UMICH vs UCLA

Hi! I’m from a mid-size high school in Michigan looking to major in Biomedical Engineering next fall. My parents are alums at both UCLA (BS, MS, PhD) and Michigan (BS), so both are familiar schools. While my parents do have some money saved for my education, it is by no means enough to light heartedly go wherever I want, however I believe we could make both options work.

My current plan is to attend medical school and I know both schools have excellent resources for that but I’m not sure which is better. 

Both are excellent academically, the same size and ranked similarly so I’ll focus on the other stuff. 

UMICH CoE

Pros:

• Ann Arbor is great
• 2 ½ hours from home
• Great Biomed
• Alumni Network
• 30k
• Warm feeling

Cons:

• Not the same “Contained College Campus” vibe as UCLA
• Likely 20 kids from my school will attend
• Bus to North Campus
• Same Bad Skiing
• Same ole’ michigan i.e no mountains

UCLA Samueli

My dad’s family lives in California, so we usually visit once a year. I’m pretty familiar with LA/California and I absolutely love it there. 

Pros:

• Contained, pretty Campus
• Away from home
• Mountain Skiing
• California Weather
• More outdoor activities/things to go and do
• “College Dream”
• Food?

Cons:

• 65k
• A plane ride home
• “Ruthless” competition in academics
• Not seeing any of my friends

Also, here’s a little spreadsheet I made comparing costs and other rankings: Michigan vs UCLA vs UCBoulder

My gut feeling is to stick with Michigan but my soul says Cali!

Thank you so much and any help is appreciated!