Hi everyone,

I'm originally from southern california and for several reasons am looking to stay in Southern California. I would say I'm a good applicant (high 240s, some honors, some research and from a Cali med school). I have completed my southern california interviews and I still feel really torn, mainly between my top 4: Harbor, Olive View (probably top 2) and my third choice UCLA or Cedars.

I am not an aspiring Cardiologist or GI doc. At my most competitive I might want to do Pulmonary/CC, but Rheum or Endo are also on my list.

I love the idea of working at a county hospital (for me it is a kind of calling) but have not made my final decision. I also enjoyed interviewing at the Cedars-VA program and I rotated at UCLA and enjoyed it as well.

What do you guys think? Can I go to any of the above and probably still get a fellowship spot in the LA or Orange County Area? If you were an advisor, what would you tell an applicant like me? Should I change/rethink my preferences completely?

Thanks very much for your help. I am also new to SDN and registered because I read the forums often and felt like I might get a good amount of advice here.

you need to decide where you would be the most happy for the next three years of your life. look at the fellowship match lists that the programs provide at the interview day. based on reputation alone i would rank ucla>harbor>cedars/va>olive view. that is only my opinion. i interviewed at harbor last year and liked it alot, and i also interviewed at cedars. :luck:

If you're interested in the county experience, I would definitly put harbor and olive view at the top of you're list. They're both great programs with solid fellowship match and good training. Cedars probably has more of a county population experience than the UCLA.