Rank List Priorities

My husband was fortunate to receive an abundance of interviews for residency and we are struggling with our rank list. Do any of you regret not ranking programs closer to family higher on your list? Did you prioritize training quality over being near family?

There are a few random programs out of state that are really throwing us for a loop. My husband loved the vibes and he feels like he’d be very happy training there, but it’s hard to know if it’s worth ranking them highly when there’s 4 other programs that are within an hour of his entire immediate family, but didn’t have exactly what he was looking for.

We’ve lived very far from family during medical school, and we both have really been looking forward to being closer to finally have the support (we have 1 baby and hope to have more) and joining family gatherings on the weekends. But we are struggling to know if it’s worth sacrificing.

Note - He doesn’t plan on pursuing fellowship