a generic post that will answer 90% of questions on this board

[chopsuey]

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i just wanted to say something....to all of you people responding to people's arguments, just remember that most of them probably don't read the forum anymore (look at the names)...🙂

that being said, i love the idea of a FAQ...let's do it! 2/3 vote works for me

 

[Exene]

Originally posted by chopsuey
i just wanted to say something....to all of you people responding to people's arguments, just remember that most of them probably don't read the forum anymore (look at the names)...🙂

that being said, i love the idea of a FAQ...let's do it! 2/3 vote works for me

I'm a complete idiot with computers, and SDN is the first online message board/forum I've ever really looked at - but once SDN taught me all the lingo (flame, OP, avatar), I was checking out an Animal Crossing board. Now that's serious dorkstuff, but they had an awesome FAQ section that seemed to eliminate a lot of redundant thread-creation. However, on SDN, it seems like the question that gets asked ad nauseam would not be eliminated by an FAQ: "What are my chances?" But an FAQ would squelch the second-most redundant thread: "What should I wear to interviews?" I would love to never see another new thread on that topic... 🙂

 

[jenni4476]

Most of the messages on this thread can be summed up in one statement:

When dealing with people, yes, there may be trends and perceived "typical" things, but remember this: There is ALWAYS an exception to the "rule". Life isn't science.

I just take this approach to life (and getting into med school😀 ): While I can "improve my chances" by doing certain things, ultimately I'm going to be judged by other people. Human nature being flawed and subjective as it is, I can't predict or control the judgments, so I'm just going to be who I am and do what I want to do and not really give too much weight to the judgments. And it works the other way too. While I may get irritated with someone and point out something I don't like about them, I try not to summarily judge anyone. Sometimes I do (hey, I'm human too), but I always try and look at where someone is coming from and how that's influencing their behavior or ideas. Usually that's enough to keep me compassionate and nonjudgmental.

Just my .02, and by the way, I LOVE the idea of a FAQ board. People should be directed there right away when they register!

 

[whodenie]

As one of the few people, if not the only person on the forum with a degree in philosophy I feel that it is necessary to object to the singling out of philosophy as easy major or field. Instead of trying to show how philosophy is better/harder than some other field I will simply suggest a review of the great minds in history to consider how many of them were involved with philosophy. I suspect that many people know very little of philosophy and mistakenly assign the name to other topics. Further, math and all of the sciences have their historical roots in philosophy.

Thanks
aaron

(Guess this post fits the formula MJ gave)

 

[Rapid Decomposition]

I agree - in fact, contrary to Cedric's extensive research (which probably ceased when he somehow got into med school and is therefore now inaccurate), for the last few years USC has actually been MORE competitive to get into than UCLA (from a GPA/SAT perspective, which when you're talking about schools as big as these guys is pretty much all that matters to get in for undergrad).

Either way, the difference between these two schools is so small that I hardly think it would make any difference at all to any admissions committee. A better example would be the difference between Harvard and UNLV.

Originally posted by SM-UCLA tech
Cedricw.....USC is not a "less competitive" school!

I've gone to both and I actually find ucla easier.


by the way...for you info...since you've done extensive research.....USC happens to be ranked in the top 35 academic schools in the nation.


sorry...... I had to vent 🙂

 

[An Yong]

Originally posted by turtleboard


Again people in the real-world may not care about your major, but med school admissions committees do. If I walk up to a random person on the street and say, "Hey random person, I have a B.A. in Mathematics," he will undoubtedly reply (if we're in New York City, that is) "F*&^ing freak, get the f*&^ away from me before I beat the $hit out of you." If I were to tell an admissions committee person that, considering there are fewer than 300 applicants (or matriculants) with B.A.s in Mathematics, I might be seen as unique. Furthermore because Mathematics is considered a more challenging major than, say, Philosophy, a math major's chances are a bit better (everything else being equal).

Its funny you make that comparison actually. I'm a math major that has also taken some philosophy electives and must say that when you go down to math's basic elements, its really just philosophy, well logic to be precise.

People who are not math majors tend not to make this connection because the math they say are the quantitative aspects of math and not necessarily the qualitative aspects... proofs are a major part in math as anyone knows, but what most people do not know is that proofs are essentially just sequential logical statements.

