Are we truly anonymous on SDN

[viper2fast505]

I have not been a member long but i have seen a few threads about adcom members on this forum and I want to know if they try and find out who we are? I have expressed my anger at IU on more than one occasion on this forum and i would hate for them to find out who I am. thanks.

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[Towelie]

Adcom members do not look at SDN. The mere idea of them doing so is ridiculous. You should be anonymous here. If you want to make absolutely sure, just avoid having an mdapps with your exact information.

 

[koennen]

Adcom members do not look at SDN. The mere idea of them doing so is ridiculous. You should be anonymous here. If you want to make absolutely sure, just avoid having an mdapps with your exact information.

How do you know that? There are two AdCom members who post almost daily answering questions on the "my semi-solicited advice" thread. Is it so out of the realm of possibility that they might take a peek at some other threads ... especially if they see a discussion regarding their schools?

 

[Towelie]

Let me rephrase. It's certainly reasonable that they might look at other threads. But it is not reasonable to think that they would try to figure out the name behind avatars, and use that to make admissions decisions.

I don't think that most adcom members have the time to parse through the type-A, neurotic pre-med chatter that goes on in these forums.

 

[hp540]

get the tin-foil hats out

 

[koennen]

Let me rephrase. It's certainly reasonable that they might look at other threads. But it is not reasonable to think that they would try to figure out the name behind avatars, and use that to make admissions decisions.

I don't think that most adcom members have the time to parse through the type-A, neurotic pre-med chatter that goes on in these forums.

Yeah, I agree. They have better use for their time. Best advice: a) don't post too much personally identifiable information on internet message boards; b) if you do, play nice.🙂

 

[PugMD]

Let me rephrase. It's certainly reasonable that they might look at other threads. But it is not reasonable to think that they would try to figure out the name behind avatars, and use that to make admissions decisions.

I don't think that most adcom members have the time to parse through the type-A, neurotic pre-med chatter that goes on in these forums.

I am aware of a situation in which an ADCOM member was browsing some Interview feedback, was able to identify a particular individual due to some specific questions that were asked, and was pretty put off by some of the comments. This was discovered before the applicant went to the ADCOM, so you know what that means...👎

I haven't heard of any specific situations within the forums however. I would suggest keeping details to a minimum in order to maintain anonymity.

 

[koennen]

I am aware of a situation in which an ADCOM member was browsing some Interview feedback, was able to identify a particular individual due to some specific questions that were asked, and was pretty put off by some of the comments. This was discovered before the applicant went to the ADCOM, so you know what that means...👎

Just curious. How did the applicant learn that?

 

[Haemulon]

Just curious. How did the applicant learn that?

No one said that the applicant learned of it.

 

[Towelie]

Well someone must have "learned of it" if it is being posted here. Sounds like an old wives tale to me...

 

[Haemulon]

Well someone must have "learned of it" if it is being posted here. Sounds like an old wives tale to me...

Can you think of no other options? 🙄

 

[koennen]

Can you think of no other options? 🙄

Yes, an old wife learned of it. 🙂

 

[viper2fast505]

I have posted my scores on here and had a good rant about IU not looking at my application yet because of the masters program I am in, it would not be hard for them to fiind out who I am. I just hope they wont, they are still my best chance at getting in.

 

[koennen]

Yes, an old wife learned of it. 🙂

By the way, I just noticed I am over 100 posts. Should something have happened? Balloons falling from the ceiling?

 

[Haemulon]

By the way, I just noticed I am over 100 posts. Should something have happened? Balloons falling from the ceiling?

Yay!!!! Contratulations!!!! Your no longer a Noob! 😛 😉

😀 🙂

 

[koennen]

Yay!!!! Contratulations!!!! Your no longer a Noob! 😛 😉

😀 🙂

Thank you. I am truly proud to have reached this milestone in my SDN career. I would first like to thank my parents for their ... oh, never mind.

I still have a long way to go to catch up to you!

 

[MossPoh]

Eh. The general rule is to speak kindly or just be somewhat vague and anonymous with your posts. People aren't stupid and no that some of the comments may be made out of frustration but it is the better safe than sorry....that being said I have made virtually no attempt at covering up who I am which may bite me in the ass later on. And I'm striving for 1000 posts now....I am hoping that once I pop that cherry I get at least a card.

 

[EndingMySamsara]

Eh. The general rule is to speak kindly or just be somewhat vague and anonymous with your posts. People aren't stupid and no that some of the comments may be made out of frustration but it is the better safe than sorry....that being said I have made virtually no attempt at covering up who I am which may bite me in the ass later on. And I'm striving for 1000 posts now....I am hoping that once I pop that cherry I get at least a card.

