SDN taking over my life

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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But I can actually agree with you, constantly checking SDN.
 
Stephanopolous said:
Yes I'm deleting the app from my phone, too much stress
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I didn't even know there was an app lol...I have FB but don't even use it. These past few months have just been like "is anyone else having the same AACOMAS problems as me???" And it's waiting time...
 
Grace184 said:
I didn't even know there was an app lol...I have FB but don't even use it. These past few months have just been like "is anyone else having the same AACOMAS problems as me???" And it's waiting time...
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Got the notification for this comment... From the app on my phone 😛
 
turrgavi said:
Got the notification for this comment... From the app on my phone 😛
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I use my iPad in the mornings when I drink my coffee and try to work but get notifications...same problem, different platform!
 
I think that normal people go through obsessive periods. You discover a new, information rich resource and dive in. It becomes all-engrossing. Then, hey look over there, something shiny... and you wander off never to be seen again, or at least only infrequently.

SDN isn't taking over your life. You've stumbled into a place where very bright people who share a lot of interests with you have concentrated. There are over 10 years of archives to pour through. There are regular users who have formed a kind of social scene, a community, and participation is open to anyone who can hold up their end of the conversations cordially. It is awesome here...

Until, you get your fill of it, when you will stop checking for new posts every few minutes. Some folks go away and never look back. A very few hang around and check in every day or every few days. For all of us it is filling a need, for information or for interaction or distraction from boredom. As long as it is meeting your needs, there is nothing wrong with indulging in binge use. If it interferes with your ability to get other things done, put it down for a while at least.

SDN will be here waiting, if you miss it.
 
Promethean said:
I think that normal people go through obsessive periods. You discover a new, information rich resource and dive in. It becomes all-engrossing. Then, hey look over there, something shiny... and you wander off never to be seen again, or at least only infrequently.

SDN isn't taking over your life. You've stumbled into a place where very bright people who share a lot of interests with you have concentrated. There are over 10 years of archives to pour through. There are regular users who have formed a kind of social scene, a community, and participation is open to anyone who can hold up their end of the conversations cordially. It is awesome here...

Until, you get your fill of it, when you will stop checking for new posts every few minutes. Some folks go away and never look back. A very few hang around and check in every day or every few days. For all of us it is filling a need, for information or for interaction or distraction from boredom. As long as it is meeting your needs, there is nothing wrong with indulging in binge use. If it interferes with your ability to get other things done, put it down for a while at least.

SDN will be here waiting, if you miss it.
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I completely agree. For me, it gives me more information regarding which schools are sending out secondaries, II, etc. This way, I can have a gauge on what to expect just in case things don't happen. This community has definitely been helpful!
 
Promethean said:
I think that normal people go through obsessive periods. You discover a new, information rich resource and dive in. It becomes all-engrossing. Then, hey look over there, something shiny... and you wander off never to be seen again, or at least only infrequently.

SDN isn't taking over your life. You've stumbled into a place where very bright people who share a lot of interests with you have concentrated. There are over 10 years of archives to pour through. There are regular users who have formed a kind of social scene, a community, and participation is open to anyone who can hold up their end of the conversations cordially. It is awesome here...

Until, you get your fill of it, when you will stop checking for new posts every few minutes. Some folks go away and never look back. A very few hang around and check in every day or every few days. For all of us it is filling a need, for information or for interaction or distraction from boredom. As long as it is meeting your needs, there is nothing wrong with indulging in binge use. If it interferes with your ability to get other things done, put it down for a while at least.

SDN will be here waiting, if you miss it.
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This is my experience. I was checking all day every day. Then I turned off notifications and made a rule to only go on once in the morning and once at night. Set boundaries for yourself if you feel like it is interfering with your school, work, social life, secondary writing.
 
Dr. Death said:
This is my experience. I was checking all day every day. Then I turned off notifications and made a rule to only go on once in the morning and once at night. Set boundaries for yourself if you feel like it is interfering with your school, work, social life, secondary writing.
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Yeah luckily I work from home everyday but Friday-and it's not mind blowing work-when I have to be in the clinic so I multitask in between
 
Mad Jack said:
I have no idea how SDN could ever take over anyone's life :whistle:

You'll get over it though, for most people, it's just a phase.
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You have the most likes on the forum dont you?

