I think Pittsburgh is a lovely city in which to raise a family as it has nice suberbs that are accessible to the city. (I grew up in Fox Chapel.) However, it is a few steps behind other major metropolitan cities in terms of nightlife and transportation that I would want as a young adult.
Anyhow, I'm going to start up at AE in the fall, so I can't tell you too much about the quality of teaching at the school or the clinical program. (Although I have heard that the 3rd and 4th years are unparalled to other programs from the patient diversity and the number of affiliated hospitals 🙂) I applied to AE early, I filled out the secondary online when it was available and was offered an interview in late August. I scheduled my interview in October and was accepted in early January. I had a great interview with my doctor and have kept in touch with her since. I even had lunch with her when I went up to sign my loan papers!
Let me know if you need any other advice. The interview was pretty laid back, but it did take an hour. And the secondary was short. Since you're still in school, you won't have to write the essay on what you're doing if you're not in school.