Facebook and your application

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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NeuroNYC

NeuroNYC

MS-I
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I think we all know that if we use facebook, we need to be aware of what we put online and make public. My question is what, if any, special action have you taken with your facebook account and other social media as you continue with the application process? Did you deactivate your account? Change your name? Or just make sure all your pictures and posts were professional?

Happy july 4th SDN =D
 
Even if you deactivate, other people could still search your name and see your profile as much as you allow the public to see. I would adjust the privacy setting and change your profile picture if inappropriate, at least.
 
The only thing you can see are my profile photo and cover photo without friending me. This is just how I always have my profile though, I've never had any desire to have my stuff viewable by people who weren't my friends.
 
NeuroNYC said:
I think we all know that if we use facebook, we need to be aware of what we put online and make public. My question is what, if any, special action have you taken with your facebook account and other social media as you continue with the application process? Did you deactivate your account? Change your name? Or just make sure all your pictures and posts were professional?

Happy july 4th SDN =D
Click to expand...

I changed mine to basically be a resume. They can see my education, work experience, etc. I also picked a few pictures and posts to be shared globally, but other than that everything is hidden.
 
Lya said:
Even if you deactivate, other people could still search your name and see your profile as much as you allow the public to see. I would adjust the privacy setting and change your profile picture if inappropriate, at least.
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That's not true.
 
skmed said:
The only thing you can see are my profile photo and cover photo without friending me. This is just how I always have my profile though, I've never had any desire to have my stuff viewable by people who weren't my friends.
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This and nothing else.
 
CityLights said:
Thanks, that scared me for a second...
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Hmm, are you sure about that? Maybe Facebook recently changed its policies or settings, but when I deactivated my account last year, people can still tag me, see my profile, and etc.

I could be wrong, but that's what I was told in the past.
 
Lya said:
Hmm, are you sure about that? Maybe Facebook recently changed its policies or settings, but when I deactivated my account last year, people can still tag me, see my profile, and etc.

I could be wrong, but that's what I was told in the past.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure you didn't really deactivate your account...
 
Lya said:
Hmm, are you sure about that? Maybe Facebook recently changed its policies or settings, but when I deactivated my account last year, people can still tag me, see my profile, and etc.

I could be wrong, but that's what I was told in the past.
Click to expand...

If deactivating your account was like that, there'd be no point to it; you might as well just stop logging in.

When you deactivate, people can't see your account when they search, although what you've already posted to other peoples' pages and what you've been tagged in will still be up.
 
I keep everything on my profile private except my cover photo and profile picture. I try to keep pictures of me with beer in my hand or snarky cover photos to the minimum.

I also removed my real last name, because I am literally the only person on Facebook with my first and last name - it would be really easy to find me if someone wanted to.
 
milkphlegm said:
I keep everything on my profile private except my cover photo and profile picture. I try to keep pictures of me with beer in my hand or snarky cover photos to the minimum.

I also removed my real last name, because I am literally the only person on Facebook with my first and last name - it would be really easy to find me if someone wanted to.
Click to expand...

I also have a fairly unique last name. You used to be able to make yourself unsearchable by name, but after I saw this thread, I checked it out and I popped right up. 😡
 
Lya said:
Hmm, are you sure about that? Maybe Facebook recently changed its policies or settings, but when I deactivated my account last year, people can still tag me, see my profile, and etc.

I could be wrong, but that's what I was told in the past.
Click to expand...

I think you're right that your friends can still tag if you select that option when deactivating your account. It's my understanding that no one, including your friends, can see your profile or photos though - I believe you show up as the default "shadow" and your name isn't in the form of a link to your profile since your profile is deactivated.
 
My privacy settings have been the same as they've always been. You can see my profile picture and some basic info. I don't have anything on my FB that's too crazy, so I don't care. My Twitter is also public. I've had no problems.
 
If you have everything visible just list random schools on your description, change your birthday, get a random name, and use some weird profile picture.
 
Doctor Strange said:
My privacy settings have been the same as they've always been. You can see my profile picture and some basic info. I don't have anything on my FB that's too crazy, so I don't care. My Twitter is also public. I've had no problems.
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Pretty much this except my twitter is private also.
 
Eh it's not like you're going to get rescinded if adcoms see something they don't like
 
I watch what I put. I mostly post gym statuses, music, and check ins. 👍
 
mj-popcorn.jpg
 
Ah all you young uns who weren't here for the rescindment of November..,
 
I've been advised to still have my profile "searchable" but with bare minimum content. One of my friends who does law school admissions (where they check this regularly, apparently) said that if they can't find your facebook, or find that you've changed your name, they'll wonder what you're trying to hide and it'll be just as bad as if they find a picture of you completely wasted in your underwear. Obviously this might not apply to med school since I don't think they have time to check Facebook pages of applicants.
 
GandalfTheWhite said:
I think its story time...😎
Click to expand...

ColeSmalls was a member of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine Facebook group. He also posted on SDN...with the same username for both accounts.

