Super detailed Re-application Post -- Advice needed

[Corvid]

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[DrMidlife]

School list (blue means silent school, red means hold, a strike-out indicates a rejection):

Too many reaches on your list. If you're going to apply to the NYMCs, then apply to all the low-tier schools, the Wayne States and Toledos and EVMS's. I suggest giving yourself a budget including all the UC's + USC's, then add 20 reasonable schools and 5 reaches.

Here's what I think I was missing:
-Non-clinical volunteering
-Lack of basic (traditional or laboratory based) research
-Strong MCAT to match the GPA

You're not literally missing anything, you're just up against too many other applicants. You just need to get from the 45% rejected pile to the 55% accepted pile.

Here's what may have went wrong:
a) I applied the first day with a bunch of highly qualified applicants (the "gunners") and simply got passed over in the initial flood.
b) Red flag (i.e. a poor Letter of Rec)
c) My extracurricular activities started in my junior year (so all of them were only about a year and half long at the time of my application)
d) My extracurricular activities had holes (zero involvement in student orgs, no non-clinical volunteering, no basic research).
e) Average MCAT questions validity of high GPA
f) Poor school list (added state schools with low OOS acceptance, added schools that I simply was not competitive for)
g) I'm from California (heh)

The only ones I agree with here are MCAT, school list and California. If you have reason to believe you have a bad LOR, then pursue fixing it, but if you don't really know then you probably didn't get sunk by a letter. It's just as valid to look at the quality of your essays, and you should be paranoid about those. Don't trust feedback from anybody under 40, and don't trust feedback from anybody who loves you.

Your EC's are not a problem here and there's no real need to invest in non-clinical volunteering. What's important now is to to have significant life experience about which you are passionate and can enjoy discussing. That's called having a life worth living. It's a thing people forget when they become premeds, which is depressing to the old folks who review apps.

Here's what I have done since then:

• Continued all of the above activities except for the TAing and clinical research.
  
• Performed at least 300 hours of basic lab research (something I was lacking) in a plant molecular biology lab (half-time job) over the summer and fall.
  
• Secured a full time job as a lab tech at a VA hospital doing research on lung-cancer since December. (I like to refer to myself as a state biologist as a joke).

Fine.

Here's what I'm planning to do:

1. Start some non-clinical volunteering doing something I like (planning to apply as a volunteer tutor for disadvantaged youth)*
2. Re-study for and repeat the MCAT*.
3. Refresh and revamp my PS
4. Gain two new letters of recommendation (and hopefully identify a faulty letter)
5. Talk about a hobby on the experiences section so I don't seem like a lifeless automaton.
*Working full time will make this a challenge

I think your list is overkill. Invest in the MCAT and maybe professional app review.

You could choose to wait to reapply until you have a publication, or at least a poster. Otherwise the research job isn't really research-y for the purposes of med school admissions, it's just a job.

1. I decided that it was time to sign up for the MCAT this week but found that all of the May tests were already "sold-out" in California. So I'll probably have to take the test in the June (I'll start studying this week most likely). I will not submit my application for a second round unless I significantly improve my score (at least a 34). That said, if I can actually pull up the score, will it hurt me if I submit my primary in July? I will have everything written out and ready to go long before that, of course. From what I've seen this cycle, plenty of people with higher stats than mine who have applied later have received interviews and acceptances. But then again, as a re-applicant that June 1st application might be critical...

Look at test sites elsewhere. Go visit Nebraska if you need to. I think it's worth it to spend money on an earlier test date, assuming your MCAT prep is rigorous and you have good reason to believe your score is going to go up.

2. I really like my job and the research I'm doing; so I don't plan on getting a master's degree. The pay for my job isn't great, but it still helps me whittle away at some undergraduate loans while I support myself financially. After this cycle, I want to take a break from academia for a bit and experience life in the "real-world" before I take the dive back into school and saddle on more debt. I don't think having a master's degree is an absolute essential. I also don't want to take on unnecessary debt and put off school for another year or two. Will this decision hurt me?

You don't have to do graduate study. Your GPA says that an SMP would be a complete and total waste of money and anybody who says otherwise is selling you something or is just ignorant.

But it's important to be in a position of responsibility with respect to research, where you aren't just following instructions somebody else wrote. Be the adult in charge.

