PreDents.com: Official Partner of SDN!

[PDizzle]

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Hello all,

PreDents.com is now an official partner of SDN. What does that mean? Well, for openers, threads dealing with my website will no longer be locked up. Everyone (that is, those who support my website) can also put a link to it in their signature and talk about it as much as they want.

I am in negotiation of a possible merger of the features of my website into SDN but that's down the road a bit.

Feel free to start any thread you want in order for me to make PreDents.com ,and SDN, the best pre-dental information tool on the web!

My next big project (by popular demand according to the poll results from predents.com) will be creating the school survey which will allow current/past dental students to critique their school. It will be a rating system from 1 to 5 that measures their opinion in many, many areas. In addition to the 1-5 rating, there will be many opportunities to describe the school and write as much text as you want. I have yet to decide on the exact areas and fields to list. In fact, I will build a page on my website where my faithful predents.com users can suggest what areas to rate a dental school. So far, I'm thinking of dividing the areas into 3 major sections:

1) Facilities - all about the dental school's facilities. The quality of the sim lab, patient pool, building, etc

2) Faculty - All about the teachers, administration and curriculum.

3) Student Life - All about the other students, campus life, the city life and in general, what it's like to go there.

In a few days, you will see the page that lets you participate in the creation of the critique system. I really don't want to leave anything out because once I start this, I can't go back and add fileds so I really want to get it right the first time.

Once I get a database filled with critiques, I can maybe do some cool graphs and rank the schools by your opinions. Who knows?

 

[syn_apse]

it is hard to rank your dental school when you really have no reference to compare it to. facilities, academics, faculty, etc. are not integers anyways. perhaps keep the "critique section" mostly comment-driven instead of stat-driven? subjective things are sometimes best left unranked...

ps: when is the PreDent.com IPO? 👍

 

[PDizzle]

it is hard to rank your dental school when you really have no reference to compare it to. facilities, academics, faculty, etc. are not integers anyways. perhaps keep the "critique section" mostly comment-driven instead of stat-driven? subjective things are sometimes best left unranked...

ps: when is the PreDent.com IPO? 👍

Well, if I set up a 5 star system where 1 means "poor" and 5 means "great", opinion can become an integer. Agreed, it is all opinion, but that is what that particular portion of the wbesite is about. You can get a general sense of what the students think about thier schools. I also plan to have text to back up any score they select.

Also, those thre are just categories. Inside each will be many, many things they can rank from "poor" to "excellent". Once you see the page I will put up on my site, you will see what I'm talking about.

 

[786mine]

i can't seem to register. btw, what is the need to make a separate website? why not make a sticky here?

 

[luder98]

That's great! BTW, I was looking at the UOP page, it seems like your script allows applicant's acceptance property to be turned on while the interview property is still off. I think, except a few schools that accept students without interview, the script should turn the interview property on if acceptance or attending property is on. That will make the ratios more accurate. Keep up the good work.

 

[PDizzle]

i can't seem to register.

I looked up your account and it is activated. Can you not log in?

btw, what is the need to make a separate website?

Not sure what you mean. It's not going to be a separate website but just a separate page inside the website.

why not make a sticky here?

I'm not a moderator and can not make a sticky

 

[PDizzle]

That's great! BTW, I was looking at the UOP page, it seems like your script allows applicant's acceptance property to be turned on while the interview property is still off. I think, except a few schools that accept students without interview, the script should turn the interview property on if acceptance or attending property is on. That will make the ratios more accurate. Keep up the good work.

Yeah, I noticed that but since a few schools do accept w/out interviewing, I can not hard code that. The website is at the mercy of the users and how they enter data, which in a large part is out of my control.

I was thinking of putting a little warning in their update page letting them know that they got accepted but failed to indicate an interview. The same goes for attending. They can select a school as attending but not accepted. This I can hard code and is on my list of things to do.

 

[luder98]

Yeah, I noticed that but since a few schools do accept w/out interviewing, I can not hard code that. The website is at the mercy of the users and how they enter data, which in a large part is out of my control.

I was thinking of putting a little warning in their update page letting them know that they got accepted but failed to indicate an interview. The same goes for attending. They can select a school as attending but not accepted. This I can hard code and is on my list of things to do.

I know you can. And another if else statement will take care of those schools, right? 😉

 

[PDizzle]

I know you can. And another if else statement will take care of those schools, right? 😉

For the attending, yeah. But since there are a few schools that accept w/out interview and there are exceptions like deferring for next year w/out an interview, I just have to make it clear that they should indicate the interview date if they went to one. Not much else I can do.

