ADCOM's read SDN!!!

[Taenia]

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Members do not see this ad.

I always suspected, but now it's undeniable...

A friend interviewed at Kansas and was asked if s/he was so and so "from that prevet forum student doctor net"

it was hu alright...s/he definitely reread all the posts upon returning home!

Hope there wasn't anything *too* incriminating! 😱

 

[PAThbrd]

There have definately been reports of this in the past at different schools. Good thing to keep in mind whenever you post anything on the internet!

 

[philomycus]

I can't blame them, I'd peek too. 🙂 They may see red flags for someone who looked great on paper and it could help them.

So if they're reading, Pick me, pick me! HAHAHAHA 🙂

-Alana

 

[HorseyVet]

So if they're reading, Pick me, pick me! HAHAHAHA 🙂

One should assume that anything they post about themselves on the internet is fair game.

I must say though, I love that shameless plug! I remember how stressful that time was for me, you all are entitled to as many laughs as you can get.

 

[RosieMoll3]

One should assume that anything they post about themselves on the internet is fair game.

That's why I always use a pen name.
Happy holidays!
-Mr. Nibbles

 

[cyrille104]

That's why I always use a pen name.
Happy holidays!
-Mr. Nibbles

Haha!

 

[FatPalomino]

One should assume that anything they post about themselves on the internet is fair game.

I must say though, I love that shameless plug! I remember how stressful that time was for me, you all are entitled to as many laughs as you can get.

PICK me tooo!!!!! ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!
Colorado!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CookieBear]

Actually, I heard that if they can guess your SDN name, and you can guess theirs, you get an extra 20 points on your admissions formula for applying.
.
.
.
.

Just kidding!

 

[HorseyVet]

That's why I always use a pen name.
Happy holidays!
-Mr. Nibbles

Watch, someone will ask "so are you Mr. Nibbles?"

you just see!

 

[cyrille104]

I have to admit that I'm kind of annoyed by this...why would anyone want to post on this board now? We all know that there are annoying things that we want to discuss about the admissions process, and now we have to sit here and worry about whether or not an admissions person is going to read it. If anyone knows of other good boards, please PM me.

 

[HorseyVet]

I have to admit that I'm kind of annoyed by this...why would anyone want to post on this board now? We all know that there are annoying things that we want to discuss about the admissions process, and now we have to sit here and worry about whether or not an admissions person is going to read it. If anyone knows of other good boards, please PM me.

uhh...this is a public forum.

I don't think anyone is going to not accept you because you're wondering where your letter is, if your stats are ok, etc. Besides adcoms would really be the best to answer any particular questions....or at least become aware of the various troubles (paperwork and otherwise) that applicants have.

Even if you post your opinion about one of the various debates we get into on here, that should be fine too as long as you're polite about it. I think adcoms should realize that msg boards aren't essay contests.

Again, if you post on the internet, be prepared that someone (aka anyone) could see it.

Honestly I would worry more about the boards becoming shanghaied into a place where applicants pander to adcoms.

 

[cyrille104]

uhh...this is a public forum.

I don't think anyone is going to not accept you because you're wondering where your letter is, if your stats are ok, etc. Besides adcoms would really be the best to answer any particular questions....or at least become aware of the various troubles (paperwork and otherwise) that applicants have.

Even if you post your opinion about one of the various debates we get into on here, that should be fine too as long as you're polite about it. I think adcoms should realize that msg boards aren't essay contests.

Again, if you post on the internet, be prepared that someone (aka anyone) could see it.

Honestly I would worry more about the boards becoming shanghaied into a place where applicants pander to adcoms.

But how do you know what's fine and not fine for adcoms? Maybe something rubs them the wrong way and they want to know who you are. You can't just start handing out rules and assumptions like "adcoms know it's not an essay contest" and "you can post whatever you want as long as it's polite".

This just seems unethical to me...fine, peek at the board, whatever...but to sit there and try to match up applicants with a discussion board alias? And they obviously did it in this case, right?

