<p>Both are large publicly funded universities. The most common complaint about McGill, aside from the winter, is large freshman classes which I assume would be the case at UC campuses too. McGill is very demanding academically. I would place it somewhere between Berkeley and UCLA in that respect.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a different lifestyle from California, I would recommend McGill. Despite being in Canada, Montreal has much more in common with Boston than with LA or San Diego: winter, old historic neighborhoods, getting around by metro/subway and walking rather than by car etc.</p>