I know who you are! 😀

 

[etf]

i'm sure some people in admissions lurk around the site, if only to understand the general concerns of pre-meds. although i don't think that they try to figure out who specific posters are, it wouldn't be that hard for them to figure out if they were willing to wade through post histories and piece it all together. i doubt they have the time for that; it's much more productive soliciting secondaries at $100/pop.

 

[Vox Animo]

don't give information to people that would reveal who you are if your worried.

 

[MossPoh]

I know who you are! 😀

You that person that has been looking through my window at night?

 

[dopaminesurge]

I have not been a member long but i have seen a few threads about adcom members on this forum and I want to know if they try and find out who we are? I have expressed my anger at IU on more than one occasion on this forum and i would hate for them to find out who I am. thanks.

I suspect you're about as anonymous as you want to be...

 

[Phil Anthropist]

I highly doubt that most adcom members visit SDN to try and bust applicants. However, if adcom members read posts crapping all over their schools, this could certainly pique their curiosity. While it's unlikely that adcom members will be so concerned that they take the time to track down the users of these posts, there have been rare cases when members of med school administrations took disciplinary action on their students because of some posts these users made on SDN. No joke.

You can rest assured that those with access to SDN users' IP addresses and other personal information (i.e., the mods/smods/admins) are not privileged to provide such information to admissions committee members or anyone else on SDN for that matter. This would violate our Privacy Policy.

Don't post any personal identification information (your real name as your screen name, MDapplicants, Facebook, MySpace, photos, MCAT/GPA/major/college combos, etc.) if you don't want it linked to your account. On the other hand, if you feel that you've got nothing to hide, then feel free to include whatever personal info you wish.

 

[PugMD]

Just curious. How did the applicant learn that?

The applicant didn't learn of it. I learned of it from the ADCOM member. I knew it was curtains for the applicant because the ADCOM member was pissed.

Its not that they browse the forums looking to ID people to crap on. In this case, the interviewer wanted to get an idea of what people were saying about the school, and things were obvious. Put yourself in their shoes - if you took the time to interview, wouldnt you like to see what people thought of the experience?

 

[szhao]

Shan Zhao
CPU275734
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-5734
Tel. 707-373-5365

lol well they can find me out now haha, i can careless. however, i don't think they really can find out, i mean more than one person expression anger to a school.

 

[geno2568]

not with my picture up i ain't
🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

I highly doubt that most adcom members visit SDN to try and bust applicants. However, if adcom members read posts crapping all over their schools, this could certainly pique their curiosity.

Agree with this. Few deans and faculty adcom members have the time and inclination to try and piece together identities from posts. However student interviewers and lower ranking admissions staff may have more downtime during which to play on the internet -- who knows. Certainly some such folks pop on to see what is being said about their schools.
It's best to only put stuff online that you are comfortable with people seeing. The best defense is to stay a little private on public boards, and certainly to not badmouth particular schools you might be interested in.

 

[leahmaria]

I think even with my name as my SDN identity, i was rather okay until I started making my undergrad known. I am the only Leah pre-med at Valpo applying this cycle.;;

 

[maestro1625]

meh, anyone from my school would know in an instant who I am... besides that... I doubt it.

 

[chauliodus]

Sorry, but if you put enough info up anyone can figure out who you are. While it was highly entertaining last year to be able to figure out who was interviewing at my med school and be able to tell my friends who were on the adcom all about idiotic things they posted, I suggest that you not put much info out on SDN. People often bitch and complain about a school and then 4 wks later will post what date they are interviewing. Since half the people have MD applicants or their undergrad institution posted its pretty easy to figure out who the applicant is. Please remember that people on adcoms are not all 86 year old people that have never heard of the internet. Plenty of them have kids and probably some have kids applying/who applied to med school who use SDN so they likely are aware that it exists. What medical school wouldn't go through and read the interview feedback section to see what to try and improve for future interview seasons? All you have to do is type med school interview feedback into google to find it. So please be careful, because when you post that some committee member is an idiot or you are applying somewhere as a safety, it doesn't look good.

