School list help

[doglova]

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[Walter Raleigh]

Your chances are absolutely superb. Get some shadowing if you don't already have it.

 

[doglova]

Your chances are absolutely superb. Get some shadowing if you don't already have it.

Could you suggest a school list. I'm a VA resident. Added shadowing into original. Thanks so much for the encouraging words but I feel like I need a school list/ advice about what's improvable about my app/ a harsh reality check.

 

[manofsteel9]

Being only a pre-med, I never posted on WAMC threads because I was afraid I would give bad advice. However, I can confidently say that you will be a competitive applicant for any school you apply to. 527 MCAT (monstrous), ~3.9 with BME and Math degrees, all the boxes checked in terms of shadowing/volunteering/research, AND an insane story of beating cancer (congrats!!!). With your application, I would probably apply to ~25 schools including 10 from the top 20, 10 from the top 40/50, and 5 purely safety schools, including all of your state schools. As long as you put in good effort on your PS and secondary essays, you will have an acceptance. The reason why I didn't state specific names of schools is because they really depend on your personal preference such as geographic location, learning style, etc. So do a little bit of research on schools and try to choose schools that seem to be a great fit for you. Again, congratulations on your accomplishments, and good luck

 

[Wayfinder]

I noticed you posted something similar a few months ago. And decided to share my story with you. I didn't get sick in undergrad but due to health problems missed 2 years of high-school. I get what it is like to have you plans seemingly wrecked. I went from being ranked highly in my class to barely getting into a university. So if you are upset still about how things happened know that it gets better with time. When you are in the next phase of your life and a few years pass it doesn't matter much anymore. What plans you had wanted to do and what you ended up doing are different but you can still get in anywhere.
However you have a phenomenal MCAT a very-good GPA, and still a very decent sections of extracurricular's. You are in a better place than most and and your experiences can be used as a strength. At this point you should apply where you want and really spend these upcoming months reflecting on your goals, working on your personal statement, primary and secondary essays. At this point it is how you write about these experiences and how you talk about them in interviews that I believe will make the difference if you get in or not. When talking about your health explain the strengths you have gleaned from it and then move on. It is you actions that matter, present a triumph in your return to society rather than someone who is still broken over it.
If you are still feeling the self doubt that was mentioned in earlier posts and briefly here, and have yet to seek any help; I would suggest looking to mental health counselling and building a stronger support network. Having gone through it myself, having several friends going through their own health problems, and working with hundreds of children in this population I can first hand tell you that the mental ramifications are just as worst as the physical and ignoring them is dangerous.
As for a list I dont know what you budget is, but I would apply to your state schools, maybe a few mid-tiers, and a lot of the top 20's. Pick ones where the mission statement interests you, and you like the location, teaching style, etc. As stated by manofsteel9 and Walter Raleigh.
Good Luck!

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
UVA
Virginia Tech
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Carle Illinois
Miami
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University
U Chicago
Case Western
U Michigan
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Johns Hopkins
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
U Penn
Yale
Harvard

 

[doglova]

Being only a pre-med, I never posted on WAMC threads because I was afraid I would give bad advice. However, I can confidently say that you will be a competitive applicant for any school you apply to. 527 MCAT (monstrous), ~3.9 with BME and Math degrees, all the boxes checked in terms of shadowing/volunteering/research, AND an insane story of beating cancer (congrats!!!). With your application, I would probably apply to ~25 schools including 10 from the top 20, 10 from the top 40/50, and 5 purely safety schools, including all of your state schools. As long as you put in good effort on your PS and secondary essays, you will have an acceptance. The reason why I didn't state specific names of schools is because they really depend on your personal preference such as geographic location, learning style, etc. So do a little bit of research on schools and try to choose schools that seem to be a great fit for you. Again, congratulations on your accomplishments, and good luck

Thanks for the encouragement but my overall GPA was closer to 3.8 and not 3.9 which is on the lower end for R1 schools from what I have heard. Any advice about what I can do to further strengthen my app? For example, is the number of clinical volunteering hours too meager or is there a particular organization I should join.

