Do you consider SDN to be a form of Social Media?

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BU Medical Sciences
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Do you consider SDN to be similar to social media?

  • Yes

    Votes: 81 75.7%

  • No

    Votes: 26 24.3%
  • Total voters
    107
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MemeLord said:
Most certainly. My wife and I intend on the adoption route once I am through residency.
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Fostering's been a plan of mine for a while, but it's kinda hard to see how that'll work out with med school, then residency and stuff.
 
ClamShell said:
Btw I’ll be PM’ing you all in 10 years to make sure you’re not all just cheap talk about adoption LOL

JK. I’m kidding.

I’m not kidding.
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Well I won’t be out of the Navy for 14 more years thanks to my commitment, so you might have to check back later.
 
gyngyn said:
You learn about each of us in the same way you learn irl, by hearing what we say and how we respond to others.
Does my specific faculty appointment add much more?
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That wasn’t my point. My point was on an anonymous forum, the advice lacks credibility by default. If you trust the advice then that is on you but I wouldn’t be making life-changing decisions based on anonymous advice. Look at a site like realself. It’s a plastic surgery site but it’s non-anonymous and that information is backed by the reputation of the people giving the advice. It’s much easier to take that advice and be confident with it.
 
Phil Woods said:
That wasn’t my point. My point was on an anonymous forum, the advice lacks credibility by default. If you trust the advice then that is on you but I wouldn’t be making life-changing decisions based on anonymous advice. Look at a site like realself. It’s a plastic surgery site but it’s non-anonymous and that information is backed by the reputation of the people giving the advice. It’s much easier to take that advice and be confident with it.
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So what are you doing here if you don't trust the advice?
 
Phil Woods said:
That wasn’t my point. My point was on an anonymous forum, the advice lacks credibility by default. If you trust the advice then that is on you but I wouldn’t be making life-changing decisions based on anonymous advice. Look at a site like realself. It’s a plastic surgery site but it’s non-anonymous and that information is backed by the reputation of the people giving the advice. It’s much easier to take that advice and be confident with it.
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I see your point. Look at it in a different way though, - in an anonymous forum people can be more honest, because they are not entirely bound by their obligations. so, in a way, you actually you could trust anonymous forums more
 
Phil Woods said:
That wasn’t my point. My point was on an anonymous forum, the advice lacks credibility by default. If you trust the advice then that is on you but I wouldn’t be making life-changing decisions based on anonymous advice. Look at a site like realself. It’s a plastic surgery site but it’s non-anonymous and that information is backed by the reputation of the people giving the advice. It’s much easier to take that advice and be confident with it.
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I wouldn’t say “you should volunteer 100 hours over a couple months” is life changing advice compared to “you should absolutely get a body lift.”
 
beattheprocess said:
I wouldn’t say “you should volunteer 100 hours over a couple months” is life changing advice compared to “you should absolutely get a body lift.”
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But telling people they shouldn’t apply isn’t life changing? I think you missed the correlation.
 
Goro said:
So what are you doing here if you don't trust the advice?
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95% is garbage. Some % of that remaining 5% could prove to be useful. For example, I got into Touro and I asked you why you disliked Touro. I didn’t come here asking people IF I could get into Touro.
 
Lawper said:
I like how new members regularly try to complain about the site's anonymity. I remember a similar thread made last year asking the same question and receiving similar responses. Few months later, that user deleted their SDN account.
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Well the thread was asking if this place was just a social media forum for premed nerds and I was voicing my opinion. Those in the know don’t use SDN like some of you guys are using it for.
 
Lawper said:
Explain carefully
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Carefully? Don’t know what that means. SDN is a place for people to shoot the breeze or waste their time trying to get into medical school when their seat has already been taken by somebody who doesn’t waste their valuable time shooting the breeze here.

If that didn’t make sense to you then what I mean by that is most people here on the premed forum will fail at gaining a seat in a us med school.
 
  • Wow
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Wow... .this is crazy... that being said, SDN is a very useful resource if you KNOW how to use it. I applied 3 years in a row, didnt get ANYWHERE the first two years, then started snooping around, and then actively networking in SDN, and i got 5 interviews, which turned into 4 acceptances and 1 WL that i withdrew from! out of those 5 interviews, 3 schools i wasnt initially planning to apply to, but @LizzyM and @Goro (i think) advised me to add them to the list. So instead of sitting on no interviews like last year, i was lucky to have 4 amazing schools to choose from. I am just saying. I also met a few great people what i communicate off the SDN in real life. I also actively read stuff in accepted students forum, reading about step 1 prep, asking current students for advices on studying strategy, etc. I honestly do not think that i would be able to get as far as i did without SDN and all the amazing ppl who help students like me here (ppl who do not have advisors at school)

So i guess what i am trying to say is that SDN is a great resource, if you are willing to learn from it, and listen to people who give you advice. And be open to criticism.
 
