Predents.com suggestion

[Daydream46]

I know the powers that be (PDizzle) will find this... but I decided to do this publicly so people could voice their opinions

1. It would be nice to be able to see if someone is waitlisted on their individual profile (see my profile to see that you cant tell Im waitlisted at NYU, and see NYUs page, and you will see I am)

2. It would nice to show people who are rejected after interview under the same column as the interview and waitlist.... because to see if someone if rejected post-interview you have to look at their profile and see if they interviewed there or look for matches in the interview and rejection column (as far as i know, or i guess you could search). I would love to see them as part of that pie chart.

3. It would also be nice to have a different way of doing the waitlist section on the schools page... As far as I know, at this point if someone moves off the waitlist to accepted you only see them as accepted..and then the pie chart changes, so by the end of the cycle it reflects the end results, but people of future cycles have to dig a little deeper to see whats really going on... it would be nice to see them as wailisted THEN accepted... This way you can see if a school takes 40%, 20%, 2% off the waitlist or something... and then you can also see when people begin to be pulled off the waitlist at different school

4. I think when someone changes their profile it changes last cycles info for them too... like you see someone applied last year, but all you see is their current scores and stats, if they did stuff to improve for this cycle that isn't evident, if they got an interview and were rejected, then applied next cycle and updated their profile, ie. new DATs.. wouldnt it change the old cycle info? and therefor alter the stats of the people interviewed? (I could totally be wrong here, but that's what I thought happened)

Hope all of that made sense... Chime in people... are these ideas good? bad? I'm just wondering if anyone else thought these were issues as well.

And thanks PDizzle, you rock!

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[Daydream46]

Ahh there seems to be discussion of this on a post below (ugh, sorry!) but again, i still think my points are at least somewhat valid, and i think there is a new idea in there somewhere

 

[PDizzle]

I know the powers that be (PDizzle) will find this... but I decided to do this publicly so people could voice their opinions

1. It would be nice to be able to see if someone is waitlisted on their individual profile (see my profile to see that you cant tell Im waitlisted at NYU, and see NYUs page, and you will see I am)

That's on my to-do list

2. It would nice to show people who are rejected after interview under the same column as the interview and waitlist.... because to see if someone if rejected post-interview you have to look at their profile and see if they interviewed there or look for matches in the interview and rejection column (as far as i know, or i guess you could search). I would love to see them as part of that pie chart.

So, your sayn to change the rejected column to Rejected w/out interview (straight-up,..thanks, but no thanks!!) and add the rejections that had an interview to the interview column and give stats and a slice of the pie, just as the acceptance/waitlist pie chart? Sounds good, I'll look inot it and if it makes sense, I'll do it

3. It would also be nice to have a different way of doing the waitlist section on the schools page... As far as I know, at this point if someone moves off the waitlist to accepted you only see them as accepted..and then the pie chart changes, so by the end of the cycle it reflects the end results, but people of future cycles have to dig a little deeper to see whats really going on... it would be nice to see them as wailisted THEN accepted... This way you can see if a school takes 40%, 20%, 2% off the waitlist or something... and then you can also see when people begin to be pulled off the waitlist at different school

Sounds easy enough. I will make a new color that represents people who got waitlisted, then got accepted and add that slice to the pie. In addition, list those individuals seperate from the accepted and waitlisted in the vertical column. Good suggestion

4. I think when someone changes their profile it changes last cycles info for them too... like you see someone applied last year, but all you see is their current scores and stats, if they did stuff to improve for this cycle that isn't evident, if they got an interview and were rejected, then applied next cycle and updated their profile, ie. new DATs.. wouldnt it change the old cycle info? and therefor alter the stats of the people interviewed? (I could totally be wrong here, but that's what I thought happened)

That is what is happening. I originally programmed the site to be able to enter multiple DAT's, a statistic I thought was important. I ended up scraping the idea because of logistics and it made the site more complicated than it was. I was going for "user friendly".