Which is crazy considering how there are adcoms on the forum that get 100's of likes for their guides on the application process and so forth.
 
Gandy741 said:
You have the most likes on the forum dont you?

Which is crazy considering how there are adcoms on the forum that get 100's of likes for their guides on the application process and so forth.
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Likes are pretty meaningless. I wouldn't pay them any mind.

Though I will pitch a warning to you- the number of very active SDN user I know that have had difficulties in medical school is far higher than the number who do not. Whether that is correlation, self-selection, or causation is hard to say. But SDN in moderation, or you'll risk being like those of us who have to ask for temporary bans when board time comes.
 
Mad Jack said:
Likes are pretty meaningless. I wouldn't pay them any mind.

Though I will pitch a warning to you- the number of very active SDN user I know that have had difficulties in medical school is far higher than the number who do not. Whether that is correlation, self-selection, or causation is hard to say. But SDN in moderation, or you'll risk being like those of us who have to ask for temporary bans when board time comes.
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Oh dont worry, if I get into medical school, I'm going to go ham.
 
Gandy741 said:
Well, those in the heat of the application cycle cant be blamed for being on sdn a lot lol.
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I just finished the cycle and I feel like there is no WORSE time to be on SDN than in the heat of the application cycle. Comparing yourself to the seemingly never-ending stream of people with 20 interview invites in September and people who are casually talking about withdrawing from schools you'd kill for can make anyone self-conscious. I (eventually) just stayed off of it for the most part, except to search or answers to very specific questions (using mostly old posts) or to give words of encouragement. Because incessantly tracking when you were complete and when others were and if they were invited and what their LizzyM is gets nobody anywhere.
 
Mwoods18 said:
I just finished the cycle and I feel like there is no WORSE time to be on SDN than in the heat of the application cycle. Comparing yourself to the seemingly never-ending stream of people with 20 interview invites in September and people who are casually talking about withdrawing from schools you'd kill for can make anyone self-conscious. I (eventually) just stayed off of it for the most part, except to search or answers to very specific questions (using mostly old posts) or to give words of encouragement. Because incessantly tracking when you were complete and when others were and if they were invited and what their LizzyM is gets nobody anywhere.
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Man.... but you are on the same level as these hyper sdners... You are going to John Hopkins lol.
 
Mwoods18 said:
I promise you I am an underdog. I had a 3.2 with over 60 hours in school and I was 23 when I decided I wanted to try to go to med school. I didn't go to a top 200 undergrad and I honestly thought I could end up in the Caribbean. I walked into the mcat saying I wouldn't re-take it if I got over a 28, and left feeling like I may have to re-take it. It wound up working out for me, but the process wasn't made any easier by wondering about other people and their progress. Sometimes SDN can be great (especially for mutual suffering and neuroticism), but I had a much easier time without it from December to April.
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You got into JHU with what GPA/MCAT?!
 
Mwoods18 said:
I promise you I am an underdog. I had a 3.2 with over 60 hours in school and I was 23 when I decided I wanted to try to go to med school. I didn't go to a top 200 undergrad and I honestly thought I could end up in the Caribbean. I walked into the mcat saying I wouldn't re-take it if I got over a 28, and left feeling like I may have to re-take it. It wound up working out for me, but the process wasn't made any easier by wondering about other people and their progress. Sometimes SDN can be great (especially for mutual suffering and neuroticism), but I had a much easier time without it from December to April.
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Hmm..... did you make a 47 on your MCAT?
 
Mwoods18 said:
Haha I almost ran the table grade wise with a ton of total hours (180ish) and got up to an overall 3.75/38. I also hadn't taken any of the science prereqs yet. But this thread isn't about me lol just don't base your sense of self worth on an SDN standard. It's good advice, I promise.
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Well when you are a borderline MD applicant like myself, everything is nerve wracking.
 
