Why Is HSDN NOT Active?

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So my questions is as follows: Why is HSDN not active? I mean there's only about 6 or 7 posts on hsdn per day - that's just sad. And now I'm going to bring up somthing that you all hate - as members of HSDN - CC. CC is just always active (even in the High School Life subforum) Now I know HSDN is more specialized toward hopeful, future doctors, but even then. HSDN is just plain dead. Could anyone tell me what the numbers are in terms of how many come to HSDN per day, and how many people actually post anything? It just disappoints me that HSDN is so dead, while CC is co active, as are many other forums...what's your opinion on this everyone?

I prefer to think that instead of a high quantity of posts, we have higher quality posts than CC.

The high school kids who are looking to become doctors either do not know about SDN since it is more obscure, are too busy with classes to be really involved, or are more confident with their college chances than CC kids and tend to focus on their non-academic lives more. Hence, less activity on an academically-themed forum.

And now, to answer your question as to why our forum is better than College Confidential, here's a GIF of someone being slapped with a fish.

Originally Posted by AntiHouseMD

I prefer to think that instead of a high quantity of posts, we have higher quality posts than CC.

And now, to answer your question as to why our forum is better than College Confidential, here's a GIF of someone being slapped with a fish.

DO NOT TURN TO THE DARK SIDE. CC might get more daily posts than us, but they are of far less quality. Also, you think that there are a lot of trolls on here? CC is infested. The CC moderators are 3-year-olds who don't know anything about moderating. The users are stuck up trolls who will lie about anything to seem cool, and will do anything to criticize new users. Here on SDN the moderators are friendly and understanding, the users are welcoming (as long as you're not a troll), and the responses and information are of high quality. SDN is where the future professionals go, CC is where the people who want to get rich quick go.

The most active posters on hSDN are usually seniors in high school. Now that high school is over, many are migrating to pre-allo and others are on summer break. Also, if you look at the high school pre-med forum on CC, it is even less active than hSDN. The truth is that most high schoolers are content to wait till college before figuring out pre-med. I certainly was. I didn't even know about the SDN forums until I was interviewing for med school.

Originally Posted by AntiHouseMD

I prefer to think that instead of a high quantity of posts, we have higher quality posts than CC.

Couldn't agree more!

Those crazy CCers ; however, I still look at their stats just to be motivated to study for the SAT

I didn't know about SDN or CC until midway through college.

Originally Posted by Nymphicus

I didn't know about SDN or CC until midway through college.

That's probably true for most people, but I just have a crazy obsession with getting accepted.

Originally Posted by Nymphicus

I didn't know about SDN or CC until midway through college.

WHAT! If you type in anything academic related, CC comes up - especially SAT related stuff.

Originally Posted by nysegop

That's probably true for most people, but I just have a crazy obsession with getting accepted.

That's not necessarily a good thing

Originally Posted by mmmcdowe

That's not necessarily a good thing

It's certainly a time waster. I waste hours every month just thinking about my future, reading books about admissions, and hanging out around SDN. I wish there were some sort of nicotine gum to diminish my addiction/obsession.

You've answered your own question. SDN is a specialty forum for a specific subset of high school students. This is the only place on the internet where aspiring and current doctors can converse about topics concerning all levels of medical education. This is a gold mine; CC is, to continue the metaphor, the pit of Chernobyl's reactor core. Besides, they're just concerned with numbers there. The students and physicians here at SDN try to treat the whole application... from undergraduate apps all the way to fellowship apps, you're lucky you've found a place so early!

Besides, what else is there to talk about -- other than the hSDN class of 2012's awesomeness?

Originally Posted by Doxorubicin

Besides, what else is there to talk about -- other than the hSDN class of 2012's awesomeness?

We could make fun of the inferior class of threads!

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

We could make fun of the inferior class of threads!

GOSH THE CLASSES OF 2013 AND 2014 ARE SO LAME. Like, FORREALZ.

Originally Posted by nysegop

It's certainly a time waster. I waste hours every month just thinking about my future, reading books about admissions, and hanging out around SDN. I wish there were some sort of nicotine gum to diminish my addiction/obsession.

I have a tendency to do the same sometimes. However, when you think about it, there's no *point* that you will reach, especially with a profession like medicine. If during highschool you plan for college, college plan for medical school, medschool for residency, residency for fellowship, fellowship for that academic position, that position for tenure...it never ends.
Make sure you enjoy your time and not only think about what's coming next.

Just a thought.

gee thanks (Class of 2014 here)......but, I have to admit, It's honestly pathetic....no one goes on.....it's dead....long gone......I try to keep it resurrected, but there's only one 2014-er can do....

Originally Posted by futuresurgeon00

gee thanks (Class of 2014 here)......but, I have to admit, It's honestly pathetic....no one goes on.....it's dead....long gone......I try to keep it resurrected, but there's only one 2014-er can do....

Ok, so what are some ideas for making hSDN more attractive?

I'm not familiar with CC but appreciate the comments. Back in the day, SDN's main competitor was The Princeton Review (TPR). TPR forums were very active but moderation sloppy, if non-existent and the staff reputedly not helpful. Flame wars everywhere. That was SDN foot in the door and we've crushed them out of existence.