The problem here is that I could make it so you can enter multiple DAT's but since you can retake the test anytime, what DAT do I display on the school page? For example, if someone took it in July and then retook it in Oct but got rejected, how do I know what DAT the adcoms acted upon? Another problem is GPA. I would have to have separate GPA fields to indicate improvement with the same problems as above.

If you can figure out a way to do this, respond with a detailed plan, and I'll think more about this.

Hope all of that made sense... Chime in people... are these ideas good? bad? I'm just wondering if anyone else thought these were issues as well.

And thanks PDizzle, you rock!

Great ideas, keep them coming.

 

[Daydream46]

Sounds easy enough. I will make a new color that represents people who got waitlisted, then got accepted and add that slice to the pie. In addition, list those individuals seperate from the accepted and waitlisted in the vertical column. Good suggestion

Sounds great!

That is what is happening. I originally programmed the site to be able to enter multiple DAT's, a statistic I thought was important. I ended up scraping the idea because of logistics and it made the site more complicated than it was. I was going for "user friendly".

The problem here is that I could make it so you can enter multiple DAT's but since you can retake the test anytime, what DAT do I display on the school page? For example, if someone took it in July and then retook it in Oct but got rejected, how do I know what DAT the adcoms acted upon? Another problem is GPA. I would have to have separate GPA fields to indicate improvement with the same problems as above.

If you can figure out a way to do this, respond with a detailed plan, and I'll think more about this.

Oh I know... this one is kind of a huge PITA, the best thing I can think of would be for someone to lock in their 2008 cycle stats when the cycle is over (yes, this wouldnt reflect their DATs in the summer if they retook in Jan and updated, but it would reflect their stats as they were at least at the end of the cycle) then if they were to update it would only update 2009...

And again... thank you... I know NOTHING about making website... so I realize this may be hugely complex, sorry to complicate your life.

 

[PDizzle]

And again... thank you... I know NOTHING about making website... so I realize this may be hugely complex, sorry to complicate your life.

It's not a matter of complexity, I rather enjoy a challenge in programming. It's more a matter of a possibility. As a programmer, I have to think about every little detail and how it will affect the website. For instance, as of now, there is no date associated with the DAT. I could certainly add a date (and in fact I am planning on this, but for different reasons) but as of now, there isnt one. If I added a date and allowed multiple DATs and used that date to display or not display the DAT data for that cycle, I'd be screwed. Why? Because no one has a date entered and the people who had accounts 3 or 4 years ago are in dental school and will prob never go to my website again and update it.

As you admit, you don't know web programming. You don't have to. Try to think of a system that would make this work. Think of every aspect and how it will affect new users and old ones.

I think its a good idea and am not giving up on it. Try to come up with a detailed plan for me.

The gauntlet has been thrown!!!!

 

[Daydream46]

It's not a matter of complexity, I rather enjoy a challenge in programming. It's more a matter of a possibility. As a programmer, I have to think about every little detail and how it will affect the website. For instance, as of now, there is no date associated with the DAT. I could certainly add a date (and in fact I am planning on this, but for different reasons) but as of now, there isnt one. If I added a date and allowed multiple DATs and used that date to display or not display the DAT data for that cycle, I'd be screwed. Why? Because no one has a date entered and the people who had accounts 3 or 4 years ago are in dental school and will prob never go to my website again and update it.

As you admit, you don't know web programming. You don't have to. Try to think of a system that would make this work. Think of every aspect and how it will affect new users and old ones.

I think its a good idea and am not giving up on it. Try to come up with a detailed plan for me.

The gauntlet has been thrown!!!!

Hey!!!! Yeah, it is confusing...

Just racking my brain...what about giving people the option just to update different profiles, like change the cycle... up top, like normal, and then the background changes colors and the works... so after 2008 cycle, you would leave your info there and switch your cycle to 2009 and put in your new DATs and GPAs you are using that cycle....

 

[PDizzle]

Hey!!!! Yeah, it is confusing...

