PreDents.com: New Feature

[PDizzle]

I noticed a lot of people either not entering any data at all or clearly incorrect data. Because of this I have implemented a flag system so you can report users who don't constructively contribute to PreDents.com and sometimes hurt the integrity of the data.

Some of you already have noticed it (since I've received about 10 flags so far ) but I just wanted to let you know of it here so you can go out and dig out those "bad apples" and make PreDents.com more accurate and usable.

Thanks!

P.S. Don't get too carried away with the flags. Remember, not every field is required. Just so long as they contribute useful, accurate data they can remain as is.

Thanks again


Dizz....out

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[ZenoVT]

Wheeeeeeeee! Thanks!

 

[Contach]

lol, a few of those flags were from me. >_<

 

[supraman]

lol me and Contach are flag policemen

 

[ZenoVT]

We need to find a way to catch all those people using, but not sharing.

 

[klutzy1987]

Pdizz can set it up so that you can only use the site after you sign in and have an updated profile. That will keep out bad profiles and also generate more accurate searches.

 

[eldirty]

great idea ...

 

[Chesnok]

But, as diesel said, NOT all fields are required, so flagging should be only in exceptional cases.

 

[PDizzle]

Pdizz can set it up so that you can only use the site after you sign in and have an updated profile. That will keep out bad profiles and also generate more accurate searches.

What do you mean exactly? You mean you don't want visitors to even be able to view the data? Or have some sort of mandatory fields? Sounds like a good idea, can you explain what you mean in more detail?


P.S. Holy cow, got like 10 more flags in last 10 min. Might need to make one of you guys/gals an admin to my site!

 

[prydA]

what's an example of a profile that should be flagged?

 

[klutzy1987]

What do you mean exactly? You mean you don't want visitors to even be able to view the data? Or have some sort of mandatory fields? Sounds like a good idea, can you explain what you mean in more detail?

I would say that in order to run a search or to access a particular schools page you should need to be logged in and updated. Just to view a particular pre-dents profile you can do even as a guest. This will maintain the nitegrity of predents while at the same time allow visitors. People will be impressed with the accuracy of the site and will be encouraged to join.

A thought

 

[Plopper]

But, as diesel said, NOT all fields are required, so flagging should be only in exceptional cases.

yes, but i've seen many profiles with no DAT score and no gpa...not even updating which schools they've applied to

i've also seen people create profiles saying they were accepted to school xxx, and plug in a gpa of 1.00 just to lower the stats

...not cool, i second the only view as long as you have an updated profile

 

[Plopper]

What do you mean exactly? You mean you don't want visitors to even be able to view the data? Or have some sort of mandatory fields? Sounds like a good idea, can you explain what you mean in more detail?
quote]

I would say that in order to run a search or to access a particular schools page you should need to be logged in and updated. Just to view a particular pre-dents profile you can do even as a guest. This will maintain the nitegrity of predents while at the same time allow visitors. People will be impressed with the accuracy of the site and will be encouraged to join.

A thought

 

[oclor]

Great feature, but us flagging isn't going to do anything. What are you going to do once you receive these flags? Delete the account, send a warning email, what? Thanks.

 

[Neuro178]

What about those of us who are trying to remain anonymous by not giving all the details, but just some? Ex: I gave my AA/TS/PA... and my GPAs, and state, but that's about it. I don't want what I say here to be linked to easily to the real me when I go to apply to schools.

Edit: I have other things on there (extracurriculars), and I'll probably post what schools I apply to... but that might be about it.

Just a thought.

 

[Plopper]

What about those of us who are trying to remain anonymous by not giving all the details, but just some? Ex: I gave my AA/TS/PA... and my GPAs, and state, but that's about it. I don't want what I say here to be linked to easily to the real me when I go to apply to schools.

Just a thought.

i thuought about that, but then i said do you REALLY think that the adcom's are sitting here going through every applicant and checking their predents to figure out who they are?

 

[klutzy1987]

What about those of us who are trying to remain anonymous by not giving all the details, but just some? Ex: I gave my AA/TS/PA... and my GPAs, and state, but that's about it. I don't want what I say here to be linked to easily to the real me when I go to apply to schools.