 

[doglova]

I noticed you posted something similar a few months ago. And decided to share my story with you. I didn't get sick in undergrad but due to health problems missed 2 years of high-school. I get what it is like to have you plans seemingly wrecked. I went from being ranked highly in my class to barely getting into a university. So if you are upset still about how things happened know that it gets better with time. When you are in the next phase of your life and a few years pass it doesn't matter much anymore. What plans you had wanted to do and what you ended up doing are different but you can still get in anywhere.
However you have a phenomenal MCAT a very-good GPA, and still a very decent sections of extracurricular's. You are in a better place than most and and your experiences can be used as a strength. At this point you should apply where you want and really spend these upcoming months reflecting on your goals, working on your personal statement, primary and secondary essays. At this point it is how you write about these experiences and how you talk about them in interviews that I believe will make the difference if you get in or not. When talking about your health explain the strengths you have gleaned from it and then move on. It is you actions that matter, present a triumph in your return to society rather than someone who is still broken over it.
If you are still feeling the self doubt that was mentioned in earlier posts and briefly here, and have yet to seek any help; I would suggest looking to mental health counselling and building a stronger support network. Having gone through it myself, having several friends going through their own health problems, and working with hundreds of children in this population I can first hand tell you that the mental ramifications are just as worst as the physical and ignoring them is dangerous.
As for a list I dont know what you budget is, but I would apply to your state schools, maybe a few mid-tiers, and a lot of the top 20's. Pick ones where the mission statement interests you, and you like the location, teaching style, etc. As stated by manofsteel9 and Walter Raleigh.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the encouraging words. I know this isn't a vent forum, but I keep looking back and fantasizing about how if I never got sick I probably would have a cGPA closer to 3.9 which is what med schools like and I probably would have published from undergrad research. After lowering my GPA my junior year due to illness and getting surgery and being on meds that make me feel sick all the time and feeling horrible all the time and being worried about the future, I really had to bust myself my senior year to overload on credits and get a 4.0 my entire senior year in order to get my GPA back about 3.8 and the whole experience left me feeling destroyed and made me question whether I'm even cut out to be a doc. I didn't deal with being sick well especially since at first before I knew I had cancer but when I knew there was something horribly wrong with me I tried to prioritize grades over health issues and convinced myself I was just sick due to pulling too many all nighters and not eating healthy which ended in a trainwreck after I got medical help and was diagnosed.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

A 3.8 will not hold you back at any school in the country. Not NYU, not Harvard, not anywhere. The 527 is beastly and is north of the 90th percentile at every school in the country. You have a compelling story as well. If you wanted to become a little more competitive - not that you'd need it - you could do another hundred hours of clinical and nonclinical volunteering. As you are, @Goro would say you're a rockstar: not golden, but platinum.

You seem very perfectionistic, even neurotic. Don't be. Your stats are absolutely stellar and good at any school in the country. Your ECs are also quite good, and you have an excellent story of overcoming adversity. There is nothing improbable about your app, and few deficiencies. Quit fretting: for comparison, the average MD matriculant has a 3.7 and 511. Hell, you could apply top-20 only and have a solid chance at ending the cycle with an acceptance.

 

[doglova]

A 3.8 will not hold you back at any school in the country. Not NYU, not Harvard, not anywhere. The 527 is beastly and is north of the 90th percentile at every school in the country. You have a compelling story as well. If you wanted to become a little more competitive - not that you'd need it - you could do another hundred hours of clinical and nonclinical volunteering. As you are, @Goro would say you're a rockstar: not golden, but platinum.

You seem very perfectionistic, even neurotic. Don't be. Your stats are absolutely stellar and good at any school in the country. Your ECs are also quite good, and you have an excellent story of overcoming adversity. There is nothing improbable about your app, and few deficiencies. Quit fretting: for comparison, the average MD matriculant has a 3.7 and 511. Hell, you could apply top-20 only and have a solid chance at ending the cycle with an acceptance.

