Hi, I have been blessed to be accepted to my top 2 programs this cycle, and I have a really hard time deciding.

I know there are a million posts about UCSF vs UCLA, and there's obvious a big bias towards UCSF because of the prestige (T5 vs T20). But personally, I have deep ties in the LA area (so many friends and family for support) and I genuinely love LA, it is one of my favorite cities ever. I love the warm weather, the beach, and I have no problem getting around the city and don't mind LA traffic at allll (very weird, I know haha).

I honestly don't like SF too much, especially because of the weather, and not sure if I could afford to bring my car over, and it is very far (8+ hours) from friends and family. Obviously UCSF is a better ranked school, great curriculum, and the people there are very chill. I just am not sure if I would be happy there, and I am unable to attend UCSF's second look weekend to get a better feel for it myself.

For reference, I am interested in moderately competitive specialities (EM, OB-GYN, IM, PM&R), and I think either school will do just fine in getting me where I want to be at. I also didn't want to include a general pros and cons list about the curriculum and technical differences between UCSF and UCLA, because I am fine with either school's set up, this is more of a location / support system preference that I am debating.

A big factor too that is unrevealed is finances, and I know UCLA has crappy aid packages, so I guess maybe that's why I am making this post, because I have a feeling UCSF will provide me much better aid. I'll cross that bridge when I get there, but am I crazy for leaning towards UCLA??