigious, at least not in the US.
@Englishman I would certainly include Michigan in the “selective” category along with Virginia. Also, for certain programs, the State universities are quite selective. Georgia Tech, Illinois, Purdue, Cal, and Michigan are all more selective for engineering than any Ivy-league schools. Only Stanford and M.I.T are in those top rankings. Texas, Texas A&M, Penn State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are all in the top 20 for engineering schools.
The only thing that makes me hesitate is that Barrett honors college at ASU is ranked in the top five honors colleges in the nation. A few years ago it was #1
@alord1234 I’m not sure if you are serious, but that was a different rating (by Readers’ Digest).
I agree it seems weird. But I’ve seen it ranked very highly in multiple sources
Ignore the ranking, ASU is ASU , UofA is UofA, where do you want to live for the next 4 years, Tucson or Tempe? ranking mean $%^&!.
@alord1234 Twice in two days, I am agreeing with @Englishman. Based on my research and the kids I know that are pre-med at Barrett, you will do great at either school if you work hard and get good grades. Go where you think you will be happy.