Just a thought.

When you took your DAT, did you post your scores afterwards. If yes then they alreadyy can trace you. If they really cared about tracing SDN profiles they would have traced yours already..

 

[TeamGuo]

you rock man! I was thinking about this the other day because I was seeing so many ******ed stats and inaccurate information posted by people on predents.

I think this is an excellent idea in order for pre-dents to use the information to gain an accurate perception of what's needed to gain admissions.

 

[klutzy1987]

FINALLY my DAT is done! I kind of can't believe it. The actual test was such a blur, it went so fast. I was a little apprehensive about posting my scores, mainly because so many SDNers get AMAZING scores, and mine are pretty mediocre from what I've seen. I'm content with mine though. Anyways, here they are:

PA 18
QR 16
RC 21
Bio 19
GC 18
OC 19

TS 19
AA 19

My testing center was great. She let me in 15 minutes early and was especially friendly. I was allowed to touch the screen (I asked), and I wore those noise-blocking headphones. They reeeeally worked and didn't give me a headache as I had expected. I really recommend them! Test takers and the proctor were walking in and out, and I never noticed.

Anyways, here's my section-by-section analysis.

**Please don't ask me any content-specific questions. It's not ethical or fair.

See how easy that was. Now go update your pre-dents. Your thought process was silly. ( no offense)

 

[Aceofspades]

I would say flag anyone who does not list

1. GPA and science GPA
2. AA/TS/PAT
3. School list
4. Submitted date (very important... I don't even know if the site would let you get away with that)
5. State residence (important because some state schools admit very low or no out of state applicants)

What you can also do is not allow people to put in a zero "0" for gpa, sgpa, AA, TS, or PAT. Exact DAT subsection scores is debatable, but if people are really concerned about their anonymity I guess they can put in zero's for that. Undergrad, marital status, major, and others are not needed.

 

[supraman]

See how easy that was. Now go update your pre-dents. Your thought process was silly. ( no offense)

lmao

 

[DrReo]

What do you mean exactly? You mean you don't want visitors to even be able to view the data? Or have some sort of mandatory fields? Sounds like a good idea, can you explain what you mean in more detail?


P.S. Holy cow, got like 10 more flags in last 10 min. Might need to make one of you guys/gals an admin to my site!

First dibs

 

[bjhath]

See how easy that was. Now go update your pre-dents. Your thought process was silly. ( no offense)

nicely done!

 

[klutzy1987]

nicely done!

I thought it was pretty funny, maybe a bit mean. I didnt mean to burst his bubble but you know, I had to lol.

 

[Contach]

what's an example of a profile that should be flagged?

I am really tempted to flag your profile >_<

 

[Contach]

I thought it was pretty funny, maybe a bit mean. I didnt mean to burst his bubble but you know, I had to lol.

lol, he/she had it coming.

 

[Aceofspades]

I am really tempted to flag your profile >_<

He has all the info needed. Whether exact DAT subsection scores are necessary is debatable. On the other hand, I believe there was a tread where he got outed for lying about his DAT score.

 

[bigstix808]

people that have not yet taken the DAT would not be able to view predents?? unless their was an option stating that their DAT test date was sometime in the future which allowed them temp access...

 

[Contach]

Pdizz can set it up so that you can only use the site after you sign in and have an updated profile. That will keep out bad profiles and also generate more accurate searches.

I like this, but I have some caveats regarding it. The people who peruse predents use our statistics to benefit themselves but don't offer anything in return. I think that ideally you would want to foster a community where collaboration and helping one another is held highly. But in an online community, establishing values is difficult - something like this is much easier for an undergraduate program, or a sub-specialty of sorts.

However, I am worried that people may be turned off if on their first visit to predents, they don't see any useful information and are asked immediately to enter in personal information. I think there needs to be a latent period where they can 'trial' the data and peruse without having to commit. Then maybe in a few weeks, they will not be allowed to peruse anymore and will have to contribute to the database.