3. If I can't identify which LOR potentially hurt me this cycle (if any), I'll have to toss some including my letter from a non-science professor (I know that 3 of the 5 were probably solid, but the other 2 writers didn't know me well. I had talked to them and they seemed happy to write the letters so I took a risk). Will this bar me from schools that require a non-science letter?

Dump the 2 who didn't know you well, get a letter from your boss, and call it a day.

4. In my PS, I mentioned that I had a chronic illness. I didn't dwell on the actual condition at all. I basically explained that experiencing the illness and then overcoming/successfully managing it gave me the initial inspiration to pursue medicine, for I understood (to some extent) how crappy illness feels and therefore wanted to help other people pull through (I wrote this idea more eloquently in the actual statement, haha). Should I just skip out on mentioning any kind of personal illness in my PS? I feel like adcoms maybe saw this as flaunting my illness for sympathy points or something.

If your illness is critical to your narrative, keep it, otherwise get rid of it. Any schools you reapply to will have access to that old PS, which isn't that big a deal.

Seriously, what would you want in your own personal doctor if you're sick? Why would a doctor who has had a chronic illness be preferable to you? In general, what are you bringing to the table that would make your 40 year old self choose your 22 year old self to be a doctor over the other 5000 22 year olds who have great stats? If you honestly don't know, then neither does your app reviewer.

I have heard from people that a re-applicant needs to seriously improve his/her application since admissions committees will be harder on you. If I can't do that by this June, I might have to wait until 2015 to prevent another doomed cycle.

Yep. Be paranoid that people are too polite to tell you what you need to know. I've never met you, but my generic differential with a rejected Californian is: immaturity, poor packaging, lack of spark, spelling/grammar, nothing to fight for. And that's before we start talking about interview tendencies.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Corvid]

Do not do a Master's program! Your GPA is fantastic and you don't need it. Only do one if you are really interested in the subject but it doesn't sound like you are. A lot of people do masters' because they have low GPAs and need to prove that they can do "graduate level" work. You don't need this. Your GPA has proven you can handle it. This will not hurt you. IMO, the full-time job looks better than a master's.

Get involved in non-clinical research in something you're interested in. I too was a re-applicant and my new volunteer experience gave me so much to talk about in interviews/update letters. I also chose to work with disadvantaged youth and it has been incredibly rewarding on a personal level. Good plan.

I'm not so sold on you re-taking the MCAT. A 31 is a competitive score. I suppose if you really want to state in-state, you need a 34+ for California? I'm not a California resident but that's what I've heard. I think you otherwise have a good chance without re-taking BUT you need a better school list. I think you applied too top-heavy and not enough to schools that are in your stats range. You need to look at schools with similar philosophies/ideals as you, AND in your stats range.

We can't help you judge how bad or good your LOR were, but I do think you should have 1 non-science letter. There are schools that require it and your application will be hindered by not having one. If anything, I would get a couple of new LOR from people who know you very well and can speak to your character. Perhaps your new boss at work?

I suggest re-writing your activities section on AMCAS to show what you have learned from each of these activities. Generally I suggest to re-write personal statement as a re-applicant. I don't know how hard you worked/how many drafts you had for this one so it's your call. Make your PS as strong as it can be though. Really think about your "story", your journey, your motivations for medicine. What makes you different from the other thousands of people applying? Show them, don't tell them that you're ready. Think about growth, insight, and maturity. Demonstrate these qualities.

It is better to submit your application early! Do not delay it for a new MCAT score! If you do end up retaking the MCAT, the new score will be added and released automatically. BTW, if you are set on taking the MCAT again, new dates pop up all the time. You have to be very proactive in checking the website often. Especially as it gets closer to the test date, spots open up as people shuffle around to later dates or cancel their test. Check the MCAT portal often if you're going to do this.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the feedback, I will rewrite essentially everything (PS, extracurricular activities) to really emphasize what I've learned. In retrospect, I felt that my PS was slightly rehashing my experiences, so I will definitely take your pointers on that.

 

[Corvid]

Too many reaches on your list. If you're going to apply to the NYMCs, then apply to all the low-tier schools, the Wayne States and Toledos and EVMS's. I suggest giving yourself a budget including all the UC's + USC's, then add 20 reasonable schools and 5 reaches.

Agreed.

