SDN identity exposed

BU Medical Sciences
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Barley426 said:
I was a bit surprised how many people here are worried about people finding out their SDN accounts, or that they deny knowing about SDN in public. My SDN account may be fresh but I've been a high poster on other websites/forums and don't worry about those either. To each their own I guess, but I wouldn't mind if my account were browsed right in front of me during an interview.

And the anti-sdn sediment from reddit is funny, because they're often the same people (or at least the same type). :laugh:

Here's a recent reddit thread about SDN:

http://www.reddit.com/r/premed/comments/zjlmx/sdn_rage/

6aRwg.png
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I busted my ass at this joke. So hilarious. But seriously, I would not be so happy with a 32.
 
TheShaker said:
How the ****? 😱
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So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
 
Myuu said:
So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
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Context is everything. :laugh: What sounded like a creeper turned out to be a socially well adjusted applicant.
 
Myuu said:
So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
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OMG..This is hysterical!!! 😀
 
Myuu said:
So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
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You made it sound like some kid found you with some serious internet stalking skills. This actually sounds totally reasonable.
 
kpcrew said:
You made it sound like some kid found you with some serious internet stalking skills. This actually sounds totally reasonable.
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Totally reasonable once I knew how he arrived at my door in the first place, sure.
 
Myuu said:
So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
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(Crescendoing slow clap) :clap:
 
Myuu said:
Totally reasonable once I knew how he arrived at my door in the first place, sure.
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:laugh: yeah I guess. At first I thought you were some Helen of Troy status beauty or something, judging by the ease with which you attract premeds.
 
NickNaylor said:
Because while there would occasionally be the person that said "oh, hey, are you that guy from SDN?" in a calm, curious manner, most of them were *****s and responded by saying "OMG YOU'RE THAT GUY YOU POST SO MUCH LOL CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH."

I seriously wish I were joking. That exact thing happened more than once.
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Don't think I asked for your autograph but it was pretty cool meeting you. Not sure if you were creeped out when you met me but I'm sorry if I acted in a wierd way xD
 
Myuu said:
So it's early evening and I'm hanging out on the forums (no joke), when there's a knock at the door. "That's odd..." I think, but, whatever, the summons will be answered. I figure it's probably an emergent maintenance issue or a friend who happens to be in the building. Nope.

Unknown: Hi! Are you Myuu?
Myuu: ...uh, yeah.

At this point, I'm doing a mental inventory of nearby weapons. Closest but still a bit down the hallway, the bokken. Next candidate: softball bat. Staves are in the closet and I am not a goalie at this point, so no goalie stick of doom available.

Unknown: I'm interviewing tomorrow, but...
Myuu: <The bokken is wooden, but the bat is better balanced and made of metal, which is good for facebreaking AND kneebusting...>
Unknown: ...my student host said you lived here...
Myuu: <Is it unprofessional to cap an applicant?>
Unknown: and he's right across the hall from you, so...
Myuu: Ohhhhhh... Hi! Welcome to Case! If you have any questions that your student host can't answer, let me know!

And so on and so forth.:laugh:
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Nia6Y.png
 
I bey Myuu used the bat the next day on that kid's student host.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
I find it safest to assume that everything I write on the internet, including Facebook, can be read by anyone and linked directly back to me. I've spent quite a bit of time in Muslim, communist and dictatorial countries. In some of them, internet communication, including personal emails, are monitored by the government, so it was vitally important not to say anything that could possibly offend the local religious or political leaders, even in a letter to my friends back home. I continue to follow this policy on SDN. If you don't want it being linked back to you-- don't say it!
 
Hopeful101 said:
I got a PM several months ago and they basically knew everything about me (major, who i took my MCAT with, where i lived my first two years in college, etc.)... and they didn't tell me who they were. THAT is creepy although i have my suspicions... I WAS an RA for two years...
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Sometimes people give it away very easily. Someone recently posted a thread complaining about classmates, and I thought her username looked awfully familiar. Right-click, "search Google for," and BAM, Twitter account, picture, full name, recent comments about white coat ceremony, and done.

Step 2: put in someone's username here: http://namechk.com/ and see how many different social media sites they're using.
 
TheProwler said:
Sometimes people give it away very easily. Someone recently posted a thread complaining about classmates, and I thought her username looked awfully familiar. Right-click, "search Google for," and BAM, Twitter account, picture, full name, recent comments about white coat ceremony, and done.

Step 2: put in someone's username here: http://namechk.com/ and see how many different social media sites they're using.
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😱 Wow.... This makes me very happy I don't have a Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/Whatever and that I use different UID's for most groups I am a member of...
 