I also recognize that not everyone wants to share their information. We have to recognize that people have differnet levels of comfort with such information, especially when there are so many trust issues emerging regarding the internet (read: Facebook and myspace). There's gotta be some way of getting around this or building this comfort. I could see a problem arising from this: that being that people who don't want to put in their real stats, but need to put in some stats to view others data may put in "plausible" fallicious stats just so they can continue surfing. We don't want this to happen as it will undermine the integrity of the database... This probably worries me the most about a program that mandates you share your personal information.

What facebook was able to do that many other online communities couldn't was to have people trust the site enough to bridge the gap between one's online 'avatar' and real life. I think a huge part of this was the way Networks developed: they began by only allowing profile access to those who were in your school. At the moment, I don't see a viable way for predents to foster this trust.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Dentgirl09]

The only argument I have to that is that some people just simply do not want to share a part of their personal credentials.

Some may be embarassed about that 14 they got in one DAT section..
Some about their GPA
Some may be harassed for being a minority... we have all seen those threads where people ask... oh did you get that b/c you're a minority? Are you a minority?

I think there's a certain level of privacy that people should be able to maintain. Most of us who us these sites are not trying to get and not give.

We are all trying to HELP EACH OTHER in whatever way we can. I may not have my GPA posted... but I come on here and let people know that ... HEY .. I don't have any interviews yet, so don't get down. I submitted at so and so time... (which I don't know how to put that on predents BTW)...

I don't know why you'd want to drive people AWAY From your site just because they don't feel comfortable sharing one aspect of their information.

On the other hand, a lot of people VIEW predents, have no profile, and dont contribute ANYTHING AT ALL.

I'm just trying to point out that not everyone that doesn't post all their information is doing it just to be greedy....

There's more to it I would say as a couple others mentioned.

EDIT: I didn't post that to start an argument, so please don't respond with some ridiculous statement. It's just a thought provoker... and maybe another side to the argument.
As in.. not everyone has a 3.6-4.0 GPA with above a 20 on the DAT... and its difficult not to feel like your STATS SUCKKKK when being compared with SDN and PreDents users!

 

[ChrisM07]

Maybe it's because I don't have a Pre-Dent's profile YET (no DAT or final GPA yet) but I don't get why anyone would be embarrassed about their stats. I mean, it's not like we know each others real names unless otherwise posted by the individual and it's not like we will ever see the people on this forum in person (again, unless otherwise one goes out of their way to meet someone). So, why hide? I mean, this is the internet, were all pretty much 'hidden' as it is. Right?

 

[vlct0ria]

Ethnicity, major, age, and undergrad school are probably the ones that don't absolutely need to be entered. But the point of predents is for people to GET information and in return GIVE information....when you're looking at people who were accepted or interviewed at so and so school, you want to know their GPA, their DAT, and their extracurriculars...which is why every one of those should be necessary. They are all HUGE determining factors in terms of who interviews/gets accepted/gets rejected at what school.

**As for the DAT, there is the other side, where people like me have yet to take the test. I'm not applying until next cycle, so it doesn't really matter that I don't have DAT scores anyway since I don't have any data about where I applied.**

 

[PDizzle]

Wow, I just got a million flags!! Thanks guys.

Maybe I should have been clearer about what will constitute a flag. There are two definite categories:

1) Maliscious corruption of the data. These accounts will be banned(you can't open another account unless you get a new email address...then I ban you again...soon you run out or time, desire or email addresses!)

2) People who meant well, but just do not update it regularly or fail to put enough info in it to be statistically worth it.

When I get a flag, I review it and decide what to do. Currently, my pre-programmed options are:

1) Delete account with confirm email. These peeps can create another account and do it right, if they want.
2) Ban account (described above)
3) Dismiss the flag. Mostly from people who think getting 25's are impossible...it isnt. Don't flag cuz your jealous!!
4) Edit the account if there is a clear error, like having double applications in different cycles.
5) Warn the user with an email to get more serious about it and enter more data.
6) Warn the user that flagged! My website counts how many times a user flags someone who is then later dismissed. If that number gets too big, they get a warning and a description of what I think deserves a flag
7) Ban the user that flags!!! This is when people abuse the system I made to stop abuse. For instance, I was flagged this morning already!!


