<p>Don’t kid yourself: SD is mighty competitive as well. It has plenty of students who had the strong numbers to get into Cal and UCLA but did not for whatever reason. A neighbor’s kid who was all honors/all AP at one of the top high schools in SoCal is busting his butt for A-. (He’s also in the 8 year SD med program, and is a Regent’s Scholar, so by definition he’s at the tippy top of the class coming in and is shocked at how many gunners there are in SD.) </p>
<p>Add in the lousy social scene, and LA becomes a lot more attractive (and fun). </p>
<p>If you want to minimize competition, go to Merced.</p>