MedPR said:
I think it's interesting that you get to do Ortho and Ophtho completely separate from your Surg rotation. Pretty cool.
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Yeah, we do surgical subspecialties in a separate rotation, and those were the two I happened to get. Georgetown does too, I think (though they do 3 blocks, instead of 2). At least, that's what the GT students I'm working with now have told me. Next year they're changing it, though, so you do surgery, surgical subs, and anesthesia all in the same 12 week block. I feel kinda bad for the lowerclassmen.

TheProwler said:
Step 2: put in someone's username here: http://namechk.com/ and see how many different social media sites they're using.
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That's neat, but I'm not sure I buy it. It told me that all three of my main usernames were taken at GetGlue, Hi5, Aviary, and yfrog. I only use GetGlue, and only have one account on there. Google is much more reliable at where my usernames are being used.
 
mvenus929 said:
Yeah, we do surgical subspecialties in a separate rotation, and those were the two I happened to get. Georgetown does too, I think (though they do 3 blocks, instead of 2). At least, that's what the GT students I'm working with now have told me. Next year they're changing it, though, so you do surgery, surgical subs, and anesthesia all in the same 12 week block. I feel kinda bad for the lowerclassmen.
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My gf's school blocks general surg amd specialty surg all together. Students get to list what they most want to do and then the school tries to accommodate as many people as possible in terms of what specialties they get to watch. Have to do 2 weeks on general though.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
mvenus929 said:
Yeah, we do surgical subspecialties in a separate rotation, and those were the two I happened to get. Georgetown does too, I think (though they do 3 blocks, instead of 2). At least, that's what the GT students I'm working with now have told me. Next year they're changing it, though, so you do surgery, surgical subs, and anesthesia all in the same 12 week block. I feel kinda bad for the lowerclassmen.



That's neat, but I'm not sure I buy it. It told me that all three of my main usernames were taken at GetGlue, Hi5, Aviary, and yfrog. I only use GetGlue, and only have one account on there. Google is much more reliable at where my usernames are being used.
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is it a bad thing that I have never heard of any of those things?
 
mvenus929 said:
That's neat, but I'm not sure I buy it. It told me that all three of my main usernames were taken at GetGlue, Hi5, Aviary, and yfrog. I only use GetGlue, and only have one account on there. Google is much more reliable at where my usernames are being used.
Click to expand...
I would hope you'd use a little detective work to actually figure this out, but it's a lot faster to use NameChk than to Google all that. If your main usernames aren't unique, then it's not that useful, is it? However, if it is, then in an instant, I know which sites you probably have an account with, and like I said, the last one I plugged into it was one that immediately had correlating information. If you're tweeting about your white coat ceremony and posting on SDN about M1 classes, it's pretty much a lock.
 
mvenus929 said:
Yeah, we do surgical subspecialties in a separate rotation, and those were the two I happened to get. Georgetown does too, I think (though they do 3 blocks, instead of 2). At least, that's what the GT students I'm working with now have told me. Next year they're changing it, though, so you do surgery, surgical subs, and anesthesia all in the same 12 week block. I feel kinda bad for the lowerclassmen.



That's neat, but I'm not sure I buy it. It told me that all three of my main usernames were taken at GetGlue, Hi5, Aviary, and yfrog. I only use GetGlue, and only have one account on there. Google is much more reliable at where my usernames are being used.
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I got this too and I don't have accounts with any of those sites.

At least 4 of my classmates know my SDN screenname. I'm friends with all of them, two of them I met here first. I'm sure more of my classmates have figured out who I am here, because it's really easy to do. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 
TheProwler said:
I would hope you'd use a little detective work to actually figure this out, but it's a lot faster to use NameChk than to Google all that. If your main usernames aren't unique, then it's not that useful, is it? However, if it is, then in an instant, I know which sites you probably have an account with, and like I said, the last one I plugged into it was one that immediately had correlating information. If you're tweeting about your white coat ceremony and posting on SDN about M1 classes, it's pretty much a lock.
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The ones he mentioned are false positives.

Also... it only searches for the exact name right? So I'd have to search Venom5, Venom_5, V_5, etc if that was my real name
 
Venom5 said:
The ones he mentioned are false positives.

Also... it only searches for the exact name right? So I'd have to search Venom5, Venom_5, V_5, etc if that was my real name
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Don't forget Numba1Stunna
 
Tots said:
Meeting SDN people at interviews was fun because I had a couple conversations where we both knew we had talked to each other online but no one wanted to say SDN first so for the most part we pretended like we just met(cough Kdizzle/newyorker9 cough). At one of my interviews I had someone come up and ask me if I was tatertots. I'll admit, it threw me off a little bit but it didn't really bother me since I am well aware my account is not really that anonymous. It just put them in the position of knowing awkwardly more about my application than I was planning to share in casual conversation.
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Oh Tots haha, you have to admit it would have been very strange if it had not been you and I started talking to you like we had already met. That being said it was a pleasure getting to know you a little better during the day.

