Im a frequent viewer of both College Confidential (the pre-med forums) and SDN and I've noticed that most posters on CC are parents of current applicants or med students whereas SDN is composed of almost 100% the applicants themselves. Anyone know why this is the case? I'm just wondering
what about reddit.com/r/premed vs SDN?
SDN is far and away better than those other sites, and I feel completely confident and comfortable saying that.
First of all, it's wrong to say that SDN is 100% composed of just the applicants. Just in this thread alone, with 41 responses including mine, 13 responses (i.e. almost a third) have been by a MD/PhD student, Med Student, or Resident. Several of the premeds (such as myself) have taken time off to get other graduate degrees or gain work experience. And this is just one random thread. That's not to include the attendings and faculty members that may browse other threads.
Second, SDN is not just PreAllo. SDN includes entirely separate forums for DO applicants, and for NonTrads, and for Research Applicants, and then for the MCAT. In fact, there are entire forums for school application threads and for getting opinions on your application. And that's just premedical. There are then forums for medical students, dental students, vet, pharmacy, and (though less active) other specialties like public health, physical therapy, podiatry, etc. Then there are even
more forums for USMLE preparation, for general residents, and for residents of over 10 different specialties. Every single forum is staffed with one or multiple moderators who have personal experience in that "world".
Third, and probably the most important, the community on SDN is simply better. We aren't full of a bunch of tiger moms looking to get an edge for little Timmy. We've got students with scholarship offers to half a dozen schools. We've got students who are scrapping for just one acceptance--on their 3rd cycle applying. We've got applicants with 270s on their Step 1 and we've got applicants who can't crack 9 on a single section of the MCAT. Becoming a medical professional is a diverse world, and what's more, we've got people at every stage of it and in every position within that stage. You've got access to it all, years and years of experience and perspectives from people who have been a part of this community and who have given years of their time trying to offer advice and lead people down the right path. Sometimes what they say isn't nice, sometimes you get tough love when someone tells you that you're not a special snowflake or that your ECs are average at best. But other times they're there for you, in your corner, cheering you on when you know your dream is to become a doctor and you won't give up, no matter what school you get into.
SDN is a great place. Sure I'm biased. Why wouldn't I be? On multiple occasions I've personally messaged people on here that I've never met when I was in an emergency and they opened their home to me and let me stay with them. Hell, Tots crashed on my bed last year while he was doing some traveling. There are some worthless jerks on this site, and I wish that could change, but that will never take away from the incredibly diverse, supportive, and generous community that also fills these pages.