Taking classes as a visiting student elsewhere

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noncon

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The state school in my state has a very poor reputation ("easy party school"). I want to take challenging classes elsewhere at some good school. My problem is such challenging research universities or top schools or whatever you would want to call them are not exactly cheap - at least the ones I checked. And my family isn't exactly rich and we are already drowning in loans. Can you suggest a challenging research university or top university which won't kill me financially when I take classes there as a visiting student?

Thank you.
 
If you get good grades and can back it up with a good MCAT score, the "easy party school" rep shouldn't prevent you from getting into med school.
 
The state school in my state has a very poor reputation ("easy party school"). I want to take challenging classes elsewhere at some good school. My problem is such challenging research universities or top schools or whatever you would want to call them are not exactly cheap - at least the ones I checked. And my family isn't exactly rich and we are already drowning in loans. Can you suggest a challenging research university or top university which won't kill me financially when I take classes there as a visiting student?

Thank you.

umm... this isn't likely to help you. it's not like they are going to go looking through your transcript to see if you took some classes at a tougher school, so while you could do this, it doesn't really sound worthwhile....
 
I want to get into a top MD-PhD program, so it is important for me to take classes at such a school. Please, if anyone knows any names of such universities that won't kill me financially, please suggest them to me. Or message me your suggestions privately.
 
I want to get into a top MD-PhD program, so it is important for me to take classes at such a school. Please, if anyone knows any names of such universities that won't kill me financially, please suggest them to me. Or message me your suggestions privately.

If you can get in and you have as little money as you suggest, many of the ivies offer very substantial aid packages.

However, this isn't likely to help you a ton. Especially if you are interested in a top MD-PhD, you really need research. Many state universities have a ton of research opportunities that you should seek out. Taking classes at a "harder" university is not going to get you into a top program. Having a great gpa, a great MCAT score, and a great research experience is what will do it. Where you take your classes will have very little impact if you have those things.
 
I want to get into a top MD-PhD program, so it is important for me to take classes at such a school. Please, if anyone knows any names of such universities that won't kill me financially, please suggest them to me. Or message me your suggestions privately.

Then your research experiences, not your classes, are going to be the key here. You should contact some MSTP programs and ask what they want. You might also ask some of the MD/PhD students roaming around on SDN. Keep in mind that it's also a matter of your MCAT score. To be competitive at the MD/PhD level, you will want to have an MCAT score probably about 2-4 points higher than the MD students at that school. That means that for "top" MSTP programs, you're probably talking about a 36+ MCAT or about 99th percentile.

Most important, however, is the quality of your research experience. The "quality" of your classes is only peripherally relevant (i.e., via how well you do on the MCAT).
 
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