Hope that clears it up some

 

[PDizzle]

I would say that in order to run a search or to access a particular schools page you should need to be logged in and updated. Just to view a particular pre-dents profile you can do even as a guest. This will maintain the nitegrity of predents while at the same time allow visitors. People will be impressed with the accuracy of the site and will be encouraged to join.

A thought

I'm with you on your concept, but if a visitor can't search and can't view a school page, how will they see a profile?

 

[Dentgirl09]

Maybe it's because I don't have a Pre-Dent's profile YET (no DAT or final GPA yet) but I don't get why anyone would be embarrassed about their stats. I mean, it's not like we know each others real names unless otherwise posted by the individual and it's not like we will ever see the people on this forum in person (again, unless otherwise one goes out of their way to meet someone). So, why hide? I mean, this is the internet, were all pretty much 'hidden' as it is. Right?

I don't know... lots of predent /SDN users have met each other at interviews... which is GREAT, don't get me wrong. Its always nice to meet people who share something in common with you.

Some people are just more self-conscious than others.... maybe a better word is paranoid??

I think forcing people to include their DAT or GPA when they don't want to could lead to less accurate data. If I had a 17 on the DAT... was embarassed... and decided to go with a 20 on predents... that would be worse than leaving that data out, right?

We know people embellish sometimes... maybe the people who choose not to lie.. but to just leave it out are doing the system a favor by not corrupting it.

 

[vlct0ria]

I'm with you on your concept, but if a visitor can't search and can't view a school page, how will they see a profile?

Maybe the other way around would be better- they see the regular homepage and can use the drop-down menu to check out the schools, but they need to have an account to view the specific stats of the profiles who were interviewed/accepted/rejected. It just seems like it makes more sense to protect the privacy of the users as opposed to the privacy of the school data. I mean, a lot of dschool websites have FAQ that already tell you matriculating statistics and what not, so it's not like hiding the schools from visitors would prevent them from finding the information elsewhere.

 

[PDizzle]

Been thinking of it, and unless I can be persuaded otherwise, I probably won't put a restriction on using(viewing) my website. What I want to do is hammer home a few points, and hopefully this will solve most of the problems:

1) No one knows who you are! You don't have to use your SDN name (and even then, they don’t know who you are). You can create a record and NOT list it on SDN. I think it's awesome that SDN did that and it saves a million, "Whats your stats" responses, but if you are embarrassed, don’t list it.

2) The website is all about data. Pre-dents are obsessed about it and for very good reason(It's the single most important factor about getting accepted...bar none!). If someone doesn't fill out a significant amount of data, their account does not add to the wealth of data and therefore might as well not exist.

Having said these, I am open to suggestions on how to encourage or remind people to update their account. I don't want to ban and delete a bunch of accounts. I just want PreDents.com to grow to a point where you can really get a good idea about the cycle and your place in it.


Discuss.....

 

[supraman]

Already flagged 20 profiles















jk 2

 

[Aceofspades]

I don't know... lots of predent /SDN users have met each other at interviews... which is GREAT, don't get me wrong. Its always nice to meet people who share something in common with you.

Some people are just more self-conscious than others.... maybe a better word is paranoid??

I think forcing people to include their DAT or GPA when they don't want to could lead to less accurate data. If I had a 17 on the DAT... was embarassed... and decided to go with a 20 on predents... that would be worse than leaving that data out, right?

We know people embellish sometimes... maybe the people who choose not to lie.. but to just leave it out are doing the system a favor by not corrupting it.

While this may be true I still think their account should be flagged. If they are so embarrassed or shy then the shouldn't input any information at all! I would rather see less accurate data than more inaccurate/misleading data.

Also, forcing people to register to see the site is a very bad idea. People will just make up stats to get access to the site. Let visitors view the complete site but don't let people get away with 0's in their GPA or DAT scores.

 

[PDizzle]

what's an example of a profile that should be flagged?

Your profile is fine.