Hello,
Thanks for the kind words, I'm in a hospital volunteering program now and I'll see whether I can get more hours before app time.

Any advice about find reputable non-clinical volunteering? There were lots of premed related service groups during undergrad which I didn't take full advantage of. But the real world is a dark and scary place.

One last question. I have very many research hours. But since I'm not published is that a red flag and should I adjust down the number of research hours on my app?

 

[doglova]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
UVA
Virginia Tech
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Carle Illinois
Miami
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University
U Chicago
Case Western
U Michigan
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Johns Hopkins
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
U Penn
Yale
Harvard

Thank you so much for school list attempt. I was wondering whether others can comment on whether this list is extremely top heavy. Would it be better to replace all the top tiers with mid top tiers like GWU and Tufts?

Also, just to give some info on learning style since someone suggested learning style may influence the list although the goal at this point is to get into any med school. During undergrad I learn best by doing practice problems which was why I did well in all my math classes. I honestly sucked at lab or practical classes because I would get super stressed out or make a silly mistake which would mess up my results. Also I learn better by reading textbooks than by lectures.

 

[doglova]

I suggest these schools with your stats:
UVA
Virginia Tech
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Carle Illinois
Miami
Duke
Vanderbilt
Washington University
U Chicago
Case Western
U Michigan
Pittsburgh
Rochester
Johns Hopkins
Mount Sinai
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
U Penn
Yale
Harvard

Also, why carle illinois. Sorry I'm super ignorant but wouldn't they be less friendly towards an OOS applicant? I know I am completely wrong just want to know why. Thanks again for any help.

 

[Faha]

Thank you so much for school list attempt. I was wondering whether others can comment on whether this list is extremely top heavy. Would it be better to replace all the top tiers with mid top tiers like GWU and Tufts?

Also, just to give some info on learning style since someone suggested learning style may influence the list although the goal at this point is to get into any med school. During undergrad I learn best by doing practice problems which was why I did well in all my math classes. I honestly sucked at lab or practical classes because I would get super stressed out or make a silly mistake which would mess up my results. Also I learn better by reading textbooks than by lectures.

Also, why carle illinois. Sorry I'm super ignorant but wouldn't they be less friendly towards an OOS applicant? I know I am completely wrong just want to know why. Thanks again for any help.[/QUOT
Look at the school website. They are looking for applicants with an engineering background.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Hello,
Thanks for the kind words, I'm in a hospital volunteering program now and I'll see whether I can get more hours before app time.

Any advice about find reputable non-clinical volunteering? There were lots of premed related service groups during undergrad which I didn't take full advantage of. But the real world is a dark and scary place.

One last question. I have very many research hours. But since I'm not published is that a red flag and should I adjust down the number of research hours on my app?

For reputable nonclinical volunteering: Habitat for Humanity. Soup kitchens. Food banks. Your local houses of worship.

Do not lie on your application. Not being published is absolutely NOT a red flag. Most applicants - even at @LizzyM's top-20 school - do not have publications.

As you stand, you are a stellar applicant with a solid chance of being accepted to a top-20 school.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Doglova. Stop being so neurotic. This will kill you in interviews. If your goal is to get into "any med school", your state schools will happily take you. Do put a lot of top 20s on your list; your app is stellar. That, plus a few midtiers and your state schools, and you'd have to botch a lot of interviews to not get accepted. Your chances are superb.

 

[doglova]

Doglova. Stop being so neurotic. This will kill you in interviews. If your goal is to get into "any med school", your state schools will happily take you. Do put a lot of top 20s on your list; your app is stellar. That, plus a few midtiers and your state schools, and you'd have to botch a lot of interviews to not get accepted. Your chances are superb.

At this point the goal is to be admitted to any med school so given that would it be more strategic to avoid R1 schools all together invest my efforts into applying into medical schools with higher acceptance rates instead of wasting time with R1s. This would make sense. Given that could someone suggest another list of schools.