I think that majority of the people who were active on hSDN have now graduated, and there aren't many newcomers, as people don't know about SDN....as drorthoman said, when you type in a search on google, CC does come up more often. In fact, I stumbled on SDN by accident, and that was only through someone else's blog.

I just typed in a random search on google "Do i have a chance at medical school" (for curiosity's sake) and the order of the server links were:

- studentdoc
- yahoo
- premed101
- SDN
- cc
- student awards
- med school admission secrets

If we make more people aware of SDN (more people who are in hs and pre-med)....that would probably work...

I did the same search and got SDN, yahoo, Harvard.edu followed by studentdoc (the latter of which is interesting because I thought we retained the rights to that name. I'll have to ask legal counsel).

So SEO would help.

Getting the word out to HS advisors.

Encouraging those who have graduated to come back to hSDN and help out.

Got it. Any other ideas.

I've noticed that hSDN gets busier around September October (application season). But one of the real reasons I think that hSDN is slow is because the majority of people in high school aren't extremely concerned with topics that would be discussed here.

Most people in high school are unsure of what college to go to, let alone careers. Like INS said, I wouldn't count on many high schoolers thinking about medicine at all. Plus there's competition from another forum called College Confidential.

Originally Posted by Mufid

Most people in high school are unsure of what college to go to, let alone careers. Like INS said, I wouldn't count on many high schoolers thinking about medicine at all.

Really? I did. Then again, maybe I'm weird.

Plus there's competition from another forum called College Confidential.

Yes. So the question is: how do we compete with them? What's CC got that we don't (besides more people)?

hSDN has not been a priority for SDN but we want to look at all avenues for increasing our market share.

Well, I guess I'm weird too like you then.

College Confidential is open to broader topics and has people interested in other careers. It's mainly focused on the college application process and has forums dedicated to several colleges and career focuses. There are also many trolls and high schoolers worried about getting into colleges like Harvard, MIT, Cornell, etc. and getting 36's on their ACTs.

I would recommend focusing on getting some hSDN alumni to, I don't know, share college experiences or something. Maybe get doctors to post here about their specific careers and experiences to raise interest. I personally found your answer to one kid's question about how surgeons reduce tremors very fascinating.

Originally Posted by Mufid

Well, I guess I'm weird too like you then.

College Confidential is open to broader topics and has people interested in other careers. It's mainly focused on the college application process and has forums dedicated to several colleges and career focuses. There are also many trolls and high schoolers worried about getting into colleges like Harvard, MIT, Cornell, etc. and getting 36's on their ACTs.

Gotcha. Well clearly we can't be as broadly spread...are they well respected enough that a SDN Partnership would be reasonable? That could draw some people from there to here.

I would recommend focusing on getting some hSDN alumni to, I don't know, share college experiences or something. Maybe get doctors to post here about their specific careers and experiences to raise interest. I personally found your answer to one kid's question about how surgeons reduce tremors very fascinating.

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe some "Day in the Life of" type things and encouraging the Pre meds to come back and tell you what they wished they known when they were in HS.

I agree....I'm in gr.11 in high school, and I honestly feel like I'm the odd one out, because no one knows what they want to do with their life, let alone what university/college they want to go to......The alumni idea is a good one....

Originally Posted by Winged Scapula

Gotcha. Well clearly we can't be as broadly spread...are they well respected enough that a SDN Partnership would be reasonable? That could draw some people from there to here.



Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe some "Day in the Life of" type things and encouraging the Pre meds to come back and tell you what they wished they known when they were in HS.

Ehh, College Confidential doesn't have the best reputation in terms of the quality of the members. There are an absurd amount of unnecessary "4.0 36 ACT what are my chances?" threads and parents that essentially brag about their children's success. To reiterate what another person in this thread, SDN is more quality than quantity. This is one of the main reasons I love this forum so much.

Although I'm only in my first 2 months of college, I'd love to make a question thread later on in my educational career. I think it's a really great idea.

SDN, like most people said, actually (sometimes) have legitimate conversations about the admissions process, medical careers, etc. CC seems to be a bragging ground for the most part with few actual conversations. Like INS said, I'd be willing to do a question thread. Granted I'm not looking at a medical career right now, but I wouldn't mind helping out people in the admissions process.

Another thing I thought about was maybe having some member-only access to threads--like maybe on the ones where hSDN alumni/undergrads share experiences about college or the "Day in the Life of" doctor threads. This would increase registration since I've noticed that SDN gets many guests online (10+ almost every time I log in) but relatively few members in comparison. It would also be great if you sticky these threads too, ensuring future registrations from high schoolers thinking about a career in medicine.

It would also be wise to include some Vets, researchers, dentists, nurses, PAs, etc. in these "Day in the Life of" threads as well. I'm sure there are some SDN members here willing to do that.

I'm not sure a partnership with CC would be the best. Like INS said above, that site relies on the traffic of kids that just want to get into an Ivy League school or other prestigious school. I've seen many on there want to do I-banking/economics for serious cash. The site is infested with trolls and students bragging about their high school achievements (Example: "Look at me! I have a low 2350 SAT and a horrible 3.9 GPA. Can I get into [insert prestigious school here]?") The long-time posters are mainly parents that have multiple kids. All they do is brag about how they're doing in school.