 

[koennen]

Sorry, but if you put enough info up anyone can figure out who you are. While it was highly entertaining last year to be able to figure out who was interviewing at my med school and be able to tell my friends who were on the adcom all about idiotic things they posted, I suggest that you not put much info out on SDN. People often bitch and complain about a school and then 4 wks later will post what date they are interviewing. Since half the people have MD applicants or their undergrad institution posted its pretty easy to figure out who the applicant is. Please remember that people on adcoms are not all 86 year old people that have never heard of the internet. Plenty of them have kids and probably some have kids applying/who applied to med school who use SDN so they likely are aware that it exists. What medical school wouldn't go through and read the interview feedback section to see what to try and improve for future interview seasons? All you have to do is type med school interview feedback into google to find it. So please be careful, because when you post that some committee member is an idiot or you are applying somewhere as a safety, it doesn't look good.

Agree. Just read on another thread ("Strangest Interview Question") that someone was specifically asked about myspace and studentdoctor. Be careful out there.

 

[Quix]

Non-trad. I stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[back4more]

I'm sure your anonymity is retained on the pre-med picture thread.

If adcoms don't know dopaminesurge yet, then they are crazy!

 

[szhao]

I'm sure your anonymity is retained on the pre-med picture thread.

If adcoms don't know dopaminesurge yet, then they are crazy!

lol hey she has a cute niece, they let her in just for that

 

[albaniandoc]

I spoke with several current students during my interviews and was told that some ADCOMS do indeed read SDN. I don't want to go into details which school was or what, but my advice would be:
Don't say anything here that you would not say it to a person's face. But I think we can all agree that the majority of people here would not express their feelings to the ADCOMs as they post here.
Be afraid, be very afraid...

 

[45408]

I research all the douchebags on this site and call up the admissions office hotline with tips about how annoying they are.

But people will recognize you from real-life - it's happened repeatedly for me, but they all knew me before they found SDN, at which point they figured out who I was. My hugs-n-kisses attitude just shines through.

 

[123165]

Shan Zhao
CPU275734
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-5734
Tel. 707-373-5365

lol well they can find me out now haha, i can careless. however, i don't think they really can find out, i mean more than one person expression anger to a school.

Funny how close care less and "careless" are.

I guess this coming from someone with his first name as the SN

 

[future_dr_house]

you are as anonymous as you want to be

avoid putting anything truly inflammatory and no one will care who you are, who knows, they may even like you *gasp*

 

[dopaminesurge]

I'm sure your anonymity is retained on the pre-med picture thread.

If adcoms don't know dopaminesurge yet, then they are crazy!

You know, it's funny... I took my picture off that thing (at least the first post) two months ago, and no one's seemed to notice.

 

[dopaminesurge]

You know, it's funny... I took my picture off that thing (at least the first post) two months ago, and no one's seemed to notice.

And speaking of which, let's get the picture thread to 30 pages. MORE PICTURES. MY BABY NEEDS TO GROW.

 

[smuwillobrien]

I hope no admission committee people are stalking me. =\

 

[szhao]

I hope no admission committee people are stalking me. =\

lol stalkers, charge them for harassment, j/k but hey if they are stalking you that means they are interested right hehe

 

[123165]

Yeah, I got nothing

 

[sheepunite]

not anonymous.
i had an admissions office assistant ring me up last year, in response to a concern i'd written about here.

 

[DE12MD]

i thought this thread was called: are we truly annoying on SDN. I was going to answer yes...😛

 

[A Tree]

not anonymous.
i had an admissions office assistant ring me up last year, in response to a concern i'd written about here.

😱 Wow! That's either really impressive, or really creepy. The internetz make the world a smaller place.

 

[TexasRose]

I was contacted by an admissions comittee member after writing about my acceptance to a school.

I'm not saying that they read every thread or even care all that much, but they are out there and they do care about what gets said about their schools. Do what you wish with that information, just don't be naive.

 

[A Tree]

I had a friend who worked in undergraduate admissions at a University. A year or so after friendster, myspace, et al. became popular he had a conversation with a prospective student during re-visit or spec weekend in the spring, where online networking sites came up. He said something to that indicated he had profiles there, to which she responded, "I know I've seen them!" Needless to say he went home and changed his privacy settings right away!

I know that the advent of the online forum has had implications for the commercial world too--companies do not want proprietary information being posted before the information is released to the public.

 

[Depakote]

The more you post the more you risk revealing who you are... and those MDapplicant profiles are just advertising that.

Now does it matter? Don't really think so.

Personally, if someone from a school wants to try to sift through 2000+ posts to try to see if I've said anything bad about the school, good luck. I won't say anything on this forum that I wouldn't defend if asked about it in an interview.

 

[MossPoh]

You know, it's funny... I took my picture off that thing (at least the first post) two months ago, and no one's seemed to notice.

It is because it is saved as all of our backgrounds.