AceOfSpades stated some real important ones:

GPA
DAT (especially AA, TS, PAT)
AADSAS Date
State Res

and obviously, the schools you applied to.

 

[PDizzle]

While this may be true I still think their account should be flagged. If they are so embarrassed or shy then the shouldn't input any information at all! I would rather see less accurate data than more inaccurate/misleading data.

Also, forcing people to register to see the site is a very bad idea. People will just make up stats to get access to the site. Let visitors view the complete site but don't let people get away with 0's in their GPA or DAT scores.

Im with you on this 100%, in all ways. If you made an account, thats cuz you wanted to share your data and be a part of something pretty cool that helps you and others that are in your same shoes. Why not enter it all in? If you don't want to make an account, ....don't.

 

[PDizzle]

Already flagged 20 profiles


jk 2

That's good that you're just kidding cuz someone flagged you!! I decided not to ban you....it being X-Mas and everything.
























j/k

 

[Flossy13]

The only argument I have to that is that some people just simply do not want to share a part of their personal credentials.

Some may be embarassed about that 14 they got in one DAT section..
Some about their GPA
Some may be harassed for being a minority... we have all seen those threads where people ask... oh did you get that b/c you're a minority? Are you a minority?

I think there's a certain level of privacy that people should be able to maintain. Most of us who us these sites are not trying to get and not give.

We are all trying to HELP EACH OTHER in whatever way we can. I may not have my GPA posted... but I come on here and let people know that ... HEY .. I don't have any interviews yet, so don't get down. I submitted at so and so time... (which I don't know how to put that on predents BTW)...

I don't know why you'd want to drive people AWAY From your site just because they don't feel comfortable sharing one aspect of their information.

On the other hand, a lot of people VIEW predents, have no profile, and dont contribute ANYTHING AT ALL.

I'm just trying to point out that not everyone that doesn't post all their information is doing it just to be greedy....

There's more to it I would say as a couple others mentioned.

EDIT: I didn't post that to start an argument, so please don't respond with some ridiculous statement. It's just a thought provoker... and maybe another side to the argument.
As in.. not everyone has a 3.6-4.0 GPA with above a 20 on the DAT... and its difficult not to feel like your STATS SUCKKKK when being compared with SDN and PreDents users!

You're not the only one in this boat... if more people post (accurately) we would see that not everyone has 3.8s and 22s.

 

[ZenoVT]

Alright it's time to buckle down people. Send in your official transcripts and fax your score reports to Dizzle, so we could have some kind quality control

 

[PDizzle]

Alright it's time to buckle down people. Send in your official transcripts and fax your score reports to Dizzle, so we could have some kind quality control

No need for that. I'm now an official partner of the ADEA and AADSAS info will be directly displayed on my website. We know who you are!!!!!!!!!!

 

[enfuego]

I feel like extracurriculars is a really important section. GPA and DAT is important, but we all know generally what numbers we should be aiming for, especially since schools release their average GPA and DAT scores for every class. I think it's more useful to see what kind of other activities that people got involved in to see what makes them stand out in the eyes of adcoms. It's disappointing when I find profiles with numbers similar to mine, but they leave their extracurriculars empty or they write something like "I have lots of ECs" so it's harder to judge how I compare to those people.

And I initially liked the idea of having some parts of the site restricted to only people who are registered, but you also don't want lurkers making up random stats and saying they applied/interviewed/got accepted at random schools just so they can have access to the other information because that then screws up the data.

 

[Dentgirl09]

Been thinking of it, and unless I can be persuaded otherwise, I probably won't put a restriction on using(viewing) my website. What I want to do is hammer home a few points, and hopefully this will solve most of the problems:

1) No one knows who you are! You don't have to use your SDN name (and even then, they don’t know who you are). You can create a record and NOT list it on SDN. I think it's awesome that SDN did that and it saves a million, "Whats your stats" responses, but if you are embarrassed, don’t list it.

2) The website is all about data. Pre-dents are obsessed about it and for very good reason(It's the single most important factor about getting accepted...bar none!). If someone doesn't fill out a significant amount of data, their account does not add to the wealth of data and therefore might as well not exist.