On another note, at one of my interviews many of the interviewees were in a waiting area for their interviewers to come and pull them away. At one point SDN did come up and was fairly openly discussed, though no one admitted to any usernames. The focus was more on how some of the information is useful but the vast majority needs to be ignored. IMO there was a slight amount of tension because SDN was the topic at an interview and there is a question as to whether or not it's taboo, but I don't think there's any harm in objectively discussing it (especially since someone from admissions has addressed it at almost every interview I've attended thus far).
 
NewYorker9 said:
Oh Tots haha, you have to admit it would have been very strange if it had not been you and I started talking to you like we had already met. That being said it was a pleasure getting to know you a little better during the day.

On another note, at one of my interviews many of the interviewees were in a waiting area for their interviewers to come and pull them away. At one point SDN did come up and was fairly openly discussed, though no one admitted to any usernames. The focus was more on how some of the information is useful but the vast majority needs to be ignored. IMO there was a slight amount of tension because SDN was the topic at an interview and there is a question as to whether or not it's taboo, but I don't think there's any harm in objectively discussing it (especially since someone from admissions has addressed it at almost every interview I've attended thus far).
Click to expand...

Seriously? I wouldn't have thought that interviews would bring up a message board except in bizarre circumstances where small talk somehow brings up the topic of SDN.
 
NewYorker9 said:
Oh Tots haha, you have to admit it would have been very strange if it had not been you and I started talking to you like we had already met. That being said it was a pleasure getting to know you a little better during the day.

On another note, at one of my interviews many of the interviewees were in a waiting area for their interviewers to come and pull them away. At one point SDN did come up and was fairly openly discussed, though no one admitted to any usernames. The focus was more on how some of the information is useful but the vast majority needs to be ignored. IMO there was a slight amount of tension because SDN was the topic at an interview and there is a question as to whether or not it's taboo, but I don't think there's any harm in objectively discussing it (especially since someone from admissions has addressed it at almost every interview I've attended thus far).
Click to expand...


I've been to 3 interviews so far and SDN didn't come up at all. Not with the other interviewees, not on the tour with med students, and not in the actual interview.
 
TheProwler said:
Sometimes people give it away very easily. Someone recently posted a thread complaining about classmates, and I thought her username looked awfully familiar. Right-click, "search Google for," and BAM, Twitter account, picture, full name, recent comments about white coat ceremony, and done.

Step 2: put in someone's username here: http://namechk.com/ and see how many different social media sites they're using.
Click to expand...

Funny part, my commonly used UID popped up on sites I've never heard of, some sites are mine, and not on all sites I use 😵. I checked spelling and everything. Soo yea, googling someone's name is the best option to discover who they are.

Edit: well that's far scarier than i realized. Stuff I totally forgot about was on about page 3 of my google search. Hahah, good ol' times (nothing bad, just stuff from the old high school days)
 
idontcaureuknow said:
Funny part, my commonly used UID popped up on sites I've never heard of, some sites are mine, and not on all sites I use 😵. I checked spelling and everything. Soo yea, googling someone's name is the best option to discover who they are.

Edit: well that's far scarier than i realized. Stuff I totally forgot about was on about page 3 of my google search. Hahah, good ol' times (nothing bad, just stuff from the old high school days)
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about your username, you really don't care we might know??? 😀
 
I think people who know me decently well could identify me relatively easily here. I'm an unusual combination (MD/PhD applying to Emergency Medicine) and my personality on here is pretty congruent with that in real life.

OTOH, I've made an effort to keep certain identifying information private--school, region, etc. I wouldn't want to make it too easy.
 
OCDOCDOCD said:
Seriously? I wouldn't have thought that interviews would bring up a message board except in bizarre circumstances where small talk somehow brings up the topic of SDN.
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Some admissions people will bring up SDN with the message, "Don't believe what you read there." 🙄

My own dean of admissions was livid a few seasons ago by erroneous and inflammatory information posted on the school specific thread by someone who had interviewed with us.

Some interviewers also become exasperated with applicants who read the interview feedback and prepare rote answers to the questions found there. They have to work twice as hard trying to come up with new questions as the season wears on to avoid listening to the robots.
 
LizzyM said:
Some admissions people will bring up SDN with the message, "Don't believe what you read there." 🙄

My own dean of admissions was livid a few seasons ago by erroneous and inflammatory information posted on the school specific thread by someone who had interviewed with us.

