Which college should I select?

Hello! I am currently a high school senior who is trying to decide which college I should attend.
My two choices are University of Arizona (Tucson) or University of Colorado (Denver).
I am torn between these two universities because of how much of my IB/AP credit they will accept and tuition cost.
If I select Denver, I will enter as a Sophomore and have a quarter of my degree major completed (therefore save a year of college tuition) but if I select Arizona I will enter as a freshman with very few accepted IB/AP credits but have a guaranteed $12,000 (or higher) because of my ACT and GPA.

Which of these colleges offer more opportunities in terms of undergraduate research and networking for students interested in Health/Medical?
Which has a better community/campus life aspect?

Thank you in advance for all answers!

I don’t know too much about either school but I think overall Arizona is more prestigious. But both should be fairly comparable. Go for fit. Good luck

So what’s the total cost of both options and are you price sensitive? (That is, does the money matter? If your family is well off, it may not be important to you/them.)

A ‘better’ community/campus life depends on what you are looking for. What’s a good experience mean to you? Fit matters so if you are price indifferent, pick the place where you feel you will do the best socially and academically.

But whether to enter as a sophomore vs. a freshman has implications depending on what you plan to major in and whether you can complete your degree (and pre-med requirements if that’s your direction) on time at both places.

Be aware the medical schools generally don’t care where you do you undergraduate work: They want to see your GPA (3.7 or better generally) and your MCAT score. State of residence is the other important factor. All med schools are good ones, so if you get in. And scientific research experience can be had anywhere - whether there’s a medical school or not attached to the uni, so that needn’t be the critical factor.