 

[ciestar]

At this point the goal is to be admitted to any med school so given that would it be more strategic to avoid R1 schools all together invest my efforts into applying into medical schools with higher acceptance rates instead of wasting time with R1s. This would make sense. Given that could someone suggest another list of schools.

Omg. No.
You’ve been told this over and over. You have an excellent GPA and this will NOT hold you back anywhere. They’re gonna drool over that damn MCAT. You have a survivor story.

For the love of God don’t sell yourself short.

You don’t need to be published.

YOU. ARE. FINE.

Faha has been at this for a while, he wouldn’t give you a bs list.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

I can't say this loudly enough: you are not "fine". You are golden. Platinum, even. 3.8 is NOT a low GPA at any school in the country. It will not hold you back. You've got a very compelling story in recovering from cancer, a near-perfect MCAT, and stellar ECs. Your state schools will be very glad to have you and you have an excellent shot at multiple top-20 acceptances. You have one of the strongest applications I and many of the adcoms here have ever seen. Congratulations.

 

[ciestar]

Additionally, yield protection is a real thing. If you apply to a lot of mid to lower tier schools, theyre gonna see your app and assume you’re getting interviews from the Harvards of the world and likely not consider you as much.

You mentioned Tufts and GW earlier. These are incredibly low yield schools. They get a LOT of applications.

 

[doglova]

I can't say this loudly enough: you are not "fine". You are golden. Platinum, even. 3.8 is NOT a low GPA at any school in the country. It will not hold you back. You've got a very compelling story in recovering from cancer, a near-perfect MCAT, and stellar ECs. Your state schools will be very glad to have you and you have an excellent shot at multiple top-20 acceptances. You have one of the strongest applications I and many of the adcoms here have ever seen. Congratulations.

I know this isn’t a grovel forum but I can’t take it anymore and I work as a research assistant and everyday at work I get screamed at because other people don’t do their job and I’m obviously lowest on the food chain. I work 16-20 hours a day and barely sleep anymore. The when I finally get home I cry instead of sleeping and the worst part is I won’t be left with any pub or even poster or something to show for it and I can’t take it anymore and it makes me want to give up on applying to med school because of all the screaming and people gossiping about me and saying mean things.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Doglova, you have three posters. You could quit your research job tomorrow and have an excellent chance of being accepted to a top-20 medical school. In fact, you could find a 9-5 clinical job. You could work in something much less stressful. In fact, I'd recommend it. Get a less stressful job. Your application is excellent. Everyone here is telling you that you are Harvard material. I would bet anything that @Goro, @LizzyM, and @gonnif think likewise.

 

[doglova]

Doglova, you have three posters. You could quit your research job tomorrow and have an excellent chance of being accepted to a top-20 medical school. In fact, you could find a 9-5 clinical job. You could work in something much less stressful. In fact, I'd recommend it. Get a less stressful job. Your application is excellent. Everyone here is telling you that you are Harvard material. I would bet anything that @Goro, @LizzyM, and @gonnif think likewise.

To clarify, I got all the posters through various undergrad research gigs, and am not getting anything at all rn.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Focus on your own well-being now. Application-wise: see above image.

 

[doglova]

Doglova, you have three posters. You could quit your research job tomorrow and have an excellent chance of being accepted to a top-20 medical school. In fact, you could find a 9-5 clinical job. You could work in something much less stressful. In fact, I'd recommend it. Get a less stressful job. Your application is excellent. Everyone here is telling you that you are Harvard material. I would bet anything that @Goro, @LizzyM, and @gonnif think likewise.