Some interviewers also become exasperated with applicants who read the interview feedback and prepare rote answers to the questions found there. They have to work twice as hard trying to come up with new questions as the season wears on to avoid listening to the robots.
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I should have clarified but this has been essentially what I've heard. the message typically is along the lines of "Ask us, call admissions, send an email, but don't use SDN." It's not that looking at this website directly has a negative impact on your application, it's more that admissions wants to make sure you are receiving the correct information and also that they wish to clarify confusion for all applicants.
 
OCDOCDOCD said:
Seriously? I wouldn't have thought that interviews would bring up a message board except in bizarre circumstances where small talk somehow brings up the topic of SDN.
Click to expand...

It hasn't been in interviews as much as a quick blurb from the Dean or director of admissions

MedPR said:
I've been to 3 interviews so far and SDN didn't come up at all. Not with the other interviewees, not on the tour with med students, and not in the actual interview.
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Maybe it's just a sample size, for example it came up when there were 40 interviewees but not when there were only 6. I'm not looking to say there's a correlation but trying to throw out a possible explanation.
 
LizzyM said:
Some interviewers also become exasperated with applicants who read the interview feedback and prepare rote answers to the questions found there. They have to work twice as hard trying to come up with new questions as the season wears on to avoid listening to the robots.
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When signing the non-disclosure agreement for my MMI, they made a point of verbally reminding us to not post MMI questions on online interview feedback sites such as SDN.
 
lobo12 said:
about your username, you really don't care we might know??? 😀
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Haha not really. I'm not set to care too much. About the only thing I care about people knowing is my facebook, and that's cause I'd rather not someone look through it LOOKING for issues. I don't post too much on there anyways, but I'd just like to keep certain things a wee bit more of a personal disclosure. Example of what I mean: I read cracked.com articles and love them, I'd just prefer a random person not know which articles I've shared over facebook.

If you know anything about me in real life, I'm an easy find on SDN.
 
lobo12 said:
I'm curious as to how people would handle this. For instance, if someone called you by your username at a med school interview, or at school, what would you do?
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who cares? As long as you don't have an online history as a racist or extremist
 
Ser Demetrius said:
who cares? As long as you don't have an online history as a racist or extremist
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I, personally, am pretty open about my beliefs, but a lot of people are extremely opinionated to the point of being a fault. For example, if you tell some people you are a Christian, they think you're automatically a nut. If you tell someone you're a <insert either major political party>, they think you're an idiot.
 
At one of my interviews, the Adcom said "yes, we read SDN and yes, we know who you are." since I often post on sDN exclusively in my more bitter, pessimistic, or doubtful moods, my jaw dropped to the floor and I went through my history and deleted all my negative, ranting, self-identifying info. I just hope it's not too late...
 
skiing said:
At one of my interviews, the Adcom said "yes, we read SDN and yes, we know who you are." since I often post on sDN exclusively in my more bitter, pessimistic, or doubtful moods, my jaw dropped to the floor and I went through my history and deleted all my negative, ranting, self-identifying info. I just hope it's not too late...
Click to expand...

Lmao. If this is true then that is really messed up. Not even making an mdapps until I have that acceptance in hand
 
skiing said:
At one of my interviews, the Adcom said "yes, we read SDN and yes, we know who you are." since I often post on sDN exclusively in my more bitter, pessimistic, or doubtful moods, my jaw dropped to the floor and I went through my history and deleted all my negative, ranting, self-identifying info. I just hope it's not too late...
Click to expand...

Ouch... I should tell my roommates/coworkers to stay away from my computer.

Although you could pay a plastic surgeon to do a facial reconstruction.
 
Venom5 said:
Lmao. If this is true then that is really messed up. Not even making an mdapps until I have that acceptance in hand
Click to expand...

It's true! I wouldn't make this up. I kind of freaked out. My SDN voice doesn't reflect my personality at all - in real life, I'm easy going and caring in general. I use SDN to hyperfocus on the details of my academic career - and this involves (for me) a different valence and tone.
 
skiing said:
It's true! I wouldn't make this up. I kind of freaked out. My SDN voice doesn't reflect my personality at all - in real life, I'm easy going and caring in general. I use SDN to hyperfocus on the details of my academic career - and this involves (for me) a different valence and tone.
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Did you bring it up or did they bring it up? Because if you brought it up...they might just be trying to freak you out. Unless he/she quoted your username or something.
 
calvnandhobbs68 said:
Did you bring it up or did they bring it up? Because if you brought it up...they might just be trying to freak you out. Unless he/she quoted your username or something.
Click to expand...

They brought it up. They were talking to the group, mentioned SDN in general, and threw this in as an aside.
 
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