My other problem is, now where do they draw the line? Go on facebook and check out your profile and pictures? Google search for blogs and see if they can find any applicants?

I guess the only thing you can do is make yourself anonymous or put some security on it.

Now I'm wondering if these adcoms are just other members on this that have been posting and acting normal and participating in arguments and discussions, or if they're just bystanders.

 

[HorseyVet]

My other problem is, now where do they draw the line? Go on facebook and check out your profile and pictures? Google search for blogs and see if they can find any applicants?

That's not an uncommon thing for employers of all varieties to do. If I was about to hire someone and their facebook or myspace was full of the "look how drunk I was" material that they typically contain, I'd want to think twice about them. Employers have to be careful to not cross any legal line with doing this..but obviously if you answer "no I don't do drugs" and there are pictures of you smoking pot on your website...well then you've lied on your application and/or violated contract terms.

If you're dumb enough to actively have a bunch of bad press out there about yourself, what else are you dumb enough to do?

 

[cyrille104]

That's not an uncommon thing for employers of all varieties to do. If I was about to hire someone and their facebook or myspace was full of the "look how drunk I was" material that they typically contain, I'd want to think twice about them. Employers have to be careful to not cross any legal line with doing this..but obviously if you answer "no I don't do drugs" and there are pictures of you smoking pot on your website...well then you've lied on your application and/or violated contract terms.

If you're dumb enough to actively have a bunch of bad press out there about yourself, what else are you dumb enough to do?

Well I guess the difference is that you think it's acceptable and I think it's unethical.

 

[CookieBear]

Well I guess the difference is that you think it's perfectly acceptable and I think it's underhanded and unethical.

It's a public forum. Not private email, and not a private forum where users have to subscribe in order to view posts.

I agree with HorseyVet: whatever you put online on the internet these days, you have to consider the fact that ANYONE could, at nearly any given point in time, see it, read it, judge you by it, etc.

Unless, of course, it's a private forum, site, newsgroup, I don't know, etc.

I haven't heard of a private arena for these types of discussions, other than email, so until then, we have SDN... for better or worse!

Should I end with, "Smile! You're on candid camera!" 😱

 

[Quaggi]

i'm confused as to why everyone is getting so upset about this...how can anyone find anyones true identity on this forum anyway if its not voluntarily given out? just dont post your full name...how could an adcom every figure out who was who? also you can make your facebook profile private.

 

[ri23]

Also, if you look on the pre-med forum they have some adcomms that regularly post. They seem very helpful and friendly in answering questions.

 

[cyrille104]

i'm confused as to why everyone is getting so upset about this...how can anyone find anyones true identity on this forum anyway if its not voluntarily given out? just dont post your full name...how could an adcom every figure out who was who? also you can make your facebook profile private.

That's true...Are you Cyrille104 from SDN? Absolutely not, sir.

 

[cyrille104]

It's a public forum. Not private email, and not a private forum where users have to subscribe in order to view posts.

I agree with HorseyVet: whatever you put online on the internet these days, you have to consider the fact that ANYONE could, at nearly any given point in time, see it, read it, judge you by it, etc.

Unless, of course, it's a private forum, site, newsgroup, I don't know, etc.

I haven't heard of a private arena for these types of discussions, other than email, so until then, we have SDN... for better or worse!

Should I end with, "Smile! You're on candid camera!" 😱

You don't have to subscribe to view posts? I thought you did

I know that you're right, and anyone COULD read it, I just think that adcoms shouldn't try to match names with applicants.

 

[HorseyVet]

how can anyone find anyones true identity on this forum anyway if its not voluntarily given out? just dont post your full name...how could an adcom every figure out who was who? also you can make your facebook profile private.

Some people have posted info that could be easily used to "figure out" who a person is (interview time, undergrad school, etc). I don't think an adcom has to think too hard about "hey it's 2pm on Saturday the w/e....and here this person for xyz state is..."

There have been periodic people (not recently I don't think) that I kind of wished adcoms had nailed who explicitly stated various ways they would have or did "play the game" to get into vet school (lying about wanting to do LA, shopping for easy classes, etc.).