The only ones I agree with here are MCAT, school list and California. If you have reason to believe you have a bad LOR, then pursue fixing it, but if you don't really know then you probably didn't get sunk by a letter. It's just as valid to look at the quality of your essays, and you should be paranoid about those. Don't trust feedback from anybody under 40, and don't trust feedback from anybody who loves you.

I will pay special attention to my essays as well.

Your EC's are not a problem here and there's no real need to invest in non-clinical volunteering. What's important now is to to have significant life experience about which you are passionate and can enjoy discussing. That's called having a life worth living. It's a thing people forget when they become premeds, which is depressing to the old folks who review apps.

This is a great point. I think going on a trip somewhere (something I always wanted to do but never got around to doing) would be a great experience for me. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed TAing and some of my past experiences (as well as my current job), but I've been missing out on more adventurous experiences. Don't want to start school with regrets .

I think your list is overkill. Invest in the MCAT and maybe professional app review.

You could choose to wait to reapply until you have a publication, or at least a poster. Otherwise the research job isn't really research-y for the purposes of med school admissions, it's just a job.

Thanks for the input, I don't want to overdo anything instead of focusing on the things that really need to be improved. As for my job, I should have a publication either by the time I apply or sometime during the application process. I'm making solid progress on my project here, so I'm not too worried about that aspect.

Look at test sites elsewhere. Go visit Nebraska if you need to. I think it's worth it to spend money on an earlier test date, assuming your MCAT prep is rigorous and you have good reason to believe your score is going to go up.

I don't want to commit to going out of state unless I'm sure the score will go up, so I agree with you there. I'm still hoping that new spots can still appear in May (cancellation, rescheduling, etc.).

You don't have to do graduate study. Your GPA says that an SMP would be a complete and total waste of money and anybody who says otherwise is selling you something or is just ignorant.

But it's important to be in a position of responsibility with respect to research, where you aren't just following instructions somebody else wrote. Be the adult in charge.

Thank you, I really needed some confirmation with this. For my job, I'm managing my own project (as opposed to running someone else's experiments). I only received guidance with the background of the experiment to familiarize myself with the subject matter and goals. From there I came up with a lot of the experimental design and discussed my planning in detail with my lab manager. I came up with a lot of solutions to some problems I ran into independently as well. Some of the techniques I had to be taught, but there's no avoiding that.

Dump the 2 who didn't know you well, get a letter from your boss, and call it a day.

Really considering this. So not having a non-science letter from a professor isn't a big deal as a re-app who has been out of school since June 2013?

Yep. Be paranoid that people are too polite to tell you what you need to know. I've never met you, but my generic differential with a rejected Californian is: immaturity, poor packaging, lack of spark, spelling/grammar, nothing to fight for. And that's before we start talking about interview tendencies.

Best of luck to you.

I don't think it was immaturity (or at least I really hope it wasn't). But I feel like I could have developed my ideas in my PS more. I think I may have had poor packaging in that a lot of secondaries ended up rehashing a few points in my primary. It wasn't spelling or grammar (maybe a very rare typo here and there, but surely that wouldn't sink you would it?). Perhaps I could have emphasized what I wanted to fight for more clearly and give my application more of a spark. These are good points.

As for interview tendencies, I feel confident about my skills talking to people in an interview setting. But I can't really know until I get one.


Thank you again for commenting on this thread, your feedback has been tremendously helpful.

 

[Goro]

I agree with my young colleague, but strongly feel that most of your ill luck is due to aiming way too high. That said, I'm surprised that you didn't get more love from the low-tier schools on your list.

Once this year's app cycle is over, you should contact the low-tiers that rejected you, like, say, Loyola or NYMC and ask for feedback (not advice or counseling) on why you were rejected.

I do not think re-taking MCAT is warranted. You're just as likley to do worse, or stay the same as opposed to magically going up 4-5 points.

Suggest adding some DO programs to your list. The Touros and Western would gladly take you and thus you can stay close to home. Invest in MSAR and apply to schools whose median numbers match your own (don't forget Loma Linda).

Too many reaches on your list. If you're going to apply to the NYMCs, then apply to all the low-tier schools, the Wayne States and Toledos and EVMS's. I suggest giving yourself a budget including all the UC's + USC's, then add 20 reasonable schools and 5 reaches.