Just racking my brain...what about giving people the option just to update different profiles, like change the cycle... up top, like normal, and then the background changes colors and the works... so after 2008 cycle, you would leave your info there and switch your cycle to 2009 and put in your new DATs and GPAs you are using that cycle....

What if someone takes the DAT twice in one cycle? Or twice in one year? What then?

The only way I can see doing it is by attaching a date to the DAT and then somehow automatically choose the right one to display based on the date and the point in the admission cycle.

As far as grades, that's even harder to do. I would have to make a "GPA as of --some date--" field. If your GPA changes, you enter in another GPA entry. Again, I would display the most current or most applicable GPA entry. This greatly complicates the update page. I still have lots who don't even put in one set of DATs and GPAs!

Keep thinking about it. It's always more complicated than people think.

 

[Daydream46]

What if someone takes the DAT twice in one cycle? Or twice in one year? What then?

Yeah, I guess, I thought it was at least a step in the right direction. Leaving it up to the applicant to decide what score was most representative of their application for that cycle.

Possibly someone who retakes in Jan. will update and then their GPA wont necessarily be the most accurate of the cycle... but atleast for all the people who retake in May/June/July.. ect. those people will have a new DAT for a new cycle and their profile will reflect that... and their new scores wont effect the average of the previous cycle will remain unchanged... and when they go to make their new cycle profile they will also put in their new AADSAS gpa

Thats what I was thinking anyway... essentially it would be the same as it is now, except changes you make for the next cycle wouldnt change the past cycle. It wouldnt eliminate the problem of all reapplicants who retake the DAT, but it would eliminate the problem of many... and the gpas would change if the person took any new classes... and not change the pervious cycles data.

Maybe it doesnt make sense.. it could just be my crazy mind that is getting this

 

[xhamburgersamx]

I know there are medical school sites much like predents but I think you should make a pre-meds and pre-pharms and earn some extra cash /w ads.

 

[PDizzle]

I know there are medical school sites much like predents but I think you should make a pre-meds and pre-pharms and earn some extra cash /w ads.

Way ahead of ya!!

I actually own:
PreMeds.net
Prepharms.com
PreLaws.net

as well as..

PreOrtho.com
PrePerio.com
PreEndo.com
PreProstho.com
PrePedo.com
PreOMFS.com

 

[xhamburgersamx]

Way ahead of ya!!

I actually own:
PreMeds.net
Prepharms.com
PreLaws.net

as well as..

PreOrtho.com
PrePerio.com
PreEndo.com
PreProstho.com
PrePedo.com
PreOMFS.com

lol good job I figured

Need a lead programmer? lol

 

[Spin]

Hmm... you could specify that the main DAT box on the profile is for whatever DAT score your schools were first informed of in a given cycle, and you could add a new box called "DAT retakes during the cycle." The "main" DAT would be determined by whatever the profile-maker put in as the original score, not by what date they took it. If people do a search for DAT scores between X and Y, the profiles would show up if the main score matched the search criteria. If someone actually went and looked at the profiles, they'll see the retake scores that may or may not have influenced some schools' decisions.

If someone had older DAT scores, like if I took the DAT in June 2009 and then again in September 2009 but didn't apply until May of 2010, I would enter the September 2009 scores into the "main" box. If I retook it again in December of 2010, that would go in the "retakes" box. The original June 2009 scores wouldn't show up anywhere. After the cycle ended my profile would lock with the DAT values in place, and then if I reapplied again in 2011 without retaking the DAT, I'd enter the December 2010 scores into that cycle's main box.

Would that work?

 

[MolarExpress]

Oh PDizzle.. you dazzle me

 

[PDizzle]

Hmm... you could specify that the main DAT box on the profile is for whatever DAT score your schools were first informed of in a given cycle, and you could add a new box called "DAT retakes during the cycle." The "main" DAT would be determined by whatever the profile-maker put in as the original score, not by what date they took it. If people do a search for DAT scores between X and Y, the profiles would show up if the main score matched the search criteria. If someone actually went and looked at the profiles, they'll see the retake scores that may or may not have influenced some schools' decisions.