 

[Quaggi]

Some people have posted info that could be easily used to "figure out" who a person is (interview time, undergrad school, etc). I don't think an adcom has to think too hard about "hey it's 2pm on Saturday the w/e....and here this person for xyz state is..."

this is true, but i have to say that if you're dumb enough to post that info, and then write something that an adcom can use against you such as badmouthing that school or writing about cheating your way in, maybe you dont deserve to go to that school anyway. as long as you dont write anything bad i dont see a problem.

 

[philomycus]

Meoooooowwww, ffftttt fttttt! Chill everybody. If you are behaving yourself, why be worried about it? Worry about something you can control....what you post, not who reads it. Have a great new year everyone! 😉

 

[sms25]

Nothing on the internet is safe. Check this article out:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=7499

 

[HorseyVet]

Nothing on the internet is safe. Check this article out:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=7499

lol...that's exactly what I was getting at. There is such a thing as over-exposure. I really do think though that the majority of the stuff we post here is harmless.

Anyway, here is a really (at leat to me) funny story that this thread reminded me of.

Last application cycle I applied to OK and I had some kind of question about something in the process (notification, etc.) and was getting worried (as you all are now)....so I made a post about it. My bf apparently did a search trying to find an answer to my question....All of a sudden he was like, "hey I found something, this person seems to have the same problem you do, let me read it..." I listened, then asked..."is the poster HorseyVet?" He affirmed it...."umm yes, how do you know?" "Cause that's me. I just posted that."


We both thought it was hilarious.

I think SDN does a lot of good for the vet applicants, and we are gaining on members to the vet-student forum. The pre-MDs are probably used to this (adcoms reading) because they've been using the forum longer and we're still picking up steam. Again, I think this is a great depot of info and it helps to relieve stress. I'm hoping it expands....with so few vet schools and solid pre-vet programs it's really hard to get good answers sometimes. My school gave me horrible advice and wouldn't shell out the 15 bucks for the application handbook (didn't even know what it was). We all sort of live in a bubble based on the tidbits of info we get from others IRL. I know if I had discovered SDN earlier I would have applied to a few different schools at the very least (not that I'm not happy where I am). Anyway, I'm glad it's here.

 

[youthman]

I think that if they are trying to match up screen names during interviews they are spending a good deal of time reading through these posts. Think about how many applicants there are . . . to be honest I'm not surprised that they read these boards but I am surprised they would actually try to confirm someone's online identity out of hundreds or thousands of applicants at an interview. That just seems a bit strange to me.

 

[LuckyJo]

I don't think the AdCom's are sitting around reading SDN posts and trying to match up who they are. What probably happens is they read the posts and then when they are reviewing applications, see an applicant that has very similar information as "X" on SDN. Then they may or may not ask about it. I really don't think it's possible for them to read all the posts and try to match up the applicants. As previously posted, if someone posts they are from x state, with y degree and want to specialized in z; all that information is on their application too. As to whether it is 'acceptable' or 'unethical' is not up for debate, everyone assumes the same risks when they put information out on the internet. It's something everyone has been told since the internet became popular. Someone somewhere may see what you have posted, its up to you to make sure that information is accurate to your character. It's your choice how much information you put out about yourself.

 

[CookieBear]

Let's face it: the Adcoms are stalking us.

And hey, I'd rather be stalked by an Adcom than some creep...



Cyrille: You're right. You do have to subscribe to read here? I think I recall that now. October is a distant memory for me (when I found this place).

If we all truly are getting all this secret attention, I think we should be flattered. 😀

 

[Taenia]

No, there have been several times when I realized I had forgotten to log in or the computer didn't recognize me and I was reading away! So I don't think you have to log in to read, just to post.

Who knows...the debate could go on forever, but what if their stalking 🙂D ) had a positive effect on your app...maybe I'm just an optimist 😳

 

[Shpamme]

If you stated you had a preference for one school.. or if you expressed more excitement for one school than other schools--do you think this could hurt you?

