Help forming the School selection forum

[Chelsea FC]

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As per @Lee request I started a thread to discuss any ideas the community have in shaping how the new School Selection sub-forum would work.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/about-this-forum.1246040/

1. Name of the Forum - I think the title of "School Selection" is confusing to new members because they will think its a place to seek help in generating a school list based on their stats (which is the purpose of the What are my chances sub-forum). Any suggestions of names would be helpful I currently like the Title "School X vs Y" but that might be too plain

2. Ground rules- Since this will be a place where both MDs and DOs are free to compare schools as well as the added bonus that we will be discussing negatives about schools that other people might adore I think it would be smart to think of some general house rules to keep the purpose of this forum true to its creation. eg. No MD vs DO debates , respecting others differing experiences of each school on the interview trail and general civility

3. Suggested by @Frogger27 the title of the Thread must have the names of the schools being discussed. So "Help be decide between school X vs school Y" .Not just "Help" or "I dont know what to do " or some other vague heading, this will make it easier to find the schools you are interested in and easier to search for these specific threads for future applicants.

What do you guys think ? Please share any thoughts or suggestions !

PS: Also props to @libertyyne for suggesting the idea of this sub-forum and the mods for making it happen

 

[freak7]

School X vs. School Y matches the format (style?) of WAMC pretty well. It basically screams at the reader "hey if you're thinking about making a thread like that, put it here" whereas "School Selection" does no such thing.

 

[Astra]

anonymity for the user by hiding the user name/profile pic or replacing the name with Anon and profile pic with a question mark

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-possible-for-op-to-remain-anonymous.1246213/

I second the idea for the forum being titled "School X vs Y"

Also, I think in the title, year of matriculation should be required so when people in the future are searching for school opinions, its easy to see which discussions are most recent.

 

[Chelsea FC]

School X vs. School Y matches the format (style?) of WAMC pretty well. It basically screams at the reader "hey if you're thinking about making a thread like that, put it here" whereas "School Selection" does no such thing.

Fair point. I think school selection makes it seem you this is a place where you come to select a list of schools to apply to. While School X vs Y is a little more specific and would ward away people who are looking for guidance of a school list for their upcoming cycle. But I am not committed to any name just felt we could come up with something better or come to a general consensus that it is okay as is.

 

[Frogger27]

I think the title of the subforum "School X vs Y Threads" is perfectly fine. Makes it not as confusing as School Selection. There have been a couple of threads posted in here already that should have been in WAMC or the general forum.

Title of discussions should be X vs Y to keep it easy to look up

Not quite sure if we should make a rule banning the comparison between DO vs MD schools. There was a very productive discussion comparing Drexel vs Rowan for an applicant, who I think benefitted a lot from the discussion. These should be monitored to make sure they don't turn into a dumpster fire.

And thanks @libertyyne for bring this up. If he is the president of this thread, I want to be the Vice President since I have been behind it since day 1! I will make sure this subforum stays productive as I think it will be tremendously helpful in the present and future.

 

[Chelsea FC]

anonymity for the user by hiding the user name/profile pic or replacing the name with Anon and profile pic with a question mark

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-possible-for-op-to-remain-anonymous.1246213/


Also, I second the idea for the forum being titled "School X vs Y"

This is a great idea I dont know if the mods can do this but implementing this would surely increase the activity of the sub-forum.

 

[libertyyne]

I like the " School X vs. School Y" name as "school selection" was definitely causing some confusion.
Number 3 on the list is also a great suggestion as having a standardized title " Full School Name Vs Full School Name Vs. Full School Name" lends itself to easily figure out what the thread is about.
Excellent work Everyone! It has really been exciting watching this take off!

 

[Chelsea FC]

@meep15 also had a good idea of sticking to a general format like depicted below to ensure each thread ease to navigate but I think this would be difficult to encourage people to do

School X
Pros

• --
• --

Cons

• --
• --

School Y
Pros

• --
• --

Cons

• --
• --

Summary: (One sentence with highlights)

 

[Frogger27]

@meep15 also had a good idea of sticking to a general format like depicted below to ensure each thread ease to navigate but I think this would be difficult to encourage people to do

School X
Pros

• --
• --

Cons

• --
• --

School Y
Pros

• --
• --

Cons

• --
• --

Summary: (One sentence with highlights)

Another great idea!

 

[Astra]

How I imagine @libertyyne is reading this thread

 

[Lucca]

anonymity for the user by hiding the user name/profile pic or replacing the name with Anon and profile pic with a question mark

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-possible-for-op-to-remain-anonymous.1246213/

I second the idea for the forum being titled "School X vs Y"

Also, I think in the title, year of matriculation should be required so when people in the future are searching for school opinions, its easy to see which discussions are most recent.

I think the board-specific anon feature is a great idea. Whether or not the XenForo code running this forum will let us implement something like that is for the admins to discover.

