Is my fear ridiculous? MDApplicants...

[seadizzle]

If you want to stay anonymous:

alter your mcat by a point + or - and maybe shift the subscores around
change your gpa by .05 + or -
be vague about ECs

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[CptCrunch]

thanks guys. I am now really paranoid.

Then this'll really freak you out. Major League Baseball has been tracking us with satellites for the past 20 years.

 

[Rafa]

P.S. What would premed machine have to say about this?

Premed machine would have volunteered part time as an adcom at each of the top 10 schools - while applying!

 

[Anastasis]

Then this'll really freak you out. Major League Baseball has been tracking us with satellites for the past 20 years.

I already knew about that silly why do you think I'm wearing my tin hat?

 

[Dr Durden]

Premedmachine doesn't need mdapps. We all know he has a 45, a 4.0, and a full ride to Harvard.

 

[ParvatiP]

I have an MDApplicants profile, but I haven't updated it with my GPA, MCAT scores, and activities because I'm afraid that medical schools will use it to determine which schools I have applied to and been accepted into.

I think everyone here is getting a little too paranoid! Most adcoms are way too busy to bother with mdapps in the first place. And second, I doubt they'd let it sway their decision. They're not going to look at a list of schools and say, well that settles it, we won't accept them. Saying that, I'd advise not to write your opinion of a school (ie labeling a school "reach" or "1st choice") just in case. But not submitting a profile for that reason is a little silly.

 

[heeseop]

for some reason, im really buying all this paranoia..

 

[rcd]

You're all just being silly. Sure, they is looking at your mdapps profile to reject you for applying to more than one med school. Sure, big brother is scouring myspace to generate comprehensive reports of your sex life, eating habits, drug abuse, and popularity. Sure, LizzyM is really the extension of an ADCOM conspiracy to root out gunners.

The real problem, the one that eclipses every one of these Internets concerns, is satelites. Look it up, they're dangerous and we should start eating babies so that they don't grow up to become satelite-making-adcom-spies.

 

[notdeadyet]

Huh. All these users, all these folks with links to mdapps.com all this time and no one has had any problems at all. Why get stressed now? It's not a problem.

Adcoms are not wasting away their hours on longshots of longshots on the off chance they might track you down on the off chance you might have said something negative. About something. But then again, the process for actually tracking someone down is nigh on impossible.

Chill...

 

[leahmaria]

Paranoid premeds hard at work!

Just don't say anything brash and you'll be fine. ADCOMS don't have time to look over profiles and if they do, they won't find anything new -with regards to my application process. They'll know how many schools I've applied to. What I want to know is do admissions committees know what other schools you've been accepted to?

P.S. What would premed machine have to say about this?

I believe that they know after May 15th....though I've heard that they ask in interviews sometimes.

 

[plainolerichie]

When at first looked at your question, I thought it was kinda a silly question. But now, it actually makes perfect sense. I guess they could look you up if they wanted too. I mean, I can usually figure who's on there from my school even if I barely know them. So it's a reasonable fear.

 

[DrHusky]

When at first looked at your question, I thought it was kinda a silly question. But now, it actually makes perfect sense. I guess they could look you up if they wanted too. I mean, I can usually figure who's on there from my school even if I barely know them. So it's a reasonable fear.

I totally agree. When I read the first post I was thinking that this was strictly a hardcore pre-med issue. However, after reading ALL of the replies I definitely am buying into it. Considering there are not more than 10 applicants from most/ a lot of schools on there applying this year, I don't think it is THAT ridiculous to assume that the adcoms might take 30 seconds to find you. Given this, I made a few amendments to my mdapps...although I can't list them here, because they will find me.

 

[SeventhSon]

i t hink adcoms have abetter things to do than snoop around on mdapps or facebook, but it is a somewhat legitimite fear. as for knowing what schools you've been accepted to, i think schools know that you're obviously applying to more than just their school and it is doubtful that they base their decision on that.

there was a thread on this last year. you could easily figure out who i was from my profile in an applicant pile, but i figure if im not hiding anything, there's no big deal.

 

[nibrocli]

to all those who think that adcoms have better things to do with their time:
at one of my interviews, i saw an admissions office staff member reading sdn. specifically, interview feedback. yes, she was support staff, but i bet if she saw something really bad she'd alert an adcom member.

just be smart about whatever you put online. if that means staying anonymous so you can sleep an night, then don't post until you think it's ok.

 

[CavalierMD]

Good job guys. You officially freaked me into deleting my MDApps. And I thought I was above the pre-med paranoia curse of death. Oh well.

 

[xaelia]

Oh my, this is some entertaining paranoia.

I'm sure anything is possible. You can still help future premedical applicants, just as easily, by waiting until you are totally finished with your application, and accepted to medical school, before submitting an MDapplicants.com profile.