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mmaslyanko said:
Wow... .this is crazy... that being said, SDN is a very useful resource if you KNOW how to use it. I applied 3 years in a row, didnt get ANYWHERE the first two years, then started snooping around, and then actively networking in SDN, and i got 5 interviews, which turned into 4 acceptances and 1 WL that i withdrew from! out of those 5 interviews, 3 schools i wasnt initially planning to apply to, but @LizzyM and @Goro (i think) advised me to add them to the list. So instead of sitting on no interviews like last year, i was lucky to have 4 amazing schools to choose from. I am just saying. I also met a few great people what i communicate off the SDN in real life. I also actively read stuff in accepted students forum, reading about step 1 prep, asking current students for advices on studying strategy, etc. I honestly do not think that i would be able to get as far as i did without SDN and all the amazing ppl who help students like me here (ppl who do not have advisors at school)

So i guess what i am trying to say is that SDN is a great resource, if you are willing to learn from it, and listen to people who give you advice. And be open to criticism.
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That’s all anecdotal. Nobody knows who you are remember.
 
oh, and some of these ppl actually met me in person on interview days in Vermont, EVMS, Drexel. I am "memorable" because my accent sort of stands out. So, no, i dont make up stories. I dont need to. I am confident about my failures and my accomplishments, and i own up to both. I will be the first people to admit if i screwed up, or if i am bad at something. But i am also proud of what i CAN do. This is what keeps me honest (to myself) 🙂
 
mmaslyanko said:
oh, and some of these ppl actually met me in person on interview days in Vermont, EVMS, Drexel. I am "memorable" because my accent sort of stands out. So, no, i dont make up stories. I dont need to. I am confident about my failures and my accomplishments, and i own up to both. I will be the first people to admit if i screwed up, or if i am bad at something. But i am also proud of what i CAN do. This is what keeps me honest (to myself) 🙂
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Yeah, I remember a thread in which we talked about the ))'s. A fake Russian wouldn't know that - it's too authentic. This dyevushka's the real deal
 
  • Haha
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Phil Woods said:
Yes, your story isn’t an anecdote.
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actually, if you consider the following definition of anecdote: "a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person" then yeah. My story as an anecdote... i mean, it IS pretty amusing i think 🙂
 
Phil Woods said:
95% is garbage. Some % of that remaining 5% could prove to be useful. For example, I got into Touro and I asked you why you disliked Touro. I didn’t come here asking people IF I could get into Touro.
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Sounds in line with the advice you get off line/in the real world.

mmaslyanko said:
actually, if you consider the following definition of anecdote: "a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person" then yeah. My story as an anecdote... i mean, it IS pretty amusing i think 🙂
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I consider my story to be a joke 😀
For all the planning and plotting I've done, it's incredible how lucky I've been.
 
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Summary of the preceding 70 posts for everyone just now joining us:

Phil Woods: “SDN is garbage and nobody should pay attention. Everything here is useless and anonymous.”

People: “Actually, SDN helped me a lot and now I’m in medical school.”

Phil Woods: “HAHA got you, you’re anonymous and everything you say doesn’t matter.”
 
Isoval said:
Summary of the preceding 70 posts for everyone just now joining us:

Phil Woods: “SDN is garbage and nobody should pay attention. Everything here is useless and anonymous.”

People: “Actually, SDN helped me a lot and now I’m in medical school.”

Phil Woods: “HAHA got you, you’re anonymous and everything you say doesn’t matter.”
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SDN's advice is questionable because of the anonymity. That's the educated discussion. You guys don't seem to want to go there and resort to the usual ad hominem attacks instead.

I did not use SDN to get my spot, I got my spot via an acquaintance who was in a program and recommended I apply to the same program. SDN actually has no valuable information on that program.

So this is where the anonymity of the site really doesn't help specific people out.

And I said it before and I'll say it again, most people here will not get into medical school.
 
The question is not whether most people on SDN will get into medical school, because most applicants don't get in each year, but whether the advice is helpful.

And honestly, even if it weren't credible or true, it is helpful. I also think it's credible and true.

This also doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
 
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athorcommens said:
The question is not whether most people on SDN will get into medical school, because most applicants don't get in each year, but whether the advice is helpful.

And honestly, even if it weren't credible or true, it is helpful. I also think it's credible and true.

My point is this forum should be cleaned up. It would add credibility to the site. Nobody who is in my cohort that I have spoken to talks about SDN. They could be lying of course but I don't think so. They carry themselves differently than a lot of people that post here.
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M&L said:
Look . If you don’t like it here. WHY ARE YOU HERE??? 🙂.
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Based on your frustration it appears that my assessment of this forum is correct.

I only came here to get some advice on what to expect in med school. The typical SDN nitwits beat around the bush for 70 or so posts and then an attending jumped in and spoke the truth. I know, it's an anonymous forum but his answer stacked up to what I heard from others so I am satisfied that it is accurate. I can't say the same for most of the other stuff I am reading.

I'm not knocking you guys, I'm just saying make this site better because it really sucks. This place is way too diluted to be of use to the masses. And as this thread suggested, this place has become something similar to a social media forum for those people that don't leave their house.
 
@Phil Woods I don't think you're going to find much sympathy for your opinion of SDN. The people that use it are the people that like it. Could it be better? Sure. But I don't care.

Maybe it's best to abandon this. I think it's clear where everyone stands.
 
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