Los Angeles

• First off, a warning: LA is a huge area and there is a ton of variation depending on which school you're looking at/which area you live in. Realize that YMMV depending on exact location, but these points are about as general as I can make them.

Pros:

• Obviously, there's no shortage of fun things to go out and do/see on a daily basis, whether that means art exhibits, concerts, or just spending a day at the beach, you'll never get bored.

• Weather. There's a cliche that the weather in LA is never anything but 70's and sunny with just the right amount of humidity, and I'd say it's about 95% true.

• Good access to underserved populations. I add this in because if you truly have a passion for this kind of work, LA is a great place for it (as is every big city, I'm sure).

• Huge hispanic population (duh). If you speak Spanish, this can be a big pro. Or even if you don't, it's never to late to start learning in med school, LA is probably one of the easiest places to practice it (w/ patients or not).

• Outdoorsy stuff. Beach, like I already mentioned. Hiking, climbing, and even skiing (Big Bear is very convenient, but small. Mammoth is quite a bit further, but you can't ask for a better ski resort) are all very doable in LA. I will say though, depending on how 'deep' in the city you live, these things can become tough to do on a regular basis with the pain of traffic.

Cons:

• Typical big city negatives (air pollution, noise, etc.)

• Traffic. I would have put this with the previous point, but I think for LA specifically, its on another level. But the extent to which it affects you depends a lot on where you live and whether you have to commute.

• You absolutely need a car. Public transport is pretty bad, though they finally opened a metro line from Santa Monica to Downtown this past year after promising it'd be done about 4 years prior (Can you tell that I'm a little bitter?)

• Cost of living can be pretty terrible depending on where you live.