adcoms use facebook?

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I hope so!! I got it all prepped up for the admissions process 😉
 
well, i cleared mine of any incriminating stuff anyway =)
 
yourmom25 said:
that'd be pretty funny. my profile pic is one of me kissing a llama.
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You'd be a shoo in for vet school.

I am not sure but it wouldn't suprise me. I have heard of employers looking at them for potential employees so I would definetly clean it up just to be safe.
 
I highly doubt it though I've heard people say such a thing. Here's why: most medical students I know have an account. it didn't hurt them getting in. Med students actively use facebook. many people who didn't have facebook before med school have gotten it since starting medical school. They post their after exam drunk pictures on there. Do they get kicked out??? no. Med students are humans just like everyone else. Life does not end after med school and deans know it. They don't care nor do I think they waste their time trying to search random applicants on facebook. They do the proper real official background check on you so I'm sure any real incriminating stuff would pop up if it were truly something that could have gotten you an automatic rejection or revokation of an acceptance.

Stop freaking out. I know soooooooo many med students and former med students who use facebook and friendster and myspace etc. regularly though most use either friendster or facebook.
 
If you are really that worried about it you can set privacy settings so that only your friends can see your profile. An adcom from a school other then your own institution won't be able to see your profile because it only allows people in your networks to see it and only your friends to see it if you have set the privacy settings.
 
a guy who interviewed me google'd my name before the interview. good thing it linked him to a page of me receiving an award! haha
 
there's currently a pic of me buried in foam from a house foam party we threw last month... not too incriminating compared to previous pics.

...though I did limit my photo albums to friends only recently only for the reason that I publically criticized my school's alcohol policy (and the pic of me drinking vodka thru a watermelon probably wouldnt help my arguments)
 
I removed all the pictures of me farting on my personal statement before applying. :laugh:
 
gujuDoc said:
I highly doubt it though I've heard people say such a thing. Here's why: most medical students I know have an account. it didn't hurt them getting in. Med students actively use facebook. many people who didn't have facebook before med school have gotten it since starting medical school. They post their after exam drunk pictures on there. Do they get kicked out??? no. Med students are humans just like everyone else. Life does not end after med school and deans know it. They don't care nor do I think they waste their time trying to search random applicants on facebook. They do the proper real official background check on you so I'm sure any real incriminating stuff would pop up if it were truly something that could have gotten you an automatic rejection or revokation of an acceptance.

Stop freaking out. I know soooooooo many med students and former med students who use facebook and friendster and myspace etc. regularly though most use either friendster or facebook.
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There's a big difference between not being kicked out and not getting an acceptance. Med schools have SO many applicants, they can afford to reject people because they have pictures of themselves getting drunk, flicking off the camera, etc. Again, with the volume of applicants, schools really focus on selecting students that they think will fit well with the school. No top twenty school breathes a sigh of relief because they'll be able to fill their school with people who have a 32+ MCAT and 3.7+ GPA. No, they can reject you with a 36 and 3.9 if they don't like you because they'll have someone else with your numbers that they DO like to replace you. It's not worth the risk. Make it private until you get in. Then you can have all the pictures up you want.

I also know of one assistant admissions director who has a Facebook account, and I would be willing to bet that she checks the Facebook profiles of the applicants from the undergrad school who apply. Why not? What does she have to lose?
 
This rule applies across the board, and not just to facebook:

NEVER put anything on the internet that you don't want people to see!

This isn't to say you have to tear everything down. . .just be sure it's "friends only," and not public.
 
Yes. I am watching you.
 
fun8stuff said:
a guy who interviewed me google'd my name before the interview. good thing it linked him to a page of me receiving an award! haha
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well, i think it's safe to say with a name like mine, no one would be crazy enough to google me.

First name: A male given name (very common: 1 in 106 males; popularity rank in the U.S.: #14)

Middle name: A male given name (very common: 1 in 102 males; popularity rank in the U.S.: #12)

Last name: A surname (very common: 1 in 235 families; popularity rank in the U.S.: #7)
 
your profile on normal settings is invisible (other than the user pic) to those outside of your network and those who aren't your friends. no adcom in hell would have access to my school's network, and I'm not going to friend someone I don't know...so no problem even if I did have something to hide...
 