If someone had older DAT scores, like if I took the DAT in June 2009 and then again in September 2009 but didn't apply until May of 2010, I would enter the September 2009 scores into the "main" box. If I retook it again in December of 2010, that would go in the "retakes" box. The original June 2009 scores wouldn't show up anywhere. After the cycle ended my profile would lock with the DAT values in place, and then if I reapplied again in 2011 without retaking the DAT, I'd enter the December 2010 scores into that cycle's main box.

Would that work?

That's a lot for a user to do and to understand. In the back end, it could work that way but I would have to do all the decision making based on the date the DAT was taken. Users simply enter their DAT scores and the date they took them.

I would have to set up a deadline in the cycle that any further attempts of the DAT would not be associated with the cycle. For example, I could say, the most recent DAT score before Dec 15th will be displayed since any retake after that will prob not make it to the adcoms in time to make their decision (that date was an arbitrary selection).

How about the GPA thing? Hows that gonna work?

 

[PDizzle]

Oh PDizzle.. you dazzle me

Consider yourself PDazzled!!

 

[Spin]

That's a lot for a user to do and to understand. In the back end, it could work that way but I would have to do all the decision making based on the date the DAT was taken. Users simply enter their DAT scores and the date they took them.

I would have to set up a deadline in the cycle that any further attempts of the DAT would not be associated with the cycle. For example, I could say, the most recent DAT score before Dec 15th will be displayed since any retake after that will prob not make it to the adcoms in time to make their decision (that date was an arbitrary selection).

How about the GPA thing? Hows that gonna work?

I don't know much about computers and what's complicated/simple on them, but could you make something that stores old versions of profiles in like an archive? If that's not a possibility and you still want to store old information like old GPA versus new GPA, you could make people get new user names every cycle with the option to show links to their previous profiles. Then again, people would probably not link over to their old profiles very often if it were optional or any extra work, and the new user name thing still wouldn't cover the winter GPA update.

Thanks for asking for our input and for running the site!

 

[PDizzle]

I don't know much about computers and what's complicated/simple on them, but could you make something that stores old versions of profiles in like an archive? If that's not a possibility and you still want to store old information like old GPA versus new GPA, you could make people get new user names every cycle with the option to show links to their previous profiles. Then again, people would probably not link over to their old profiles very often if it were optional or any extra work, and the new user name thing still wouldn't cover the winter GPA update.

Thanks for asking for our input and for running the site!

Well, I've been thinking of it and I think I have figured it out. I will attach the GPA and DAT to the cycle, not the date (although I still plan to have a DAT date for other reasons). This way, if you change cycles from the top menu and update your GPA or DAT, it will not effect the previous cycles. By default, the old scores will fill in from the last cycle but in the database, they will be considered a new entry. This accomplishes two things:

1) Users do not have to worry about complicated stuff to do. If it's their second cycle, all they have to do is update their GPA and DAT(if it has changed) and start adding schools they applied to. If there was no GPA improvement or no DAT retake, then leave it the same.

2) Retains data from previous cycles, which was the goal in the first place.

I might have to attach other things to the cycle like EC's and AADSAS dates as well.

Now, as to the complexity of this, its gonna be hard! Why? Because I am making major changes to the structure of the database. When this happens, all hell breaks loose and bugs come up all over the place! This wont be done for this cycle. This is a March or April sort of thing and will take a lot of careful planning so I don't jack up the entire website.

Thank you all for your input and help with suggestions


Dizz

 

[Jmacc]

could you add a "search by undergrad college" option in the member search?

 

[PDizzle]

could you add a "search by undergrad college" option in the member search?

covered in detail:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=586033

 

[Act0fgod]

I really appreciate the search functions, but for those of us that applied late, it would be helpful to have the search feature filter individuals who applied after a certain date, just like you can search for individuals who were accepted after a certain date. It looks like it should work as I select App status “applied” at any school and then “On/After” and then the month and day but the result is pretty much everyone (97.96%). Maybe it's because there is no year but it works for individuals who were accepted on/after a given date.