 

[Corvid]

I agree with my young colleague, but strongly feel that most of your ill luck is due to aiming way too high. That said, I'm surprised that you didn't get more love from the low-tier schools on your list.

Once this year's app cycle is over, you should contact the low-tiers that rejected you, like, say, Loyola or NYMC and ask for feedback (not advice or counseling) on why you were rejected.

I do not think re-taking MCAT is warranted. You're just as likley to do worse, or stay the same as opposed to magically going up 4-5 points.

Suggest adding some DO programs to your list. The Touros and Western would gladly take you and thus you can stay close to home. Invest in MSAR and apply to schools whose median numbers match your own (don't forget Loma Linda).

Thanks for the response!

I want to still try to re-study, if I am not pulling what I want on practice tests, I will not re-take (too great a risk that I'll do worse or not improve). At the same time, however, I'm hesitant to re-apply with just a couple more experiences/letters. A friend of mine has the MSAR for 2012, should I invest in the newest version? Or should that one still be fine?

I'm still holding out some hope that I get lucky and hear back from some of the silent schools (and maybe even the holds). However, preparing for a re-app is more than just a precaution at this point.

 

[DrMidlife]

fyi the lower tier private non-California MD schools tend to get the most OOS apps, particularly from Californians. So you don't really have better odds of interviews at these schools vs. at least a UCI interview. NYMC, RFU etc get more than 10k apps per year. Not helpful odds unless you apply in bulk, and good lord you'd better notice if you're signing up to go to a school with cost of attendance over $300k. https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/2013factstable1.pdf

Make no mistake, Loma Linda is a religious school. Much more so than the Jesuit schools like SLU or Loyola. If you're not of the faith, you'd better be believably willing to seem like you are, and willing to keep that up for 4 years.

The MSAR is what, $35? Don't hedge your career on a $35 outlay when you came here asking about $50k masters programs.

 

[gyngyn]

Your stats are good enough to get in. I only counted 9 schools on your original list where you stood a fair to good chance at an interview. That's not usually enough for a CA resident with a 31 MCAT. That said, I do not recommend a re-take if it has been less than 3 years since your exam.

Buff your application and re-apply early to at least a dozen schools that might interview you!

 

[Corvid]

fyi the lower tier private non-California MD schools tend to get the most OOS apps, particularly from Californians. So you don't really have better odds of interviews at these schools vs. at least a UCI interview. NYMC, RFU etc get more than 10k apps per year. Not helpful odds unless you apply in bulk, and good lord you'd better notice if you're signing up to go to a school with cost of attendance over $300k. https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/2013factstable1.pdf

Make no mistake, Loma Linda is a religious school. Much more so than the Jesuit schools like SLU or Loyola. If you're not of the faith, you'd better be believably willing to seem like you are, and willing to keep that up for 4 years.

I didn't apply to Loma Linda this cycle for this exact reason. I don't think I can act or keep anything up for 4 years (due to my own convictions and ethical reasons), so I'll likely leave this school off my list next cycle. Also the competition between Californians at the lower-tiered schools is precisely why I really want to improve the MCAT if I can.

The MSAR is what, $35? Don't hedge your career on a $35 outlay when you came here asking about $50k masters programs.

I already have access to the MSAR ; it's just the previous version from the current (recently released) one. I was wondering if I should buy the most current, but judging by your response I'll get the most current form. There's no way I would jump into another cycle without thoroughly reviewing the MSAR.

I reviewed the MSAR this cycle, and added at least 10 schools that I thought I matched stats wise before jumping in. For the other schools, I figured that my GPA paired with some of my unique experiences could help make me competitive. It didn't. It was my lack of experience with this admissions process that led me to I believe that I could compete at schools with higher MCAT averages. Schools have no choice but to limit the applications they consider using the MCAT as a major way of sifting through applicants. I won't make the same mistake twice.

 

[jlescher]

Other people have covered the important things but I'll give you my 2 cents.

You don't need to dabble in every category of EC. In fact, it tends to come across negatively. You look like a boring check list applicant if you do that. Stick with what you're doing because it's more than enough. I would suggest getting more involved and taking on more responsibility if you can in your current ECs. This will go farther and give you more substantial content for your essays.

 

[Corvid]

Other people have covered the important things but I'll give you my 2 cents.