Someone on the Facebook group told ColeSmalls he looked like a douchebag. ColeSmalls posted on SDN that the guy looked like Khan, from King of the Hill. See post #10 here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=966310 and several posts on this page http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13318898#post13318898

ACOM found out and rescinded his acceptance. A month or two later the Dean of ACOM was charged with DUI. :laugh:
 
plumhill said:
I've been advised to still have my profile "searchable" but with bare minimum content. One of my friends who does law school admissions (where they check this regularly, apparently) said that if they can't find your facebook, or find that you've changed your name, they'll wonder what you're trying to hide and it'll be just as bad as if they find a picture of you completely wasted in your underwear. Obviously this might not apply to med school since I don't think they have time to check Facebook pages of applicants.
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Not having a facebook profile is equally bad as having inappropriate photos in their eyes?

That's pretty stupid. I wouldn't want to go to a school that applies that type of logic anyway.
 
CityLights said:
Not having a facebook profile is equally bad as having inappropriate photos in their eyes?

That's pretty stupid. I wouldn't want to go to a school that applies that type of logic anyway.
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Yeah I don't know what would happen for people who legitimately don't have a Facebook :/ I guess they just assume that we're all raging partyheads who have stuff to hide...
 
CityLights said:
Not having a facebook profile is equally bad as having inappropriate photos in their eyes?

That's pretty stupid. I wouldn't want to go to a school that applies that type of logic anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree. Plenty of people don't have Facebook and plenty more purposefully make themselves hard to find and it has absolutely nothing to do with med school.

Personally, I changed my name and am operating under the rule 'if I wouldn't show it to my grandma, delete it'
 
circulus vitios said:
ColeSmalls was a member of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine Facebook group. He also posted on SDN...with the same username for both accounts.

Someone on the Facebook group told ColeSmalls he looked like a douchebag. ColeSmalls posted on SDN that the guy looked like Khan, from King of the Hill. See post #10 here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=966310 and several posts on this page http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13318898#post13318898

ACOM found out and rescinded his acceptance. A month or two later the Dean of ACOM was charged with DUI. :laugh:
Click to expand...

This.
 
Irish Football said:
Ah all you young uns who weren't here for the rescindment of November..,
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Right? Lol I remember that thread struck a nerve with everybody here. It was right around that time when people were in the middle of interview/acceptance season. That story was known in allo, osteo, pre-allo and pre-osteo. I had never seen a story spread like that on here...
 
Ost3oclast said:
Right? Lol I remember that thread struck a nerve with everybody here. It was right around that time when people were in the middle of interview/acceptance season. That story was known in allo, osteo, pre-allo and pre-osteo. I had never seen a story spread like that on here...
Click to expand...

That incident was what made me change my SDN handle. Although I guess it's a moot point, because my Twitter is linked to SDN...

EDIT: ... and Twitter gone from SDN. :ninja:
 
Doctor Strange said:
That incident was what made me change my SDN handle. Although I guess it's a moot point, because my Twitter is linked to SDN...

EDIT: ... and Twitter gone from SDN. :ninja:
Click to expand...

Haha smart man. I figured giving my school name away is about as far as I'm gonna get in terms of personal info, except for my general stat range that is....he had everything linked on here, facebook, mdapps. Pretty risky. That thread exploded to hundreds of replies in a matter of like an hour haha pretty crazy.
 
CityLights said:
Not having a facebook profile is equally bad as having inappropriate photos in their eyes?

That's pretty stupid. I wouldn't want to go to a school that applies that type of logic anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree. If that's true, it's pretty stupid.

What about those who have utilize MySpace or some other social networking website?
 
Ost3oclast said:
Haha smart man. I figured giving my school name away is about as far as I'm gonna get in terms of personal info, except for my general stat range that is....he had everything linked on here, facebook, mdapps. Pretty risky. That thread exploded to hundreds of replies in a matter of like an hour haha pretty crazy.
Click to expand...

I think somebody posted the contents of the letter ACOM sent to him. Not sure if it was legit, but yeah.. it happened.
 
I agree with what's been posted. My pre-med advisor hinted that making my facebook impossible to find might appear suspicious. I have nothing to hide on my facebook, but still keep pictures, albums, and posts on private. I'm pretty sure someone can only see my profile picture and coverphoto. Seems like a good compromise.
 
Most of my classmates suddenly had weird names... First Name Middle name for most of them. Just make sure nothing weird is on there and you're set.
Survivor DO
 
Was that really a racist comment though? If the guy was white and he said he looked like Hank from KotH, would that be racist? I think it was a stupid comment that could be interpreted as being racial, but I don't know if that was the intent.
 
loltopsy said:
Was that really a racist comment though? If the guy was white and he said he looked like Hank from KotH, would that be racist? I think it was a stupid comment that could be interpreted as being racial, but I don't know if that was the intent.
Click to expand...

I think it was more that the comment drew attention to him - then people started connecting the dots between his FB account/SDN account and a past history with comments of a questionable nature crept up.
 
Annnnnnnnnnnd, I just got my acceptance rescinded.
 
Actually with Facebook graph search people can have access to photos of you that friends have taken but didn't make private...I've experimented with friends of friends and even though I can't access anything from their profile, through graph search I can see a lot more pictures...
 
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