 

[PDizzle]

I really appreciate the search functions, but for those of us that applied late, it would be helpful to have the search feature filter individuals who applied after a certain date, just like you can search for individuals who were accepted after a certain date. It looks like it should work as I select App status “applied” at any school and then “On/After” and then the month and day but the result is pretty much everyone (97.96%). Maybe it's because there is no year but it works for individuals who were accepted on/after a given date.

That's the part that is in Beta and doesnt work right now and I'm not really sure how to make it work. I'm still trying

 

[klutzy1987]

That's the part that is in Beta and doesnt work right now and I'm not really sure how to make it work. I'm still trying

C'mon Genius, you can figure it out. Where did you learn all this programming your a dental student lol?? Ive been around computers since I was like 2 but I definitely dont know how to do any of this programming stuff.

 

[wifi08]

hey pdizzle. you the man. question- i tried your other sites like prepharms and prelaws but it does'nt come up right.

 

[reallylostnow]

itd be great if you can put the dental school's start date for D1's

 

[PDizzle]

hey pdizzle. you the man. question- i tried your other sites like prepharms and prelaws but it does'nt come up right.

I just own the domain name as of now. It's a future project possibility.

 

[PDizzle]

itd be great if you can put the dental school's start date for D1's

Get me a list of the first day of school(e.g First Monday in Oct) for every school and I'll throw it in.


Actually, I've been thinking of something even bigger than that. I was tinkering around about the notion of making Predents a little "wiki" like. By this I mean users can update certain parts of the data not associated with their profile. For starters, the ADEA Official Guide data can be wikied by you guys from an easy webfront interface. This will make even less work for me to do in the future as it will almost run it'self.

 

[PDizzle]

C'mon Genius, you can figure it out. Where did you learn all this programming your a dental student lol?? Ive been around computers since I was like 2 but I definitely dont know how to do any of this programming stuff.

I learned it on my own when I was going to Cal. After graduating I worked for a company for a while then made my own web design company. All in all, bout 7 years in the field. It's just a hobby now, and that's the way I like it cuz I get to do whatever I want. I hated making websites for other people. They would ask for such lame things but I had to do it, it was their dime. Plus, most web projects were all kinda the same and didn't challenge me(unlike PreDents.com which challenges me every day!)

UCSF falculty found out what I can do and soon I will be making a website for the school that will show step-by-step pre-clinic procedures done by the students. The, "E-Portfolio" as they call them, will be graded online by falculty so students will get imediate feedback. Eventually, some/most of the portfolios will be made public(I'm sure just the good ones) so all can see step by step what we do @ UCSF. It's a joint project between UCSF and other dental schools in the US and abroad. I'm doing this instead of research. Hopefully specialty schools will understand why I have no research and will count this project as my, "contribution" to dentisty and education. Expect this by June of next year.

Wow, that was a rant from nowhere!!

 

[klutzy1987]

I learned it on my own when I was going to Cal. After graduating I worked for a company for a while then made my own web design company. All in all, bout 7 years in the field. It's just a hobby now, and that's the way I like it cuz I get to do whatever I want. I hated making websites for other people. They would ask for such lame things but I had to do it, it was their dime. Plus, most web projects were all kinda the same and didn't challenge me(unlike PreDents.com which challenges me every day!)

UCSF falculty found out what I can do and soon I will be making a website for the school that will show step-by-step pre-clinic procedures done by the students. The, "E-Portfolio" as they call them, will be graded online by falculty so students will get imediate feedback. Eventually, some/most of the portfolios will be made public(I'm sure just the good ones) so all can see step by step what we do @ UCSF. It's a joint project between UCSF and other dental schools in the US and abroad. I'm doing this instead of research. Hopefully specialty schools will understand why I have no research and will count this project as my, "contribution" to dentisty and education. Expect this by June of next year.

