PSA: Put pseudonyms in quotes in your essays!

[Otterly]

Hey everyone! Maybe this is common knowledge and I was just dumb. However, I had no idea about this when I applied the first time.
It's apparently convention that when you are using a false name in your PS or other essays, that you put the fake name in quotes! I had never heard of this....not from my premed advisor who reviewed my PS, not in writing classes at my T20 undergrad, not from doctors I shadowed, etc.
In a feedback session, I found out that at one school the person who reviewed my app wrote in his notes that he deducted points and assigned me to the "hold" pile instead of the "interview" pile because he "wasn't sure if (I) violated HIPAA."

Again, maybe this was just stupidity on my part and everyone knows this and is laughing at me as they read this thread. But if anyone sees this and also doesn't know this, I would hate for it to get in your way.

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[seanm028]

I've seen it mentioned here, and I did it in my personal statement, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Good to know that it could actually impact your application! Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[RespectTheChemistry]

I really appreciate you posting this and putting yourself out there in the process, @Otterly. I think it's very admirable that you specifically thought to warn other students when this happened. 🙂 You have good character! 🙂

P.S.
I love your username by the way. My SO and I went on one of our first dates to an aquarium to see the new baby sea otter. So darn cute. 🙂

 

[Banco]

That reviewer is an idiot.

 

[LunaOri]

Personally, I would just assume that the name was a pseudonym, so I agree with Banco!

 

[KnightDoc]

Personally, I would just assume that the name was a pseudonym, so I agree with Banco!

Yup, but it just goes to show that no detail is too small to potentially derail an application where they are just looking for reasons to thin the herd.

 

[LizzyM]

But, and I trot out this anecdote every year, I knew someone who recognized her own child in an essay about working with a disabled child. The ECs included the name of the child's school so it was easy to put two and two together. The adcom member recused herself from the review of the application.

 

[DNAJB6]

Do you use quotes just the first time or every time? Double quotation marks add a lot of characters to the character limit.

 

[seanm028]

Do you use quotes just the first time or every time? Double quotation marks add a lot of characters to the character limit.

Just the first time.

 

[seanm028]

But, and I trot out this anecdote every year, I knew someone who recognized her own child in an essay about working with a disabled child. The ECs included the name of the child's school so it was easy to put two and two together. The adcom member recused herself from the review of the application.

Yikes 😳

 

[snooper]

Even if you call them Jane/Joe Doe?

 

[LizzyM]

Even if you call them Jane/Joe Doe?

Jane Doe and John Doe are usually reserved for patients who come into the hospital without ID. I had to stiffle a laugh when a patient was trundled into the burn unit with a nurse trotting along side him asking "John, John, what's your real name?"

Go with "Jon", "Ida", "Ian" "Jay", "Jen". There are a million short names that with quotation marks used the first time will use very few characters.