 

[syn_apse]

look into some google adsense to cover bandwidth costs. if the site grows over the years (very strong possibility), it can even help pay for some of your education. visitors get data/info and you get money for your "computer hacking skillz"...

have you thought about how you will maintain it once d-school starts? maybe have volunteers like SDN?

i'm going to press the thumbs up button right..... now! 👍

 

[PDizzle]

look into some google adsense to cover bandwidth costs. if the site grows over the years (very strong possibility), it can even help pay for some of your education. visitors get data/info and you get money for your "computer hacking skillz"...

I've thought about that. Another option is to take donations but I'm not sure how much people would give.

have you thought about how you will maintain it once d-school starts? maybe have volunteers like SDN?

The one thing I am really good at (in the realm of web programming that is) is automation. I can make a website almost completely run by itself. I have created an admin zone that can manipulate all sorts of things like user status, polls, edit the schools, edit the news, etc.. Right now I'm the only one using it but if I trust someone over the years I might give them admin control.

I'm trying to program as much as possible now, before I start D-School so my time investment at a later date will be minimal.

 

[ItsGavinC]

PDizzle, it's great to have your site as an SDN partner site! 👍

 

[PDizzle]

PDizzle, it's great to have your site as an SDN partner site! 👍

Thanks for the sticky, Gavin!!

 

[EyeAmCommi]

I just have a few suggestions:

1) It's already been mentioned but I just want to point out that I don't think it's a good idea to wipe out all accounts every year so the new incoming class to make new profiles. Maybe we should be able to put in when we are applying.

2) I think we should learn more about an applicant. I think age, and ethnicity should be inputted on a profile.

3) Do you think you can add a waitlist section? I think this is just as important as an acceptance section.

 

[PDizzle]

1) It's already been mentioned but I just want to point out that I don't think it's a good idea to wipe out all accounts every year so the new incoming class to make new profiles. Maybe we should be able to put in when we are applying.

I agree. I will not delete past data. I decided this a while back and have not prominently displayed my decision.

2) I think we should learn more about an applicant. I think age, and ethnicity should be inputted on a profile.

Age field is already in. You select your date of birth (under your state residence).
Ethnicity is a different ball of wax and something I really didn't want to touch with a ten-foot poll! First off, it is dificult to get an all encompassing list of all the "races"? I will get emails all day long that I forgot one and that they don't want to to be in the "other" category. It is an idea but low on my priority.

3) Do you think you can add a waitlist section? I think this is just as important as an acceptance section.

That will be done and is on my list of things to do

 

[Beleza]

Hey Pdizzle,

When I put in my age it doesn't come up on display if anyone wants to look at my info. Just wanted to let you know.

Beleza

 

[PDizzle]

Hey Pdizzle,

When I put in my age it doesn't come up on display if anyone wants to look at my info. Just wanted to let you know.

Beleza

Yeah, I havn't displayed it yet. Thanks. 🙂

 

[EyeAmCommi]

Thanks again PDIzzle, I will eagerly be awaiting the upcoming changes.

But as for ethnicity groups, I think you should include as many as you can think of.

 

[PDizzle]

Thanks again PDIzzle, I will eagerly be awaiting the upcoming changes.

But as for ethnicity groups, I think you should include as many as you can think of.

OK, I'll probably put it in. You convinced me! 🙂

 

[EyeAmCommi]

OK, I'll probably put it in. You convinced me! 🙂

Thanks man! You're the coolest.

 

[bkwash]

Let me start this off by saying that I think predent.com is a great site. It looks well thought out and I can tell that PD put a lot of work into its launch.

I do have a question to PD and all the people who are super excited about it....what is the difference between this site with super detailed stats of accepted dental students and the "official guide to dental school" which gives a breakdown of admission stats from the school (which may be more accurate)

I just think that a number of students on this site are to concerned about other people's grades and DAT scores when this information will not help gain you admission to the school of your choice. In most cases by the time you look at sdn or predent you will be a junior meaning that most of your college experience is locked in (grades and activities). Instead of worrying about everyone else's numbers maybe it would be beneficial to concentrate on crafting the best application and getting the highest DAT that you can get and then be happy with that, and apply to all the schools you want to go to. If you get an interview then you will be able to tour the campus and find out about the faculty, facilities and campus, however if you do not get an interview isn't that information extraneous?

What do you guys think? I am not attacking the site I am just curious...

 

[PDizzle]

Let me start this off by saying that I think predent.com is a great site. It looks well thought out and I can tell that PD put a lot of work into its launch.