You don't need to dabble in every category of EC. In fact, it tends to come across negatively. You look like a boring check list applicant if you do that. Stick with what you're doing because it's more than enough. I would suggest getting more involved and taking on more responsibility if you can in your current ECs. This will go farther and give you more substantial content for your essays.

Thanks for your input. Somewhere in my neurotic rationalization of my so-far unsuccessful cycle, I forgot for a brief minute that long-term commitments that you are deeply involved with are better than a dozen superficial experiences. I got it into my head that I was "missing" something. Thanks for grounding my thought process again, friend.

It's helpful to know that my ECs are fine. I am gaining more responsibility, especially with my job, as time goes on. The only ECs I'm continuing right now are just my job and the robot arm thing (I had to stop volunteering and doing the treatment since my job started in December). I'm going to try and see if I can change my schedule up so I can resume volunteering.

 

[jlescher]

Even if you can work in volunteering a few hours a week or once a month that's awesome. The people reviewing apps are doctors, they were us once, and most of them find the competitiveness of this process kind of comical. Just be sincere and try to learn as much as you can from every experience. If you do that, it will show in your apps and interviews. Keep at it!

 

[pietachok]

I'm surprised more people haven't suggested your PS as the potential weak point. Outside of SDN, I think your application looks pretty average when you factor in its strengths & weaknesses....if you're right in the middle of the pack with quantifiable aspects of your application, something qualitative would (to me) seem a more likely problem -- PS, LOR, inappropriate school list. It's easiest to look at the school list (where are the Ohio schools? the new schools?), & PS. You need an honest critique of your PS. From the little you wrote here, I wonder if itcame across that you felt some pretty mundane patient experiences (not saying they were, but just how it had sounded as you paraphrased) qualified you to identify with people facing so much worse, which could come across as naive/self-important/lacking perspective on medicine & what you'll actually be addressing--it could make eyes roll or rub some readers the wrong way if it was not presented well.

 

[Corvid]

I'm surprised more people haven't suggested your PS as the potential weak point. Outside of SDN, I think your application looks pretty average when you factor in its strengths & weaknesses....if you're right in the middle of the pack with quantifiable aspects of your application, something qualitative would (to me) seem a more likely problem -- PS, LOR, inappropriate school list. It's easiest to look at the school list (where are the Ohio schools? the new schools?), & PS. You need an honest critique of your PS. From the little you wrote here, I wonder if itcame across that you felt some pretty mundane patient experiences (not saying they were, but just how it had sounded as you paraphrased) qualified you to identify with people facing so much worse, which could come across as naive/self-important/lacking perspective on medicine & what you'll actually be addressing--it could make eyes roll or rub some readers the wrong way if it was not presented well.

.

 

[joyfulcynic]

I didn't apply to Loma Linda this cycle for this exact reason. I don't think I can act or keep anything up for 4 years (due to my own convictions and ethical reasons), so I'll likely leave this school off my list next cycle.

Came out of lurk-mode to respond to this:

As someone who grew up SDA and is intimately acquainted with Loma Linda and the church, I can tell you that while you do need to be comfortable operating under the school's unique mission statement, you do NOT have to believe any of the Christian or SDA dogma. It's a medical school, not a theology seminary. Being openly antagonistic toward Christianity or faith in general will not make you any friends there, but being honest about your beliefs or lack thereof may get you further than you think. Loma Linda is known for producing good clinicians and good "people person" doctors. If you can sell yourself along those lines and make peace with the school's mission you stand a good chance, in my opinion. I know for a fact that multiple Muslim and non-religious folks have passed through there.

Shameless plug:
While I am no longer a "believing" SDA/Christian, I do attend services regularly, and think that historically our denomination has been relatively progressive. It's also heavily focused on health and wellness, which make the school very well suited to anyone who cares about preventative care and generally taking care of oneself.

 

[Corvid]

Came out of lurk-mode to respond to this:

As someone who grew up SDA and is intimately acquainted with Loma Linda and the church, I can tell you that while you do need to be comfortable operating under the school's unique mission statement, you do NOT have to believe any of the Christian or SDA dogma. It's a medical school, not a theology seminary. Being openly antagonistic toward Christianity or faith in general will not make you any friends there, but being honest about your beliefs or lack thereof may get you further than you think. Loma Linda is known for producing good clinicians and good "people person" doctors. If you can sell yourself along those lines and make peace with the school's mission you stand a good chance, in my opinion. I know for a fact that multiple Muslim and non-religious folks have passed through there.