Honestly I have hated almost every job I had and every job has been stressful because I'm really incompetent so a 9-5 clinical job which would be easy for anyone else may be hard for me. I just really want to be any kind of doctor because I would find it incredibly rewarding to make a difference in anyone's life the way my doctors made a difference in mine in regards to doing everything they could to make me better even when I was a pretty horrible and difficult patient and giving me the chance to continue with life. As far as I'm concerned if I can get into any medical school and make a fundamental difference in the life of at least one patient my life will be complete and I can stop hating myself but I don't think I can get through the med school admission process and I know this isn't a vent forum but idk what to do.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

"Really incompetent"? "Really incompetent"?! You survived cancer, got an excellent GPA from one of the best schools in the country, and then topped it off with a 99.9th-percentile MCAT score. I have never suggested this before, but I might suggest therapy. Your undergraduate college might have good resources: you are a very competent and high-achieving person. Don't call yourself "incompetent" with three posters and five business awards. You've got adcom members and people here telling you that you're not golden but platinum and would stand a superb chance of being admitted to the best medical schools in the country.

Pray tell: on what planet is a 3.8/527 with three posters and five awards "really incompetent"? You could take any other job that suits your fancy and be very, very well situated as far as medical school is concerned.

 

[doglova]

"Really incompetent"? "Really incompetent"?! You survived cancer, got an excellent GPA from one of the best schools in the country, and then topped it off with a 99.9th-percentile MCAT score. I have never suggested this before, but I might suggest therapy. Your undergraduate college might have good resources: you are a very competent and high-achieving person. Don't call yourself "incompetent" with three posters and five business awards. You've got adcom members and people here telling you that you're not golden but platinum and would stand a superb chance of being admitted to the best medical schools in the country.

Pray tell: on what planet is a 3.8/527 with three posters and five awards "really incompetent"? You could take any other job that suits your fancy and be very, very well situated as far as medical school is concerned.

I'm really not looking for much I just hate my life. I think getting into medical school would make me not hate my life and fix my attitude. It is upsetting that I'm not where I want to be at this point in my life and it's unclear whether it's possible to get there. I agree I probably do need help moving past everything that happened in a way that entails acting in my best interest but I work literally 16-20 hours a day and I get screamed at for working any less even though everyone else gets away with working 5-6 hours a day and doesn't pull their weight and dumps things on me which take me longer to do than everyone else. Maybe I should make another post. I need help dealing with what feels like toxic culture in the research lab.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

You could vote with your feet and leave the research lab! I would recommend that. Take any job that appeals to you and if you want, get some more clinical and nonclinical volunteering. You don't need any more research, and it sounds like it's stressing you out tremendously.

 

[candbgirl]

At this point the goal is to be admitted to any med school so given that would it be more strategic to avoid R1 schools all together invest my efforts into applying into medical schools with higher acceptance rates instead of wasting time with R1s. This would make sense. Given that could someone suggest another list of schools.

Oh, oh oh! Calm down. You got a list from @Faha. @Faha knows what he is talking about. Listen to him and don’t turn your nose up at the list. If you spent a little time on SDN you would know that many lower ranked schools will probably not even interview you. They will think that you are using them as backups in case you don’t get into T10-20. It’s fine to throw in a few but the list you've been given is a good list.
I know it’s tough but you have to stop with the what if’s! I think you are well and if you ready to move on with your life then let the past go. Have you considered counseling? You’ve been through more than most people but you have to figure out how to move on. You have a wonderful and very competitive application. You’ve worked hard but you do have some issues that you need to address some way some how. Good luck as you pursue your dreams.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

@candbgirl Seconded. @Goro, @gyngyn, might you corroborate Faha? This is a stellar application. Apply to maybe 10-15 top 20s, 5 midtiers, and your state schools. You are not golden but platinum. OP might consider counseling - and I'd suggest quitting that research job. She doesn't need it, and it's causing her undue stress. I strongly suspect that OP's lab is full of ***holes and that she's as competent as anyone as a researcher. Incompetent researchers don't get three posters.

Best of luck, @doglova.

 

[doglova]

Going off what everyone said, is there a forum on here where I could ask for advice, related to dealing with a difficult research workplace environment or balancing health issues with work.