Mwoods18 said:
Yeah, it's incredibly stressful. And more than likely none of your friends and family can really relate. SDN is very good for things like that. It's very good for many things. I've read thousands of old threads about different specialties, where people think medicine is going, what school is going to be like, etc. It's just that at some point someone is going to have applied to the same school you have, been complete after you, and be invited before/instead of you. Or accepted when you're wait listed. This information is completely useless. Just be very patient, keep participating in activities that make you a better person and someday hopefully a better doctor and don't spend time comparing yourself to some sdn handle that you may never meet in real life.

But I hope you have a great cycle and get an acceptance. If you need any interview advice (I'm no expert), feel free to message me anytime.
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I hope so too!
 
I imagine most people who use SDN compulsively would participate in the forum for whatever they are involved in.

It just happens that at the moment, we are wrapped up in this stressful and uncertain process. I definitely come on here more than I need to.
 
Mwoods18 said:
I just finished the cycle and I feel like there is no WORSE time to be on SDN than in the heat of the application cycle. Comparing yourself to the seemingly never-ending stream of people with 20 interview invites in September and people who are casually talking about withdrawing from schools you'd kill for can make anyone self-conscious. I (eventually) just stayed off of it for the most part, except to search or answers to very specific questions (using mostly old posts) or to give words of encouragement. Because incessantly tracking when you were complete and when others were and if they were invited and what their LizzyM is gets nobody anywhere.
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Coming at this from a different perspective, but the same principle applies. I went through that when I was applying to law schools and frequenting the law school equivalent of SDN. Oh look, this guy already got his acceptance to X school and we applied around the same time. Oh god his LSAT was two points higher if I had spent a little more time studying... Oh this guy got on the priority wait list I'm regular wait list.

And people casually talking about how your dream school is their backup... You need to avoid anything and everything related to application cycles when you're in them. Shoot the sheeit on the lounge or something. Do not cave into your admissions obsessiveness, it's that itch you cannot stop scratching.
 
Idk if this has been mentioned, but I'm aware of some users who have experienced marital and other relationship issues tied to their heavy SDN use.

As in all things...moderation. But there's definitely more to this site than the pre-med sections.
 
Mwoods18 said:
I just finished the cycle and I feel like there is no WORSE time to be on SDN than in the heat of the application cycle. Comparing yourself to the seemingly never-ending stream of people with 20 interview invites in September and people who are casually talking about withdrawing from schools you'd kill for can make anyone self-conscious. I (eventually) just stayed off of it for the most part, except to search or answers to very specific questions (using mostly old posts) or to give words of encouragement. Because incessantly tracking when you were complete and when others were and if they were invited and what their LizzyM is gets nobody anywhere.
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I share this exact sentiment!
 
arbi_m5 said:
Is it only me or does everyone on here tend to check out SDN so often. I think it is taking over my life =(
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Yeah there was a period where essentially if I had any free time, I was on SDN.

If you feel it's negatively affecting other aspects of your life (say you spend more time here and it's cutting into your study time) than you need to cut down your SDN time.

I had to for a while, I'd delete the app off my phone and force myself to check it only once every two days.
 
AlteredScale said:
Yeah there was a period where essentially if I had any free time, I was on SDN.

If you feel it's negatively affecting other aspects of your life (say you spend more time here and it's cutting into your study time) than you need to cut down your SDN time.

I had to for a while, I'd delete the app off my phone and force myself to check it only once every two days.
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So. Many....Alerts. Must check!!
 
I was pretty bad in the middle of my application cycle (mostly just lurking). However, it's come back in full force since my work computer doesn't block it and I can use it to procrastinate pretty effectively :whistle:
 
I checked it often around early June...but now, I log on when I'm tired of writing secondaries or taking a break from other tasks. Try to limit your time on here. I am a firm believer that forums like this, while helpful, seem to foster neuroticism. Step away from the computer/phone whenever you can.
 
SDNers are like my significant others. What would I do without you guys? You all complete me, albeit I have no love for trolls or snarky posters.
 
Just bought the sdn iPhone app so I can get my daily dose of neuroticism on the go
 
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