In fact, the first two chapters in my discrete mathematics class was logic (and we used the same logical laws, vinn diagrams, etc. as philosphy majors)

So really, I would argue that in its basic form, math and philosophy are one in the same 😉

Thanks! Just helping people understand us math folks better... hehe

 

[latinfridley]

I totally agree. Am taking a discrete math course right now for my CS degree, although its under a different course title: Analysis of programs. Essentially we're proving mathematical algorithms and formulas via logic.
jrod

 

[SistaKaren]

Originally posted by whodenie
As one of the few people, if not the only person on the forum with a degree in philosophy I feel that it is necessary to object to the singling out of philosophy as easy major or field. Instead of trying to show how philosophy is better/harder than some other field I will simply suggest a review of the great minds in history to consider how many of them were involved with philosophy. I suspect that many people know very little of philosophy and mistakenly assign the name to other topics. Further, math and all of the sciences have their historical roots in philosophy.

Actually....there are quite a few philosophy majors on the board...myself included! I was surprised that it was singled out too...but I figured that it was done in a light hearted manner, I'd let it go...anyone who's a major knows how erroneous that statement is...

Karen

 

[womansurg]

Originally posted by whodenie
As one of the few people, if not the only person on the forum with a degree in philosophy I feel that it is necessary to object to the singling out of philosophy as easy major or field.

Philosophy major here too; so is Skip Intro, I believe.

Now what were those statistics that I remember from undergrad?Philosophy majors scored higher on LSAT than any other major was one. And philosophy majors had higher acceptance rates into medical school (percentage-wise) than any other major was another.

Most premeds couldn't even follow the arguments in the basic, core requirement philosophy courses at my school...always coming unglued in class ("how could anyone GET this stuff!?!? God, just give me something to memorize, would ya?") Always getting mad about getting their first 'B'.

I'm sure expectations vary from school to school, but the overall field of philosophy (now there's a broad subject..) incorporates some of the highest level cognition in academia.

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by womansurg
Philosophy major here too; so is Skip Intro, I believe.

Now what were those statistics that I remember from undergrad?Philosophy majors scored higher on LSAT than any other major was one. And philosophy majors had higher acceptance rates into medical school (percentage-wise) than any other major was another.

Most premeds couldn't even follow the arguments in the basic, core requirement philosophy courses at my school...always coming unglued in class ("how could anyone GET this stuff!?!? God, just give me something to memorize, would ya?") Always getting mad about getting their first 'B'.

I'm sure expectations vary from school to school, but the overall field of philosophy (now there's a broad subject..) incorporates some of the highest level cognition in academia.

Chalk up another philosphy major! Unfortutanately it doesnt look like i'll be getting a BA in it since I started as a biochem/philosophy double major and really just want to graduate now. BTW philosophy is no cake walk major. Philosophy, takes more than a good memory, it requires the ability to follow complex arguments and think logically.

 

[Miss Dr.]

Hahahahahaha.

The original post for this thread was pretty darn funny.

 

[DarkChild]

this entire thread deserves a super-sized:
🙄

 

[Nefertari]

Some of my friends are also app to med schools, but are a bit behind in the process. I keep telling them to check out sdn, but for some reason, they probably haven't, since they keep asking me all those basic questions @ how to answer 2ndary questions, LOR's & of course, the classic "should i handwrite or type?". 🙄

Too bad they don't want to take the initiative to do some research--sdn's such a great resource! I've learned so much more on here than i have reading through med school books & websites. I try to help my friends out, but i'm starting to lose patience a bit. Just venting.

Btw, cheers to all these philosophy majors! Didn't realize there were so many.

 

[gooloogooloo]

Originally posted by mj
Additional FAQ I believe

For every thread posted:

1. A # of posters will post something arrogant, sarcastic or demeaning in response
2. A # of posters directly proportional to the sq of the # in 1. will post complaints about posters in 1
3. Following 1 and 2 someone will point out that someone misspelled something
4. The # of posters in 1 - 3 will increase proportionately during the summer, the spring while people are waiting for match and acceptance letters and obviously between M1, M2 and M3 years in NY 🙂
5. If you get through all the BS above, you will probably find an answer that suits you as most of the questions asked here have gray answers.

mj

funniest post i ever read. plus the misspelling remark after by some geek.

 

[pocwana]

from MSAR 2002-2003, page 30:

Undergraduate Major % Accepted Apps for major
Biological Sciences 44.9
Physical Sciences 50.9
Nonscience Subjects 50.5
Other Health Professions 28.4
Mixed (i.e. double major, interdisciplinary studies) 52.4
Other (didn't report) 46.9


Specific majors discussed:
Biology 44.7
Mathematics 55.6
Philosophy 60.2

and the highest accepted major is:
Biomedical Engineering 65.3

 

[2badr]

Look for the biomedical engineering fields to get a surge in applications.😉