Wow, that was a rant from nowhere!!

Nice, you should ask UCSF for a kickback in tuition. Maybe cuz you are kinda working for them now they will help you out there??? Cant hurt to ask.

 

[PDizzle]

Nice, you should ask UCSF for a kickback in tuition. Maybe cuz you are kinda working for them now they will help you out there??? Cant hurt to ask.

Can't do that. I want to specialize and am doing this, among other reasons, to replace the almost neccessary research you need to do in order to match. Plus, I want to match @ UCSF so I think it would give me a few points in their book.

 

[adizzle87]

Add the University of Puerto Rico?

 

[Albuterol]

PDizzle- for the flagging system do you think you could make the options more specific. Sometimes I want to flag someone for not having their DAT or GPA in but they'll have one or the other so would that still be considered no useful data? Maybe you could do Missing DAT/GPA, Inaccurate DAT/GPA, No Schools listed, Its all a lie as the options. Thanks!

 

[mddang]

Way ahead of ya!!

I actually own:
PreMeds.net
Prepharms.com
PreLaws.net

as well as..

PreOrtho.com
PrePerio.com
PreEndo.com
PreProstho.com
PrePedo.com
PreOMFS.com

PDizzle, you're a badass.

 

[adizzle87]

Honestly you should make GPA and demographic info mandatory but give them the option to hide it on their profile. That way we get to know things like ethnic/gender/GPA breakdowns at the school levels.

 

[PDizzle]

Honestly you should make GPA and demographic info mandatory but give them the option to hide it on their profile. That way we get to know things like ethnic/gender/GPA breakdowns at the school levels.

That's a good idea and will prob do that in order to get more info entered and that info to be more accuarate.

But, I still don't see what the big deal is. No one needs to know who you are. You don't have to use your SDN name, you dont have to link your user_id on SDN.

But, I prob will have a clickbox that will make just about any info they enter private when looking at their profile.

Seems like the best solution

 

[PDizzle]

PDizzle, you're a badass.

Mahalo for the ego boost

 

[Plopper]

I know the powers that be (PDizzle) will find this... but I decided to do this publicly so people could voice their opinions

1. It would be nice to be able to see if someone is waitlisted on their individual profile (see my profile to see that you cant tell Im waitlisted at NYU, and see NYUs page, and you will see I am)

2. It would nice to show people who are rejected after interview under the same column as the interview and waitlist.... because to see if someone if rejected post-interview you have to look at their profile and see if they interviewed there or look for matches in the interview and rejection column (as far as i know, or i guess you could search). I would love to see them as part of that pie chart.

3. It would also be nice to have a different way of doing the waitlist section on the schools page... As far as I know, at this point if someone moves off the waitlist to accepted you only see them as accepted..and then the pie chart changes, so by the end of the cycle it reflects the end results, but people of future cycles have to dig a little deeper to see whats really going on... it would be nice to see them as wailisted THEN accepted... This way you can see if a school takes 40%, 20%, 2% off the waitlist or something... and then you can also see when people begin to be pulled off the waitlist at different school

4. I think when someone changes their profile it changes last cycles info for them too... like you see someone applied last year, but all you see is their current scores and stats, if they did stuff to improve for this cycle that isn't evident, if they got an interview and were rejected, then applied next cycle and updated their profile, ie. new DATs.. wouldnt it change the old cycle info? and therefor alter the stats of the people interviewed? (I could totally be wrong here, but that's what I thought happened)

Hope all of that made sense... Chime in people... are these ideas good? bad? I'm just wondering if anyone else thought these were issues as well.

And thanks PDizzle, you rock!

Didn't read the whole thread, just first few posts

wow, some excellent suggestions here, i wonder how difficult it would be for pdizzle to make it happen though?

definitely about the private info, bc some of us go to small schools, where we are the only one applying to be a dentist!!