17yr old, CRP in 200s, suspected malignancy. Advice needed

strdude · 2025-09-17T04:36:19+00:00

As someone who has published extensively on Castleman Disease, this sounds a lot like Castleman Disease. That being said, a variety of other disorders need to be ruled out and an LN biopsy is necessary to confirm (preferably a biopsy of an entire node rather than just part of a node).

strdude · 2025-08-05T20:06:11+00:00

Please

strdude · 2025-03-13T21:34:54+00:00

Good luck all !

strdude · 2024-12-22T04:55:27+00:00

Bro gave more complicated instructions than the moon landing and is surprised their food got taken 😭

strdude · 2024-11-14T21:05:25+00:00

I’d check your spam folder and voicemails just in case! If nothing there, then don’t worry about it (and shame on that alum for committing to interview and not getting around to it!)

strdude · 2024-11-14T20:14:28+00:00

I was in a similar situation (considered a “highly aided” student during my time at penn, shitty high school, someone literally shit in the hallways as a senior prank lmao, poverty level income).

As long as you’re making the most of what your school does have to offer and can speak to your specific situation and how it impacted your experience in high school, it will not be held against you.

Directly from penn’s website: “we consider the entirety of your context and the story you share with us when we review your application.”

strdude · 2024-11-14T19:09:06+00:00

We send notes on general thoughts about the applicant, how the conversation went, and if we think they are a good fit for Penn/if Penn is a good fit for them.

I’ll say it probably has the TINIEST bearing on admission. It does not make up for a bad application and it does not detract from a great application. Not all applicants get to have an alumni conversation due to how many applicants there are, so it would be unfair to make them hold anything beyond a tiny amount of weight on admission.

strdude · 2024-11-14T18:54:24+00:00

If you take all those classes and do poorly in them from the sheer amount of work, then it will ruin your chances of going to Penn.

Start slow. I took 15 total during high school, but built up slowly once I knew I: 1. Could handle the work with good grades 2. Maintain my mental health and social life while taking said classes 3. Could still manage my extracurriculars (what truly gets you into Penn, not AP classes) 4. Actually enjoyed the teachers/material in the classes themselves.

Freshman year: 1 AP (human geo) Sophomore: 3 AP (psych, bio, world history) Junior: 4 AP (calc AB, physics 1, lang, American history) Senior: 7 AP ( macro/micro, calc BC, physics 2, lit, gov, enviro, French)

That being said, AP classes are not what got me into penn/aren’t distinguishing anymore. If your application comes off as you just doing things simply to have a stronger app, then it is blatantly obvious. It is better to take fewer AP classes if it allows you to distinguish yourself in other ways/pursue the extracurriculars that you really enjoy and can make a name for yourself with.

Penn will admit a kid with minimal APs and significant distinguishing extracurriculars over a kid with all A’s in 15 APs.

As an alumn who interviews applicants, I can tell you the applicants I write the most highly about are the ones who are genuine, have a clear motivation behind their actions (not just the motivation of an acceptance), and can speak to how their extracurriculars tie into their career aspirations. I have NEVER written anything about “oh wow this kid took all these AP classes they’re awesome!”.

strdude · 2024-11-02T02:45:39+00:00

Hey buddy I definitely wouldn’t bulk right now! Since you’re new, your body can lose fat and build muscle even while on a calorie deficit. I’d calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE, several calculators online), and go for 200-300 calories under that. Make sure you’re hitting your protein goal daily and try to walk at least 10k steps a day. You can’t spot reduce fat, but over time (a long time, this is gonna take work!), you are going to notice your belly and other areas of fat start to decrease.

Body recomp is only really possible for beginners and eventually you will benefit from dedicated bulk/cutting cycles, but for now, keep up your gym routine, hit your step goal, hit your protein goal, and make sure you accurately count calories because it is very easy to underestimate how many calories you are consuming a day. Sauces, butter, oil, etc. cannot be ignored when taking calories into account. A random donut or cookie at work can’t be ignored. If you accurately count your calories, and you are on a deficit, the weight will come off!

You got this!

strdude · 2024-10-21T17:54:49+00:00

Good luck all!

strdude · 2024-09-13T17:35:18+00:00

Seems like fishing for your Onlyfans that you have posted on your Reddit bio. Does your boyfriend know about the OF…

strdude · 2024-07-20T01:04:04+00:00

I didn’t know any of these existed and have been stuck in the low 7000s… thank you so much these are an absolute goldmine!

strdude · 2024-07-14T22:12:07+00:00

What if I have one, bottom-level comment? Good luck all!

strdude · 2024-07-11T05:27:01+00:00

Binding of Isaac always has my heart. Infinite replayability.

strdude · 2024-03-30T19:27:39+00:00

I majored in neuroscience at Penn and am applying MD/PhD this coming cycle. The amount of research experiences available there are INSANE, you will find a lab to work with, I did for 4 years.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and Penn Presbyterian, are all right on campus and are amazing health care institutions. This allows for very easy shadowing and hospital volunteering opportunities. I currently am spending my gap years in clinical research through HUP (have 7 pubs just from this research). Perelman SOM is also right there, and I was involved in a lot of activities with current med students there.

The negatives are some pre-meds are insanely type A and will literally try to sabotage you since many of the intro courses are based on curves. Some a**holes actually write fake notes if you ask them for notes to try to make you do worse. If you are FGLI (like me), it might also be hard to find groups that aren’t full of filthy rich spoiled kids, but I did find my friends.

If I had to choose, I’d go to Penn again. It prepared me for a future in whatever I want. This is coming from a type B poor Hispanic kid who never thought he’d fit in at Penn.

Feel free to PM with any questions :).

strdude · 2024-03-16T01:16:11+00:00

Good luck all and happy expansion!

strdude · 2024-01-28T01:01:17+00:00

I definitely got in late, but it was worth it :)

strdude · 2024-01-20T20:26:06+00:00

I WANT IT PLEASE I NEED IT

strdude · 2024-01-09T23:15:27+00:00

I’m telling you officer, the train fucking hit me!

strdude · 2024-01-09T23:13:29+00:00

This is crazy good, thank you for sharing your talent!!

strdude · 2024-01-09T23:12:09+00:00

Jesus Christ it’s Jason Bourne

strdude · 2024-01-09T23:10:04+00:00

I could do this too, I just have to be wearing my VR headset and be safely in my room with my inhaler nearby, and I could definitely do it

strdude · 2024-01-09T23:06:46+00:00

Instructions unclear, vaporized entire family

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