Shameless plug:
While I am no longer a "believing" SDA/Christian, I do attend services regularly, and think that historically our denomination has been relatively progressive. It's also heavily focused on health and wellness, which make the school very well suited to anyone who cares about preventative care and generally taking care of oneself.

This is good to know. I'll go ahead and add it to my school list, then! I respect all religions and am not antagonistic in any way (but I am firmly convicted in my agnosticism). Still, I would say that I'm spiritual without being religious. So I can definitely make peace with the school's mission and accept the atmosphere. Thank you!

P.S.: I really appreciate that you went through the trouble to register and post to let me know this valuable info. Thanks!

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

I agree with the above posters that you are a competitive applicant based on your grades/ECs. I also agree that it's possible re-writing your personal statement may go a long way in getting you at least an interview next round (not sure from your list if all your rejections are pre-interview or if you had some interviews).

I applied three times with a PS about an illness I struggled with as an undergrad that caused me very poor grades for several years due to my inability to regularly go to class. The essay was different every time, but the content was the same story about how I had overcome it and how I was better now. I didn't get a single interview for three application cycles. This year, I made absolutely no mention of it in my primary application (wrote about it briefly when prompted on secondaries to explain poor grades/breaks in education), and this cycle I've had five interviews with two acceptances so far (no answer from the other three). You're lucky - you're illness obviously did not affect your overall GPA so you don't have any explaining to do. My advice is to avoid a long explanation of it in your PS and write about it on secondaries if it seems relevant there.

P.S: I don't think MCW does silent rejections, but I could be wrong. I got a very prompt rejection by post.
P.P.S: I sympathize with you about applying as a California applicant. It makes it very tough to get in anywhere in state, and even out of state. Seriously, half the people I met at my interviews were from CA. Why do there have to be so many of us??

 

[Corvid]

I agree with the above posters that you are a competitive applicant based on your grades/ECs. I also agree that it's possible re-writing your personal statement may go a long way in getting you at least an interview next round (not sure from your list if all your rejections are pre-interview or if you had some interviews).

I applied three times with a PS about an illness I struggled with as an undergrad that caused me very poor grades for several years due to my inability to regularly go to class. The essay was different every time, but the content was the same story about how I had overcome it and how I was better now. I didn't get a single interview for three application cycles. This year, I made absolutely no mention of it in my primary application (wrote about it briefly when prompted on secondaries to explain poor grades/breaks in education), and this cycle I've had five interviews with two acceptances so far (no answer from the other three). You're lucky - you're illness obviously did not affect your overall GPA so you don't have any explaining to do. My advice is to avoid a long explanation of it in your PS and write about it on secondaries if it seems relevant there.

P.S: I don't think MCW does silent rejections, but I could be wrong. I got a very prompt rejection by post.
P.P.S: I sympathize with you about applying as a California applicant. It makes it very tough to get in anywhere in state, and even out of state. Seriously, half the people I met at my interviews were from CA. Why do there have to be so many of us??

Hmm. I might just leave it for secondaries. I have always had the thought in the back of my head that adcoms see my mention of my illness as a pity card or a crutch. Your experience is making me really consider if I should just leave it out all together. It was a very important motivating factor for me, but if it will harm my application I can't use it.

 

[Corvid]

Update: My letters were fine according to two schools
Update 2: Retook the MCAT and scored a 36 !

I have re-written my PS (14 or 15 drafts before I got it right) that I have had several people critique and offer advice.
I have re-written my experiences ( and added 3 new ones)

I really hope I am in good shape this time around.

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

Best of luck, Corvid! An unsuccessful cycle can be really discouraging, but it sounds like you have an excellent game plan. Let us know how it goes.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I don't think you should talk about chronic illness. Adcoms want students who are well and healthy who will be able to survive the rigors of medical school. You do not want to give them any reason to reject you especially if you will potentially be out sick with a lupus flare or crohn's etc.

 

[Corvid]

I don't think you should talk about chronic illness. Adcoms want students who are well and healthy who will be able to survive the rigors of medical school. You do not want to give them any reason to reject you especially if you will potentially be out sick with a lupus flare or crohn's etc.

.