So far without any really detailed guidelines people have been posting pretty logically in the forum, but stickying the template within the forum could help the newbies. I'll do that now since I like that template and if people want to make changes to it, just write them in this thread and we can all see what we like. Let's try to keep it as bare bones as possible though, not trying to write dating profiles either.

 

[meep15]

@meep15 also had a good idea of sticking to a general format like depicted below to ensure each thread ease to navigate but I think this would be difficult to encourage people to do

Simple: banhammer for anyone who doesn't comply 😛
(only semi-joking)

In all seriousness, having a sticky with this template, rules, and links to helpful information (comparison spreadsheets etc) would hopefully help with that. (Perhaps with a giant, honking, "READ THIS FIRST / BEFORE POSTING" title or something).

I second the idea for the forum being titled "School X vs Y"

Also, I think in the title, year of matriculation should be required so when people in the future are searching for school opinions, its easy to see which discussions are most recent.

This is actually a really brilliant, forward-thinking idea!


Also, two ground rules we might establish:

• Full disclosure of where you're commenting from, especially if it could introduce bias.
  (e.g. are you a med student at one of the schools, from that state, on that school's waitlist as well, etc). Might help with potentially biased opinions.
• No denigrating other schools (respectful comparison, sure, but comments like "XSOM sucks" shouldn’t be tolerated)

 

[Lawpy]

Good collaborative effort! Always reassuring and enjoyable.

 

[Frogger27]

Also make it clear this sub forum is only for medical school selections..

 

[libertyyne]

Also make it clear this sub forum is only for medical school selections..

I dont know if it is outside the scope of the thread, but i think discussing things like selection criteria or systems of evaluation might also be appropriate.Unless people feel like that stuff should go in Main pre-allo. Like the @voteknope thread with the spreadsheet.

 

[Astra]

Full disclosure of where you're commenting from, especially if it could introduce bias.
(e.g. are you a med student at one of the schools, from that state, on that school's waitlist as well, etc). Might help with potentially biased opinions.

This is a good idea but I think a lot of people wouldn't wanna disclose which med school they attend or state they live in.

 

[redsox93]

Would this subforum be for people posting "should I attend X interview after acceptances at Y" threads as well?

 

[Frogger27]

Would this subforum be for people posting "should I attend X interview after acceptances at Y" threads as well?

I personally would vote no to that, but I see the value in adding those threads. I think the forum will be cleaner if it is only school x vs Y where one is holding offers (or WL I guess)

 

[Astra]

it would also be nice to have some attendings, residents chime in during the school discussions. As med students/premeds, we only know so much.

They will be able to contribute in terms of residency placement, reputation in the professional world etc. Maybe we can have a few attendings/residents dedicated to answering questions in the subforum?

 

[Med Ed]

As per @Lee request I started a thread to discuss any ideas the community have in shaping how the new School Selection sub-forum would work.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/about-this-forum.1246040/

1. Name of the Forum - I think the title of "School Selection" is confusing to new members because they will think its a place to seek help in generating a school list based on their stats (which is the purpose of the What are my chances sub-forum). Any suggestions of names would be helpful I currently like the Title "School X vs Y" but that might be too plain

2. Ground rules- Since this will be a place where both MDs and DOs are free to compare schools as well as the added bonus that we will be discussing negatives about schools that other people might adore I think it would be smart to think of some general house rules to keep the purpose of this forum true to its creation. eg. No MD vs DO debates , respecting others differing experiences of each school on the interview trail and general civility

3. Suggested by @Frogger27 the title of the Thread must have the names of the schools being discussed. So "Help be decide between school X vs school Y" .Not just "Help" or "I dont know what to do " or some other vague heading, this will make it easier to find the schools you are interested in and easier to search for these specific threads for future applicants.

What do you guys think ? Please share any thoughts or suggestions !

PS: Also props to @libertyyne for suggesting the idea of this sub-forum and the mods for making it happen

Just call it "School Versus School" and be done with it.

 

[Lucca]

How about "Help Me Decide: School X vs Y"?

"School X vs Y" makes the most intuitive sense, but I thought the name might be a little vague for people who are new to SDN and arent aware that threads about School X vs Y are a common trope.

 

[Med Ed]

How about "Help Me Decide: School X vs Y"?

"School X vs Y" makes the most intuitive sense, but I thought the name might be a little vague for people who are new to SDN and arent aware that threads about School X vs Y are a common trope.

Cage Match: School on School

 

[Lucca]

Note: members can create an x vs y thread anonymously in this forum by logging-out and posting their thread.

However, because the post will be entirely anonymous, this option does not allow editing and follow-up anonymous posts are not possible.

Posting here to let everyone know that it is now possible to post anonymously in the HMD:XvY subforum. (at least, make a new thread anonymously)