What everyone said about only people in your network being able to see your profile is true, and only then if you turn the privacy setttings off. What you need to look out for though is when other people "tagg" you in their photos.
 
Even if they do ....mine is completley invisible unless I go out of my way to add you...which is rare. I got to some ridiculous amount of "friends" and realized I really didn't like everyone seeing every part of my life...
 
Our pre-med advisor has been pretty big on warning us to keep stuff off of facebook. Given that she often interacts with the DukeMed admissions committee, I tend to trust her advice.

I've deactivated from facebook, at least for the application season. The added benefit has been that I waste less time on the site (though i may just be making up for it on SDN...)
 
TCIrish03 said:
What everyone said about only people in your network being able to see your profile is true, and only then if you turn the privacy setttings off. What you need to look out for though is when other people "tagg" you in their photos.
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That is very true. I think setting privacy settings should handle most of the issues with facebook, friendster, mysace etc.

Also even if an adcom director does have an account to check on other applicants they won't be able to see your profile if say you are from Harvard and they are from Duke because only Harvard people can see your profile or other people in your networks, and if privacy settings are set then even less can see what is in them.

I personally don't have anything incriminating on mine so I'm not worried about it. But I really think its as paranoid of a thought as people thinking that adcom directors try to match you up with your SDN usernname.
 
LizzyM and REL,

If you are reading SDN try to answer your take on this issue. We would like to hear an actual adcoms input on it.
 
To be frank, I removed my profile some time ago. I got tired of having hundreds of 'friends' who wouldn't recognize me in an elevator.
 
Rafa said:
To be frank, I removed my profile some time ago. I got tired of having hundreds of 'friends' who wouldn't recognize me in an elevator.
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Thank you. I got off that stupid website long ago as well.
 
Rafa said:
To be frank, I removed my profile some time ago. I got tired of having hundreds of 'friends' who wouldn't recognize me in an elevator.
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Haha, that is so true. I always laugh when I see people with 300 friends or something, like they really keep contact with those people. Most facebook friendships arise from a friendly conversation or two.
 
I made my profile invisible to everyone except my friends. So if they searched for me is as if I wasn't there.

And yes, people with 900+ friends (I know some) are just insane. Nobody has 900+ FRIENDS. I have about 35 and these are people I actually talk to, not just the people to whom I say "Hi, how are you?" occasionally, or the guy that sits next to me in biochem who borrowed a pencil from me last week. 🙄
 
The premed advisor at my school tells us to take anything that can be taken badly off of our facebook and myspace accounts. He stressed it so much that I'm pretty sure the adcomms at my school at will look at things like that.
 
Chuckwalla said:
Haha, that is so true. I always laugh when I see people with 300 friends or something, like they really keep contact with those people. Most facebook friendships arise from a friendly conversation or two.
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Yeah I have 100+ people on my list but don't talk to all of them. There are only few that I actually hang out with, some of whom I used to hang out with before they started med school or grad school, and yet others who are casual acquaintances or people who I used to know, and finally those who I know through SDN and just talk to randomly on here.

But I like to have it around to see what people I used to know are up to these days.
 
baylormed said:
I made my profile invisible to everyone except my friends. So if they searched for me is as if I wasn't there. 🙄
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That makes a lot of sense.... 🙄 If you're going to be on Facebook, what's the point of being invisible? Then people can't even find you. I've met so many friends of mine from childhood that I haven't talked to in a decade on Facebook because I wasn't invisible. If you don't want to have a Facebook profile, that's fine. But if you do, why disable people from being able to find you? It's not like they can see your profile if you're not invisible.
 
gujuDoc said:
I highly doubt it though I've heard people say such a thing. Here's why: most medical students I know have an account. it didn't hurt them getting in. Med students actively use facebook. many people who didn't have facebook before med school have gotten it since starting medical school. They post their after exam drunk pictures on there. Do they get kicked out??? no. Med students are humans just like everyone else. Life does not end after med school and deans know it. They don't care nor do I think they waste their time trying to search random applicants on facebook. They do the proper real official background check on you so I'm sure any real incriminating stuff would pop up if it were truly something that could have gotten you an automatic rejection or revokation of an acceptance.

Stop freaking out. I know soooooooo many med students and former med students who use facebook and friendster and myspace etc. regularly though most use either friendster or facebook.
Click to expand...