 

[Chinorean]

Well if it helps, instead of thinking abstractly of an ADCOM, think of who's actually sitting on it....the dean of the medical school...a couple of MDs and professors...some adminstrators...now think of them glued to the computer, browsing SDN and MDapps for a reason to screen you, personally, out.

I can picture their spouse now, "Dear, come up to bed...it doesn't matter if he applied to Wash U, Drexel AND Harvard, you can figure out the subtle nuances later"

Hopefully you found that image ridiculous.

 

[coco11]

yes, your fear is ridiculous

 

[khadija]

actually after i read this, i deleted my profile. no point in exposing myself to possible doom. but really, i think i was going overboard. i'd say just don't write anything u wouldn't want the adcomms to read

 

[PBandJ]

P.S. What would premed machine have to say about this?

premed machine knows that if he posts his profile, everyone will know that it's him b/c he's the only 45 MCAT score ever!

 

[runningmom]

I know I studied this somewhere in my management classes... someone has an ideation, someone else passes it on, causing someone else to pass it on, until finally it comes full circle and validates the original concept.

I'm sure I'm 100% identifiable from my MDapp profile - and that's OK with me. I did take out the "reach" comments because quite frankly EVERY school is a reach until I get in somewhere. That's what this whole process is for - seeing how far you can go.

So everyone relax. Big brother ADCOM member isn't out to get you. They too put their pants on one leg at a time - well - I guess those who wear pants do.

 

[Caristra]

I believe some schools read interview feedback as a measure of quality control. Just to see if their interview day is working well. It's sweet actually, they want to adjust the interviews based on student feedback. I do not think they browse md apps unless they see someone post something heinous on interview feedback and really want to figure out who that person is.

Just use good judgement and don't bash any school until they have given you a decision. Although, if you are going to say something that would make a school upset enough to put you in the reject pile then maybe you don't want to go there in the first place.......

 

[PBandJ]

well said, caristra.

 

[Law2Doc]

There is nothing you can say on MDApplicants.com that will compare to the porno pics one of your exes probably circulated on the net, that has already found its way into your file thanks to browser technology. If they look at you oddly during interviews, you'll know why.

Also, I think they can see you through these little smiley faces . Hope you're decent.

 

[e_phn]

use your common sense

 

[notdeadyet]

you guys are hysterical.

Not nearly as hysterical as the fact that you're linking to John Tesh for your tech news...

Sorry, had to be said. I had no idea he was still around after leaving Entertainment Tonight for his soft rock career.

 

[e_phn]

.

 

[CptCrunch]

Not nearly as hysterical as the fact that you're linking to John Tesh for your tech news...

Sorry, had to be said. I had no idea he was still around after leaving Entertainment Tonight for his soft rock career.

Don't hate on John Tesh. He wrote the NBA on NBC theme, pretty much the greatest thing ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSPO_sIDbI&search=nba on nbc

 

[e_phn]

.

 

[CptCrunch]

are you mocking me?

I'm completely serious. I really miss that theme song .

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

I'm confused by page 4. Is John Tesh reading our MDApps? And is he on an adcom? That would explain a few things...

 

[notdeadyet]

to be perfectly frank with you, i trust his news completely. and i have no problem if you(or anyone) think it is bogus and a joke. and no, i am not gullible ...i'm human, so, of course, i doubt. furthermore, i can understand why you don't believe his news, but that is fine with me. everyone has his or her own opinion.

Woah, sorry if I touched a nerve here. The article on his site had lots of valid points (and it's not his news anyway, it was a rehash of a CBS article). You should put the link back up, some might find it useful.

I didn't mean to imply that the article was a joke. Or that you were gullible. I was just making fun of John Tesh. And frankly, if you've ever heard his Christmas album, you'll know it isn't hard to do.

 

[e_phn]

.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Yeah, I think I'll disassociate my MDApps profile from my profile on here. You don't want to give adcoms any reason to not accept you.

 

[8744]

A faculty member from my previous residency program emailed me to complain about something I had written about the program on my blog. Obviously she has enough time to surf the web for criticism. Admittedly it is not very hard to figure out who I am but it's probably not that hard to figure out who anybody is based on a few clues.

Of course, I don't care who knows who I am and write nothing but the truth (as I see it) on my blog. Still, I wouldn't have written anything about the program if they hadn't shut it down as it is a small internet world and enough people read SDN (and can link to my blog) to have had an impact on their recruiting.

Don't email or post anything on the web unless you are prepared to live with the fallout. There are still some things about my last program that I will never write about because it might offend some of the faculty from the program who I respect and it would make me look like I was "piling on."

P. Bear, MD
PGY-1 Emergency Medicine
Somewhere in the Midwest