 

[Goro]

Hi guys my college's committee wants school lists so I was just wondering WAMC and what I should do between now and application time and whether someone can suggest a school list. I'm really nervous about applying and don't feel ready. But I won't be able to do well on the mcat again so its now or never. @Goro @Faha

Undergrad: T10
Major: bioengineering and math
cGPA: 3.81; sGPA: 3.89; Equivalent of magna cum laude but not summa
MCAT: 527
Clinical volunteering: about 100 hrs
Paid clinical experience: about 1000 hrs
Non-clinical volunteering: about 150 hrs
Research: 1500 hours but have no pub yikes, 5 business plan competition awards, 3 posters
Leadership: president of 2 premed clubs during undergrad, leadership positions in service groups
Shadowing: About 200 hours: Thoracic surgeon for 20 hours, gastric surgery for 100 hours, pediatrics for 10 hours, neurology for ~100 hours
Gap year: For a very brief period meaning like 3 months I was doing management consulting because premed during undergrad felt really rough for me and I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and i wasn’t cut out for medicine. Then I decided that I would be upset for the rest of my life if I never even tried. After that research assistant + going hard on hospital volunteering
Recs: Bio prof, math prof, PI, humanities prof, healthcare consulting internship boss, clinical volunteering coordinator
Other activities: healthcare consulting internships within MBB firm, medtech internship, tutoring, volunteering within large organizations
Field of interest: Neurology, based on research and coursework. I'm also highly interested in working with medically underserved populations and women's health especially after having endometrial cancer in college.
Ethnicity: Mixed non minority, meaning asian and white
State: Resident VA
Special circumstance/ context: Diagnosed and treated for cancer during undergrad which resulted in bad semester jr year followed by a year off + rebuilding period followed by 4.0 entire sr year. I had everything I ever wanted before I got sick. Then my plans got wrecked.

Edit: I don't use this forum a lot, so is there a reason I'm not getting replies for example I didn't follow the right format? Are people hesitant to tell me I have no chance because they're afraid to give tough love to a sickly little girl? Pls let me know sorry I'm super ignorant and it's better to get tough love now than when applying and getting rejected everywhere I apply due to bad school list.

I suggest:
NYU
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
UCLA,
UCSF,
UCSD
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U MD (maybe)
U VM
EVMS, VCU and Va Tech to keep you close to home, if desired

 

[doglova]

I suggest:
NYU
Vanderbilt
WashU
Yale
JHU
Northwestern
U Chicago
U Penn
Columbia
Duke
Harvard
Sinai
Cornell
Stanford
U MI
U VA
BU
Case
Mayo
Pitt
UCLA,
UCSF,
UCSD
Hofstra
Ohio State
U Cincy
USC/Keck
USF Morsani
Albert Einstein
Dartmouth
Emory
Rochester
Jefferson
Miami
U MD (maybe)
U VM
EVMS, VCU and Va Tech to keep you close to home, if desired

Hi goro thanks for the list. A dumb question I know I’m wrong I want to know why but wouldn’t the UCs be kind of biased towards Cali ppl and not folks from the other side of the country. Also isn’t not applying to 3/4 of my state schools a risk. Also why hasn’t anyone suggested Georgetown since it’s super close to where I live is it also super low yield. I heard Stanford is obsessed with kids with pubs and if you don’t have a pub you’re wasting your money especially with them.

 

[doglova]

In addition everyone on here is super nice but just to add some context the vast majority of my friends think that me applying to medical school is a really bad idea. Their general opinion is that I be intellectually cut out for medical school but definitely not physically so especially given that after having cancer Im still really weak, I get sick very easily, and I developed a really strange fainting problem. When I tell my friends I’m premed they almost laugh at me and wonder how I’m ever going to get into medical school especially since I panicked before literally every exam as an undergrad. It’s just hard to believe what ppl here are saying given that the majority of people who know me in real life pity me and my think of me as a sickly and ‘pathetic’ little girl and find the idea of me going to med school laughable.

