Well that's the thing though...everyone on here is an individual and even the adcom members are only giving "their" opinion. I would take it one step further and say that
LizzyM's opinion about how to approach the activities section probably can't even be generalized to her school. It's
her preference, and
her opinion. To me, it seems that should be obvious.
I mean, my main point is that: yes, I agree that people can sometimes give advice that seems absolute (but is probably unqualified like most of us are), but that's exactly it. I don't think it needs to be stated that an opinion is qualified or not, because no matter who you are listening to, it's still just an opinion. Just from my own research and the number of adcom members I 've harrassed (lol, read: talked to), I know without a doubt that admissions processes can be extremely different from school to school, and even from adcom member to adcome member. There are some schools that only have one member read one app and that person's decision is the final decision (pre-interview). So it could even be as unlucky as "you got the wrong adcom member to read your app." There is no objective way that students are rated when under review by a school, and it should be
obvious that this is the case (IMHO). By extension, it means that the advice we get on here is largely generalization, speculation, and the opinions that we hear will never be applicable to every situation. This applies not only to opinions about an applicant's chances, but also to any other opinion you might hear on the internet. I mean, take this thread for example:
The OP posted 4 sentences
about someone who is completely anonymous and who none of us have ever met, talked to, know anything about, or even by association have any ties to. Heck, the person in question doesn't even post on SDN itself! Yet, so many members have come to harsh and definitive conclusions about this unknown person. Conclusions ranging from how disrespectful he/she is, to their fitness as a physician. I mean, it's absolutely insane to even think that one could make a claim about somone's professionalism or their competence as a physician through reading 4 sentences written by yet another anonymous person about that person. But hey, these types of responses are completely expected from the internet, and in fact, I would go so far to say that it is people's right to have whatever opinion they wish. So adcom members who post on SDN, or medical students, or whatever fall to the same flaws. They are on an Adcom, sure, so yes they have somewhat of better perspective. But that's just it:
it's still a perspective, only one person's perspective; nothing more, nothing less.
We're all intelligent people. Therefore, I hold noone else responsible for the problems with SDN than the people that blindly follow the advice. A good case in point: LizzyM said it was better to use bullet point for Activities. I disagreed with that, and did not take that advice. I kept everything concise, and I actually wrote some of my activities in different styles depending on the activity. I mean, what matters is being mindful enough not to be one of the sheep. Make your own choices, take SDN for what it is, and realize that while it has it's problems, it clearly has its advantages. It's our job to take the absolutism for what it is...
You and I actually think very similarly on this point, and probably approached the application process with a startingly similar mantra. One thing I have always held extremely close since I've gone down this path is: "There are only so many things in your life that you have some level of control over. If you do not do everything in your power to ensure that you have affected those factors to give yourself the best chance possible, you will end up being filled with regret. This is because, at the end of the day, someone else is going to be making the decision about you. So, from this exact point forward, do not give those people even the smallest reason to doubt you. If you do, then it's on you."
Well, there are some things that do apply in a broad sense, and the blanket statements (say about GPA or low MCAT or whatever) largely do hold true. I mean, there are objective ways of verifying that (MSAR). On this particular point, sure it's pompous to say, "You will never get into medical school with a sub-3.0", but it's equally inane to take that advice word for word and to believe that it's completely true. We should all be aware enough to realize that's not the case. You're frustrated with some of the posts, I get that, and I agree...but there it is, it's in your power to listen to the posts you want to, and to try and ignore the ones that aren't. There's a level of control that you have there as well.