I do have a question to PD and all the people who are super excited about it....what is the difference between this site with super detailed stats of accepted dental students and the "official guide to dental school" which gives a breakdown of admission stats from the school (which may be more accurate)

I just think that a number of students on this site are to concerned about other people's grades and DAT scores when this information will not help gain you admission to the school of your choice. In most cases by the time you look at sdn or predent you will be a junior meaning that most of your college experience is locked in (grades and activities). Instead of worrying about everyone else's numbers maybe it would be beneficial to concentrate on crafting the best application and getting the highest DAT that you can get and then be happy with that, and apply to all the schools you want to go to. If you get an interview then you will be able to tour the campus and find out about the faculty, facilities and campus, however if you do not get an interview isn't that information extraneous?

What do you guys think? I am not attacking the site I am just curious...

You have a valid point. After all things said and done, SDN created a lot of anxiety for me during my application process as well as helping me. Dental school applicants are very competitive and part of being competitive is constantly matching yourself up with your fellow applicants. Nothing will change that, that's just how many, many of us are. I know I was during my application process.

Does PreDents.com help you get into dental school? No. It's just an organized tool to display the progress of the applicants involved in the current cycle. If you have been on the SDN forums for a while you will see the multitude of "Official attendance, interview, rejected" threads and the thousands of "What are your stats, if you don't mind" posts. People are obsessed about it, I just made a website to easily show the data.

There is however more to the website then just that. I did take info directly from ADEA (accurate) and made it rankable, which some people like. I am also going to add school reviews where current students can rank their schools according to many different areas and write their opinions of the school. These things will help dental applicants choose a school.

So, the short answer to your question, people want to see the progress of the application cycle as it happens. I know I did. Most of the time it caused greater anxiety but that's what obsession is really all about.

And lastly, applicants spend many, many hours on SDN, and to a lessor extent, PreDents.com. These people have already done everything there is to do. They are just waiting....and that's the crazy part! They need something to look at, whether it makes them feel better or worse.

Thanks for going ot my website 🙂

 

[speedy3816]

pdizzle, thanks for this... seriously. im still 2 cycles away from applying but i think that you have something big here on your hands, and im looking foward to using the website as a resource when applying. great job 👍

 

[PDizzle]

You can now enter your waitlist status on PreDents.com.....FYI

 

[beastly115]

I don't know if you're still taking suggestions, but what about a feature that allows you to sort by year? Would be nice to see trends over the years.

 

[PDizzle]

I am taking suggestions and that is the most popular one. It will be in by May 15th and I will make it very clear what cycle your looking at, trust me. It's gonna be cool!

 

[organichemistry]

I am taking suggestions and that is the most popular one. It will be in by May 15th and I will make it very clear what cycle your looking at, trust me. It's gonna be cool!

just curious... have you worked any on this aspect of the site? us 2007 applicants are about to be registering in masses (okay, i already have) and it's impossible to tell the 2006 folks from the 2007.

 

[platinumcaps]

which information is actually taken from the ADEA book? Are the DAT/GPA scores in the pink boxes above the pie graphs accurate reflections of the entire class or are they just averages of people that responded? I'm specifically looking at the UCONN stats and it says that there were 38 seats available, but UCONN's website says they actually take in 90 students. Which of these are correct?

 

[PDizzle]

just curious... have you worked any on this aspect of the site? us 2007 applicants are about to be registering in masses (okay, i already have) and it's impossible to tell the 2006 folks from the 2007.

Well, as you may have noticed, I've been AWOL for a few weeks. I planned on getting this done by June 1st but now will make it a top priority.

 

[PDizzle]

which information is actually taken from the ADEA book? Are the DAT/GPA scores in the pink boxes above the pie graphs accurate reflections of the entire class or are they just averages of people that responded? I'm specifically looking at the UCONN stats and it says that there were 38 seats available, but UCONN's website says they actually take in 90 students. Which of these are correct?

The pink boxes under the school name was taken directly from the ADEA Guide to Dental Schools. I could have made anerror and will check it. Also, maybe those 90- students are ID4's that are added to the class in year 3. I'll look into it.

 

[Envision]

hey, howcome this isnt a sticky?

 

[beastly115]

Another idea might be to be able to sort students by undergrad school.

 

[PDizzle]

I guess I did get "un-sticky'ed".

Well, that's OK. I was a sticky for a long time so I can't complain.

I need more of you guys to put my website in your signature now I guess.

Thanks for all the support I have recieved.

P.S. I will finish the cycle change very soon. I have been real busy.

PDizzle

 

[beastly115]

Bump so all the new applicants can register!!!