 

[Goro]

Hi goro thanks for the list. A dumb question I know I’m wrong I want to know why but wouldn’t the UCs be kind of biased towards Cali ppl and not folks from the other side of the country. Also isn’t not applying to 3/4 of my state schools a risk. Also why hasn’t anyone suggested Georgetown since it’s super close to where I live is it also super low yield. I heard Stanford is obsessed with kids with pubs and if you don’t have a pub you’re wasting your money especially with them.

The UCs on my list do not have an IS bias. It appears that way only because there are so many qualified pre-meds in CA.

Note that I have recommended the VA schools.

Gtown is likely to figure that you'll go elsewhere with your stats. This is known as resource protection.

There are SDNers who have made it into Stanford without pubs, so it's your call. Myself, I perceive them as being a research *****. You have plenty of other choices.

In addition everyone on here is super nice but just to add some context the vast majority of my friends think that me applying to medical school is a really bad idea. Their general opinion is that I be intellectually cut out for medical school but definitely not physically so especially given that after having cancer Im still really weak, I get sick very easily, and I developed a really strange fainting problem. When I tell my friends I’m premed they almost laugh at me and wonder how I’m ever going to get into medical school especially since I panicked before literally every exam as an undergrad. It’s just hard to believe what ppl here are saying given that the majority of people who know me in real life pity me and my think of me as a sickly and ‘pathetic’ little girl and find the idea of me going to med school laughable.

Only you can determine if you are ready for medical school. Your SR and the rest of your app tells met that you are.

i've had students who were survivors of leukemia, lymphoma and a few other cancers, so if they can do it, so can you.

You didn't panic during the MCAT, so I'd say that was a good ripost to their attempts to tear you down.

 

[Wayfinder]

In addition everyone on here is super nice but just to add some context the vast majority of my friends think that me applying to medical school is a really bad idea. Their general opinion is that I be intellectually cut out for medical school but definitely not physically so especially given that after having cancer Im still really weak, I get sick very easily, and I developed a really strange fainting problem. When I tell my friends I’m premed they almost laugh at me and wonder how I’m ever going to get into medical school especially since I panicked before literally every exam as an undergrad. It’s just hard to believe what ppl here are saying given that the majority of people who know me in real life pity me and my think of me as a sickly and ‘pathetic’ little girl and find the idea of me going to med school laughable.

The only one who knows your own health well enough to answer this is yourself. Stats wise there is NO QUESTION you have what it takes. If people are really judging you because you had cancer, I dont know if you have met other cancer survivors. I have friends what have done the peace corps post cancer, that work with kids with cancer, or that are in graduate or medical school at some of the top schools of the nation. Having cancer doesn't define you. However I don't know you, your current health status, if you can handle the long hours and the mental stress of the profession and its environment.
Personally I think you should quit the lab job, if you need work find something you think would be relaxing. If you feel your friends are creating a negative environment, find a new more positive one, and find some professional help. After reading through a few of your posts, it sounds like you could be projecting your anxieties on a lot of things in your life. The fact that you have hated almost every job you have ever worked, are feeling so pressured by your lab, and that you seem to have a weak relationship with your friends, sends up red flags. I am not a medical professional however which is why I think it is important you go and see one.
Then spend between now and June reflecting. Work on your personal statement, work on pre-writing your secondaries and primary application, and really really think about the field. Talk to your doctor about your physical health, if you are unsure about it. Recovery from chronic illness takes a while, but if you have noticed yourself getting stronger, remember you have another year and a half before school would start. That is a lot of time
Start working on the other aspects of your life, and then if you really don't think you are ready medical schools are not going anywhere. You can always retake your MCAT, and apply in a few years. Also if you don't think medicine is right there are other rewarding careers where you can support people with chronic health issues, and make a difference in their life. I am not saying these things to dissuade you but rather help relieve your anxiety about your other options.
Either way good luck and I wish you the best.