Moreover, most of the people on CC's med sub-forum have SDN accounts or are parents of pre-meds/med students. There are many high schoolers there that are insanely focused on getting into a BS/MD program, but they're much like their non-medically interested counterparts--braggarts and people obsessed with getting into prestigious schools.

Like you said about TPR, CC also has bad moderation. Every so often trolls appear saying they got accepted somewhere with a low GPA/SAT/ACT before acceptances even came out or saying they have cured cancer or have schools like Duke, Michigan, Berkeley, Northwestern, etc. as a safety.

Quality over quantity, I suppose, is what will distinguish this forum over CC.

Thanks for the input everyone; its very helpful. I also appreciate the comments about the quality vs quantity of hSDN and SDN in general. Its what we strive for. There will always be trolls and we try our best, but a few slip through from time to time. The pre-med forums at CC seem a lot less full of the issues that you guys mention that are widely seen in the Ivy League threads. I think we should still consider a partnership after some further review.

Originally Posted by Mufid

Another thing I thought about was maybe having some member-only access to threads--like maybe on the ones where hSDN alumni/undergrads share experiences about college or the "Day in the Life of" doctor threads. This would increase registration since I've noticed that SDN gets many guests online (10+ almost every time I log in) but relatively few members in comparison. It would also be great if you sticky these threads too, ensuring future registrations from high schoolers thinking about a career in medicine.

Lurkers are common in every forum; for some people, they just want to take a quick look without registering. Usually members only threads push people away rather than draw them in. If someone sees an interesting thread that they want to comment in or ask a question, that's what usually gets them to register. I manage the Join Request Admin panel for a couple of these closed forums and the vast majority of users asking to join are already SDN members. It is rare to get someone to register and ask to join (and those I turn down anyway because we want to have a pattern of SDN use before allowing access into those forums). So I'm not sure it would have the effect you think but I'm willing to listen to all ideas and we can certainly try it.

It would also be wise to include some Vets, researchers, dentists, nurses, PAs, etc. in these "Day in the Life of" threads as well. I'm sure there are some SDN members here willing to do that.

Sure. hSDN wasn't just designed for pre-meds. Nurses and PAs are not considered our core communities so they probably wouldn't be included but we can certainly look into Vets, Dentists etc.

Originally Posted by AntiHouseMD

SDN, like most people said, actually (sometimes) have legitimate conversations about the admissions process, medical careers, etc. CC seems to be a bragging ground for the most part with few actual conversations. Like INS said, I'd be willing to do a question thread. Granted I'm not looking at a medical career right now, but I wouldn't mind helping out people in the admissions process.

Most people giving advice on CC are just know it all 24/7 SAT studiers I've asked questions on there just to see what answers I would get, and I got a whole range

I go on both, but now i am busy killing myself for good grades in all these AP Classes as probably are most high school students wanting to be doctors

Originally Posted by EvenStevens

I go on both, but now i am busy killing myself for good grades in all these AP Classes as probably are most high school students wanting to be doctors

I know this has actually nothing to do with this thread - but what exactly do you do in your AP Classes? In Canada, there are AP Schools and you can kind of "fast-track" your courses and complete your first year of university in gr. 12.....Is it the same there? What exactly is different?

Originally Posted by futuresurgeon00

I know this has actually nothing to do with this thread - but what exactly do you do in your AP Classes? In Canada, there are AP Schools and you can kind of "fast-track" your courses and complete your first year of university in gr. 12.....Is it the same there? What exactly is different?

AP classes basically get the exam at the end of the year. If you pass with a high enough score, 3,4,5 most universities will give you credits for it. I took AP classes starting in gr. 9 and continued to take AP and eventually IB courses my senior year of high school. When I went to college, I had all my liberal arts, math, and basic sciences done, and started off as a junior.

This might've changed though, high school was almost a decade ago for me.

Guys I might sound greedy here, but I keep this and cc a secret from my hosa colleagues >

Originally Posted by Doctor Hill

Guys I might sound greedy here, but I keep this and cc a secret from my hosa colleagues >

Why is hSDN not active?

Because of people like you.

But I like being evil

Originally Posted by Doctor Hill

But I like being evil

Fair enough. I'm not wrong though.

Also, being evil is usually frowned upon in medicine.

You know i'm joking right? lol but anyways you guys are right, cc is full of trolls, just noticed today. Some kid posted 3.9 gpa what are my chances of getting into a college. Another said in middles school I got 2 b's will that affect me. Like wtf is up with that forum. lol

Originally Posted by Doctor Hill

You know i'm joking right? lol but anyways you guys are right, cc is full of trolls, just noticed today. Some kid posted 3.9 gpa what are my chances of getting into a college. Another said in middles school I got 2 b's will that affect me. Like wtf is up with that forum. lol

Nope, I couldn't tell by your use of a winking emoticon, nor by your absurd and irrational statement that your post was sarcastic.

Lawl