UCLA vs. Columbia

[atticus1]

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Hi everyone,

I’m very fortunate to be deciding between UCLA DGSOM and Columbia VP&S and would really appreciate any insight, especially from people interested in or matched into competitive specialties.

Right now, I’m most interested in plastics or dermatology, although I know that could change. Because of that, match strength, research access, and institutional reputation do matter to me. At the same time, quality of life and family support are also really important considerations for my wife and me.

UCLA Pros:

• Significantly cheaper overall (probably ~80–100k less over 4 years)
• I’m originally from LA and both my family and my wife’s family are there
• Lower cost of living
• Potentially better work-life balance / support system

UCLA Cons:

• Maybe slightly less “prestigious” nationally? (although obviously still an amazing school)
• Concerned whether it is as strong for matching into ultra-competitive specialties like plastics/derm compared to Columbia
• Unsure if opportunities/networking are equivalent for those fields

Columbia Pros:

• Incredible name recognition/prestige
• Historically strong match into competitive specialties
• Tons of research opportunities
• I genuinely loved NYC when I lived there last summer

Columbia Cons:

• Much more expensive (both tuition + NYC cost of living)
• Far from family/support system
• Harder long-term logistically if we start a family during med school/residency applications
• We know we ultimately want to end up back in LA/California eventually anyway
• Not sure how sustainable NYC would feel for 4 years vs. loving it during one summer

One additional factor is that my wife works in big law, so if we have children relatively soon, we would really be relying heavily on each other for support. Because of that, proximity to family and overall lifestyle/work-life balance matter more to me than they might otherwise.

At the same time, I don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret later if Columbia truly provides a substantial advantage for matching plastics or derm.

Would really appreciate any thoughts from people who chose between similarly ranked schools, matched into competitive specialties from UCLA, or attended Columbia/UCLA specifically.

Thanks so much!