My cousin had one of those i-banking internships this summer. Two of her co-workers (also interns) became embroiled in a "scandal" over statements re: the company on their facebooks. Needless to say, she's guaranteed 6 figures in a job she loves next year (which is good since she'll be working 100 hrs/wk) while they are job-hunting this fall without a backup offer in hand.
 
Julius Erving said:
well, i think it's safe to say with a name like mine, no one would be crazy enough to google me.

First name: A male given name (very common: 1 in 106 males; popularity rank in the U.S.: #14)

Middle name: A male given name (very common: 1 in 102 males; popularity rank in the U.S.: #12)

Last name: A surname (very common: 1 in 235 families; popularity rank in the U.S.: #7)
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Mark Daniel Miller? I have too much time on my hands....http://names.mongabay.com/male_names.htm
 
socuteMD said:
My cousin had one of those i-banking internships this summer. Two of her co-workers (also interns) became embroiled in a "scandal" over statements re: the company on their facebooks. Needless to say, she's guaranteed 6 figures in a job she loves next year (which is good since she'll be working 100 hrs/wk) while they are job-hunting this fall without a backup offer in hand.
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Wow!! I don't know how their employers were able to access their facebooks. However, I wonder what kind of scandal it was to cost them soooooo much. I've never beend drunk and the only pictures I've ever put up on facebook have been of cultural events I've gone to or people's birhday dinners, or school events like volunteer events or student organization events so i'm not much worried.

However, this has never happened to anyone I know. most people I know actually have a facebook account even well into medical school. Its the reason I actually created mine. I created it to stay in touch with people who are now in medical school who I used to be close with but would have otherwise lost complete touch with.
 
MilkofAmnesia said:
That makes a lot of sense.... 🙄 If you're going to be on Facebook, what's the point of being invisible? Then people can't even find you. I've met so many friends of mine from childhood that I haven't talked to in a decade on Facebook because I wasn't invisible. If you don't want to have a Facebook profile, that's fine. But if you do, why disable people from being able to find you? It's not like they can see your profile if you're not invisible.
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It does make sense because I don't want, for the time being (the time being "application to medical school process") anyone to read my profile.
Once this is over I'll go public again, but for now, I play it safe. 🙄

Does that answer your question?
 
gujuDoc said:
LizzyM and REL,

If you are reading SDN try to answer your take on this issue. We would like to hear an actual adcoms input on it.
Click to expand...

Another subject by jittery applicants in a process they dont quite understand. I guess that I may be one of a very few real Adcomms that posts semi-regularly on SDN; there may be a few others who passively review occasionally. I have never been to facebook, nor the others sites mentioned. I have enuf to do otherwise so keeping up here is about the best I can do -- and I think I fit the work-a-holic profile. I dont think there is a lot to worry about. I dont bother with much other than SDN, but with my background, I could find out a great deal about many applicants if I wanted to. But which ones ---- thousands of applicants each year....limited staff....too much real work. Sorry to burst your "3rd man is listening" drama, but it's not worth your time to worry about this. Good advice was given here tho: dont post what you dont want to be known.
 
Don't put anything online that you don't want other people to know about is my motto. If I were for some reason going to post anything at all sensitive, I would make darn certain that there were no possible way for it to come back to me... no personal details connected to that "persona" at all.

I've never said anything I wanted to hide, so I haven't been terribly circumspect. During my application season last year, I had an mdapplicants link in my sig. I'm on facebook and myspace. I've posted here in my school's thread.

I had a casual conversation with a member of my school's admissions staff shortly after beginning classes. The staff member revealed that he/she was aware of my SDN screen name. I think that awareness came about after I was admitted and not before, but still... be careful what you post anywhere.
 
baylormed said:
It does make sense because I don't want, for the time being (the time being "application to medical school process") anyone to read my profile.
Once this is over I'll go public again, but for now, I play it safe. 🙄

Does that answer your question?
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Yes, it answers my question because it tells me you don't understand Facebook privacy rules. Just because someone searches for you and finds you, doesn't mean that they can see your profile. So if an adcom for some strange reason decides to search for you, all they will see is your name, where you go to school, and a tiny thumbnail of your profile picture. I don't know, maybe your picture is a crazy, drunken Mardi Gras night and you're flashing the camera. That's the only reason you would want to be invisible because you can edit the privacy settings so that no one can see your profile except your friends.
 