Having said these, I am open to suggestions on how to encourage or remind people to update their account. I don't want to ban and delete a bunch of accounts. I just want PreDents.com to grow to a point where you can really get a good idea about the cycle and your place in it.


Discuss.....

I like #1. But I htought it would be more helpful if it was linked to your SDN. I don't mind recreating an account and reposting under a new user. That seems like it would make everyone + me (n people like me) happy.

If you want to X my account feel free to go ahead and do it.

 

[vlct0ria]

I feel like extracurriculars is a really important section. GPA and DAT is important, but we all know generally what numbers we should be aiming for, especially since schools release their average GPA and DAT scores for every class. I think it's more useful to see what kind of other activities that people got involved in to see what makes them stand out in the eyes of adcoms. It's disappointing when I find profiles with numbers similar to mine, but they leave their extracurriculars empty or they write something like "I have lots of ECs" so it's harder to judge how I compare to those people.

And I initially liked the idea of having some parts of the site restricted to only people who are registered, but you also don't want lurkers making up random stats and saying they applied/interviewed/got accepted at random schools just so they can have access to the other information because that then screws up the data.

I agree that extra-curriculars are hugely important...I've seen plenty of profiles (even from SDNers) where they enter joke information or something like "lots and lots"...if someone got into Harvard with a 3.2 and a 19 DAT, they better have some amazing extra-curriculars listed, or else their information is essentially useless! There's a big difference between two people with the same stats, but one was accepted to school so-and-so and the other wasn't- being able to compare extra-curriculars is a lot more informative.

 

[Contach]

I agree that extra-curriculars are hugely important...I've seen plenty of profiles (even from SDNers) where they enter joke information or something like "lots and lots"...if someone got into Harvard with a 3.2 and a 19 DAT, they better have some amazing extra-curriculars listed, or else their information is essentially useless! There's a big difference between two people with the same stats, but one was accepted to school so-and-so and the other wasn't- being able to compare extra-curriculars is a lot more informative.

Hm.. yeah, if we could expand predents to include more EC's/activities, that'd be good. Perhaps a drop down list that lets you chose from vague categories like "Music/Research/Club VP/Club Pres/Club Exec/TA/Volunteer" and "Hours:" and "Years:" so we could get a good estimation. Maybe limit it to like top 5 like AADSAS does.. that'd be enough for people to highlight their main accomplishments I think...

Albeit, this information is sort of quantifying something that should remain qualitative... But better than nothing I think..
I feel that the vagueness of the current "EC box" makes it easy for people to leave it blank, or put "lots." I just dont want to have to list things that I've done like I'm bragging. If you give me a prompt and a simple box, I may be more inclined to include this info.

 

[PDizzle]

Hm.. yeah, if we could expand predents to include more EC's/activities, that'd be good. Perhaps a drop down list that lets you chose from vague categories like "Music/Research/Club VP/Club Pres/Club Exec/TA/Volunteer" and "Hours:" and "Years:" so we could get a good estimation. Maybe limit it to like top 5 like AADSAS does.. that'd be enough for people to highlight their main accomplishments I think...

Albeit, this information is sort of quantifying something that should remain qualitative... But better than nothing I think..
I feel that the vagueness of the current "EC box" makes it easy for people to leave it blank, or put "lots." I just dont want to have to list things that I've done like I'm bragging. If you give me a prompt and a simple box, I may be more inclined to include this info.

Great idea but there is so much that counts as an EC it would be hard to catagorize them. Maybe a combo drop down list with common EC's (like you mentioned) AND a free form box.

Also, I have decided to program a reminder to every user that logs on that important info is missing. It will be displayed in bright, bold red at the top so you can't miss it. It will be anoying(maybe a flashing text which runs shivers down my back when I see it on other websites), so to get rid of it, you only need to fill out the data that I feel is neccessary. Those things that will be listed as, "incomplete" are:

1) DAT (AA, TS, PAT only)
2) GPA (reg and sci)
3) AADSAS submit date

With in place, I will feel better about booting someone with a bunch of zeros in the important data fields.

What do you think?