Wow. I’ve seen a lot of mean-spirited comments here, but these might be the worst. Cain was a young woman trying to find herself after going through a traumatic experience, losing her ability to continue in track, and dealing with that aftermath in a public light. It’s understandable that she might give different things a try as part of her path to discovering what she ultimately wants to do.
I commend her too for finding this path outside of running. Being in the limelight at 16 isn't easy. Neither is getting into Stanford med school. Congrats to her.
Agree.
If we could rewind the clock, she should have gone to Stanford undergrad. I remember when she went pro in HS thinking, "she should still got to Stanford. I wonder if any of these colleges think outside the box. If I was the AD at Stanford, I would still use an admission spot on her as she could still make the Olympics and be in the alumni magazine. Train with the team, etc."
Agreed. Nothing she has done past her high school days shows that she can stick to what she says she wants to do.
AtalantaNYC was one of her pet projects, quickly forgotten after the intial publicity.
Triathalon a dismal failure, just a token effort.
Takes a lot of effort, commitment, and patience to be a doctor. Cain has none of those traits.
Don't forget her job at tracksmith.
But I disagree with you. This woman was once one of the best in the world at like 16. She wanted to go big and none of those other things were big. Stanford med is big and now in her late 20s, she's smart enough to realize she needs money to live on (Unless Nike gave her a ton in the lawsuit).
In terms of her getting in, do we a) think she had amazing scores or b) Had scores similar to a minority but got in due to the NY Times editorial and she's interesting. Colleges love anyone that can claim to be a victim.
It seems like they're sharing athletes with other clubs? Weird. And people from other clubs are working for both clubs? I can't imagine how this "club" continues once she leaves.
I wonder how good her MCAT score was. She is a perfect woke hero any school want on their campus. All that publicity she got for her complaints. A victim of AlSal and Nike. I guess it's possible she is super smart too.
Honestly, this will likely be a good fit for her. She’s got MD DNA coming from both sides, she’ll have a ton of support in place, she can gain 30 pounds and her body type will still fit in seamlessly, and she’s presumably matured enough to be annoying and whiny at worst and commendable, brave, and strong at best, depending on who is describing her. This will fit her natural tendencies well and much better than pro running. Stanford will likely embrace her and she will have a chance to flourish. Mary will be to med school what Kenyans are to 10ks. Will she practice? I don’t know, but for now — go, Mary. I wasn’t super into the whole Alberto thing (there are always two sides), and yes, there’s a lot of privilege in the mix, but it’s hard to do everything right at that age, and she’s definitely got a good thing going with this.
While some of the comments are probably meaner than they should be I think part of it is just realizing people like her will never struggle career-wise while the rest of us have it harder. I think being born into wealth is more of an advantage than people realize.
Those of you saying she only got in because of her privilege are plain wrong. was it a factor? Yes. Of course.
However there are very clear bars that you have to meet in medical school, including passing nationally administered exams that require months of studying - you literally have time built into your schedule to only study for Step 1 and Step 2. Very few people fail out of medical school because medical schools are surprisingly good at only accepting individuals who are going to succeed. The average GPA for a MD student is 3.8+ and the average MCAT is in the upper 80 percentile.
Stanford, one of the top medical schools in the world, would not have accepted Cain, no matter her name or connections, without thinking she was going to succeed. Doesn't mean those didn't help her, but this isn't undergrad. Med school admissions do not mess around because they recognize the resources they will have to pour into students and the real responsibility those individuals will have a few short years later.
Also individuals should give her a break for decisions she made at 16. What kind of decisions did you make then that you wished you had been more mature about? What did you not stay committed to that you wished you had?
I commend her too for finding this path outside of running. Being in the limelight at 16 isn't easy. Neither is getting into Stanford med school. Congrats to her.
Agree.
If we could rewind the clock, she should have gone to Stanford undergrad. I remember when she went pro in HS thinking, "she should still got to Stanford. I wonder if any of these colleges think outside the box. If I was the AD at Stanford, I would still use an admission spot on her as she could still make the Olympics and be in the alumni magazine. Train with the team, etc."
I remember saying, out loud, "That's crazy, how could her parents let her do that?"
Good for her. Stanford Med is extremely selective. One of the hardest to get into in the country. Given her pedigree, I'm sure she's very bright.
Like most med schools, it is much harder to get in if you're white or Asian. In medicine being a female doesn't help at all. A majority of med students are female.
The AAMC publishes data from all schools nationwide documenting what scores and grades you need for each school(breaks it down by race too). Stanford is ridiculously competitive.
It's hard to stand out from the crowd for the selection committee. No question her history as a former pro got the committee's attention.
Good for her. Stanford Med is extremely selective. One of the hardest to get into in the country. Given her pedigree, I'm sure she's very bright.
Like most med schools, it is much harder to get in if you're white or Asian. In medicine being a female doesn't help at all. A majority of med students are female.
The AAMC publishes data from all schools nationwide documenting what scores and grades you need for each school(breaks it down by race too). Stanford is ridiculously competitive.
It's hard to stand out from the crowd for the selection committee. No question her history as a former pro got the committee's attention.
I thought it was easier for Asians? Many med school students are Asian and female.
You are vare saying her father being a doctor made her more likely to also be a doctor?
yup.
Students who have a parent who is a medical practitioner are eight times more likely to go on to study medicine or dentistry at university than their classmates.