MilkofAmnesia said:
Yes, it answers my question because it tells me you don't understand Facebook privacy rules. Just because someone searches for you and finds you, doesn't mean that they can see your profile. So if an adcom for some strange reason decides to search for you, all they will see is your name, where you go to school, and a tiny thumbnail of your profile picture. I don't know, maybe your picture is a crazy, drunken Mardi Gras night and you're flashing the camera. That's the only reason you would want to be invisible because you can edit the privacy settings so that no one can see your profile except your friends.
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I understand that. But I also have professors at my school who wrote recommendations for me. Also, a pre-med committee consisting of 3 people did my interview and wrote an evaluation. One of the members in this committee is ver well known to medical school adcoms.
Again, I stand by my choice.

Edited for grammar. Special thanks to MilkofAmnesia.
 
baylormed said:
I understand that. But I also have professors at my school who wrote recommendations for me. Also, a pre-med committee consisting of 3 people did my interview and wrote an evaluation. One of the members in this committee is ver well known to medical school adcoms.
Again, I stand in my choice.
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Again, I still don't think you understand. You can NOT be invisible, still be searchable, and not allow anyone except your friends to see your profile. Are the people who wrote your recommendations your friends?

And don't you mean you stand by your choice...
 
MilkofAmnesia said:
Again, I still don't think you understand. You can NOT be invisible, still be searchable, and not allow anyone except your friends to see your profile. Are the people who wrote your recommendations your friends?

And don't you mean you stand by your choice...
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Sure, whatever you say. 😍
 
Well then, if they check my facebook, will they think highly of me if I'm the administrator of my very own facebook group? Hmm?
 
REL said:
Another subject by jittery applicants in a process they dont quite understand. I guess that I may be one of a very few real Adcomms that posts semi-regularly on SDN; there may be a few others who passively review occasionally. I have never been to facebook, nor the others sites mentioned. I have enuf to do otherwise so keeping up here is about the best I can do -- and I think I fit the work-a-holic profile. I dont think there is a lot to worry about. I dont bother with much other than SDN, but with my background, I could find out a great deal about many applicants if I wanted to. But which ones ---- thousands of applicants each year....limited staff....too much real work. Sorry to burst your "3rd man is listening" drama, but it's not worth your time to worry about this. Good advice was given here tho: dont post what you dont want to be known.
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Thank you. These were my sentiments. You just confirmed what I've been saying all along. People are paranoid wayyy too much. And if work places have done something like this, then that's pretty pathetic because there are such things as real and official background checks.
 
Again, I still don't think you understand. You can NOT be invisible, still be searchable, and not allow anyone except your friends to see your profile. Are the people who wrote your recommendations your friends?
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No offense, but does it really matter? If she wants to be invisible, what do you care? It's a personal choice so counterarguing all her arguments makes no sense to me. That's just me though.
 
EagerToBeMD said:
No offense, but does it really matter? If she wants to be invisible, what do you care? It's a personal choice so counterarguing all her arguments makes no sense to me. That's just me though.
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Thank you! 👍
 
EagerToBeMD said:
No offense, but does it really matter? If she wants to be invisible, what do you care? It's a personal choice so counterarguing all her arguments makes no sense to me. That's just me though.
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Yeah, it matters because she clearly doesn't understand how the privacy settings work, and I was trying to clear it up. She said she just didn't want people to look at her profile while she's applying, and I was just trying to tell her there's a better way to do it, but after three posts, it still isn't getting through. 🙄
 
^ Haha. Well, you can keep trying, but I don't think she's going to change her mind. Might be best to agree to disagree. :^)
 
MilkofAmnesia said:
Yeah, it matters because she clearly doesn't understand how the privacy settings work, and I was trying to clear it up. She said she just didn't want people to look at her profile while she's applying, and I was just trying to tell her there's a better way to do it, but after three posts, it still isn't getting through. 🙄
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Do I need to tell you again that I understand?

No, because it won't go through. 🙄 Why the heck is being invisible a choice if it is so useless in your opinion? Oh, I know, because some people might want to choose that option. I have all the friends I need on facebook, and I'm in contact with all the people with whom I want to be in contact from my 2 years of high school in the US (no childhood friends of mine are on facebook).
 
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