[Quixote]

The presence of UC Irvine — a solid "B+" school that is public, large, and neither easy nor exceptionally hard to get into — combined with CSU Long Beach punching above its weight (it's ranked at the same level or higher than most states' flagship public universities), 8 liberal arts colleges in the top 50 (2 in the top 10), specialty schools across a variety of artistic disciplines, and other public institutions that enroll lots of transfer students and provide high value and social mobility, are to me what put Greater LA in the conversation for #3.

Looking at the entire picture and considering higher education of all levels, types, and paths, LA feels "complete" and accessible. Evaluation strictly through the lens of elite institutions is akin to only counting Michelin Star restaurants and excluding ethnic hole-in-the-wall joints and street vendors.

UC Irvine

Public
National ranking: #34 (tied with UCSD)
Social mobility: #7 (tied with CSU Fullerton)
Most applicants: #3 (behind UCLA and UCSD)
Total number of students: 36,505
Acceptance rate: 29%
In-state tuition: $13,985

Graduate programs:

#10 Best Education Schools
#2 Criminology (tied with ASU)

Solid rankings for some very popular fields of study:

#20 Chemistry
#20 English (tied with NYU, Illinois, UNC)
#20 Sociology (tied with Brown, Washington)
#28 Computer Science (tied with Northwestern, Rice, UCSB, UChicago, Virginia)
#30 History (tied with Georgetown, OSU, UCSD)
#30 Psychology (tied with NYU, OSU, Maryland, Virginia)