 

[mom2jnc]

If you stated you had a preference for one school.. or if you expressed more excitement for one school than other schools--do you think this could hurt you?

If so, then Davis AdComs, please ignore all of my previous posts about Tufts. I 😍 DAVIS!!

~Melissa

 

[KittenKiller]

My other problem is, now where do they draw the line? Go on facebook and check out your profile and pictures? Google search for blogs and see if they can find any applicants?

That's a really interesting question. I'm not sure where I stand on that one. I definitely agree with you right off the bat, but it seems to be pretty unenforceable except through extreme measures. I wonder if this has come up in the legal arena yet? Im pretty sure they're not supposed to ask you certain kinds of things in interviews (although maybe its only for jobs) like your marital status, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I wonder if considering someone's "private" life on the internet falls into that sort of category.

I can also imagine a candidate running a pr campaign for themselves through the internet, writing fake posts about how great they are, making sure pages talking about their insane heroic accomplishments appear high on google rankings 😉

Edit: I agree with user Quaggi. He/she is wise.

 

[Bill59]

Many universities have policies against admission discrimination based on things like race, sex, religion, and marital status and in some jurisdictions it's actually illegal. Therefore they usually have policies against asking questions along these lines because doing so might open them up to lawsuits. If you don't consider religion during admission then why did you ask if he's Catholic?

However, in most cases it's not the university's fault if an applicant offers such information. For example, you might say something like, "I like this area because my husband has family here." or "I volunteer at my church once a month."

So I wonder if an applicant putting something on the internet would be considered similar to offering such information at an interview. I bet there's some legal precedent somewhere regarding this and job applications but I don't know for sure.

 

[TurboVet]

i think adcoms should have better things to do with their time than reading message boards. i mean, come on, stuff those envelopes! get those letters out on time! it's my freedom of speech dammit, and if they would rather offer admission to someone who hadn't spoken outright they were considering other schools, than they better retract offers from 85% of those they accepted. seriously, i think point systems are a bogus way of evaluating applicants, and if they want to subtract points for me posting on a message board, i don't want to go to their school. so there.

 

[Fairyblastt]

*raising a hand* I unselfishly volunteer myself to help them stuff envelopes. 😀

 

[Serendipity4]

*raising a hand* I unselfishly volunteer myself to help them stuff envelopes. 😀

With the exception that I've already heard from all my schools, if you'd asked me about two weeks ago I happily would have volunteered with you!

That's also funny that the possibility of adcoms looking people up on Facebook came up. On my account I have three albums posted: pics from when I got my new puppy, pics from when a friend and I dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swan, and pics from the one and only time I've been drunk in my life -- my 21st birthday. Then there's a few pics up of me dressed in a suit for Mock Trial. To me, it's clear I rarely post pics and really only do so when something out of the ordinary has happened. That said, I actually did consider taking down some of the albums (i.e. my 21st birthday) so that anyone looking who didn't know me wouldn't think "oh, so she likes dogs, but with the exception of when she dresses up in a suit every once in a while she likes to get drunk and play dress up with pirates." (Btw, I never did end up taking down said pics and I was accepted anyways 🙂)

I think it is unnerving that people can look up things like that and misinterpret who you are. Although, I'm sure from their point of view it is very difficult to figure out who someone really is by reading what people have written when they're putting their best face forward (i.e. applications, interviews), so they're appreciative of any help they can get in the area, and they have to just hope people are representing their "true" selves online. *Sigh* I guess the only thing we can do is think before we type and, if we want to make a point that might be misinterpreted, make sure we clarify.

 

[jeeney]

the way i see it is that the internet is very much a public place and a lot of people *even ppl on the adcom** are surfing it! hehe😛

 

[sMiles44]

I suppose no one bothers to read the "terms and conditions" when they sign up for this, but somewhere in there it does warn that everyone can see your posts including adcoms, do not use your real name etc etc

 

[Max Power]

well good thing I didnt apply to OSU...I've had some choice words about them!