Why hide your age in this forum?

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drold2013

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I noticed that most Non-Trads hide their age in this forum, by going to the privacy section and choosing not show their age, or by not putting birthday info. I think this is a big mistake. When people come to this forum they are trying to get inspired. they are looking for people their age or older to let them know it's doable. When you hide your age, people can't tell. Just saying that you are a Non-Trad is not enough. Some people are 23 yrs old, and they claim to be Non-Trads because they graduated college already. I understand that some people want to hide their birth dates for security reasons, but you can show your age, without showing the birthday.
Come on people, let's see how Non-Trad u really r! (I know it's not just the age thing that makes you Non-Trad, but it is mostly the age thing 😀)
I'm 34, will matriculate @ 37:xf:
 
Identity theft is a serious problem. Not posting DOB publically is not a mistake at all, considering that DOB is a primary piece of identifying information. For example, HIPAA, the law that requires us to protect patient privacy, considers their DOB to be identifying info. For this reason, I strongly recommend that users *not* post their DOB anywhere on SDN, especially if you've already posted other identifying information such as your real name.

As for telling people your age, a large proportion of the regulars on this forum have already done so, as you can see in the threads that were linked by NED. Over 400 people have also voted in this poll from a year ago. But even so, everyone has the right to have their privacy respected. Reporting your age (or any other personal information for that matter) on the forums is completely voluntary, and no one should be made to feel like they aren't supporting other nontrads by choosing not to reveal their age. If one person want to know someone else's age, you can always ask them. But whether or not to tell is their prerogative.
 
Good point Q. I didn't mean to put pressure on anybody, I was just questioning the reasons why not to. But of course everybody has the right to privacy.
 
Because I'm getting to the point in my life where I forget how old I am?! 😛
 
I noticed that most Non-Trads hide their age in this forum, by going to the privacy section and choosing not show their age, or by not putting birthday info.

This isn't unique to non-trads; many people on SDN don't reveal aspects of their personal information.

When people come to this forum they are trying to get inspired. they are looking for people their age or older to let them know it's doable. When you hide your age, people can't tell.

Which is exactly why they hid their age 🙄

I totally understand where you're coming from though. When I think about the road ahead and how difficult everything is going to be, it certainly helps to hear other people's stories about how they accomplished everything with kids, limited finances, disadvantaged backgrounds, etc. Nothing wrong with keeping your personal info private though!
 
This isn't unique to non-trads; many people on SDN don't reveal aspects of their personal information.



Which is exactly why they hid their age 🙄
:laugh: That's funny!:laugh:

I totally understand where you're coming from though. When I think about the road ahead and how difficult everything is going to be, it certainly helps to hear other people's stories about how they accomplished everything with kids, limited finances, disadvantaged backgrounds, etc. Nothing wrong with keeping your personal info private though!

You are right on the money, LegendaryPunk!👍
 
Maybe someone doesn't want to be judged for being a younger non-trad. Therefore, they hide there age.
 
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I know you have good intentions with your post, but frankly this request is annoying to me. And I don't say that to be mean or argue. Just to put forward my response. Perhaps it's because I'm female and I'm beyond the point at which it doesn't matter who or for what reason I get asked this question, I don't want to reply. :laugh:

So - I don't think your request is reasonable, even though it's intentions are fair. I'm sure there will be other females who feel the same way as I do.
 
After a while of being up here you will get to know the ages and profiles of other posters. Good luck with your mission anyhow. 🙂
 
Identity theft is a serious problem. Not posting DOB publically is not a mistake at all, ...

Agreed. Only a really foolish person would give out their birthday as well as other potentially identifying information on a public board. Might as well just give out your credit card number because that's where it will lead anyhow. OP, I think your age is showing by not realizing that in today's internet savvy criminal world, personal info should be kept very close to the vest.
 
But he didn't say post your birthday, just age... I have mine showing, 34... No big deal, no one can garner any info from that, unless they look at my page EVERY day to see when it changes... Most criminals won't work that hard to find out that kind of info. They'll move on...
 
I think those of you worried about identity theft are being overly paranoid. Surely no one will post BOTH their birth year as well as month/day. And even if they did, their real name is not there, their address is not there. How is that going to lead to ID theft?
I said I had a problem with this request but for entirely different reasons. For all those of you that are scared of ID theft, and especially the one who told the OP that his age was showing bcs he wasn't aware of the security risk - pllllllzzzzz.......
 
On
Yet many people here on SDN, OPM, MomMD, and other sites discuss and admit their age providing a support mechanism and inspiration for those of us considering medical school.

I think that over time, you definitely get a feel of the each nontraditional member's age. I wish that MomMD were more active (or that there were more moms who desire to go into medicine). I feel a little lonely in that respect more so than age alone. I'm definitely not ashamed of my age like I was when I initially returned to SDN since my teenage years (a decade ago). Through time, I have realized that people don't really care if you're older if you can pull your weight. In school, most do not realize that I am as "old" as I am. Most assume that I am the same age as them, and it is me that is overly aware that life has worn me thin!

Maybe we could get a mom's/parent section on SDN?
 
I think those of you worried about identity theft are being overly paranoid. Surely no one will post BOTH their birth year as well as month/day. And even if they did, their real name is not there, their address is not there. How is that going to lead to ID theft?
Oh, but some people do publicize this info. Go look on the bottom of the main forums page where it lists today's birthdays. Read some MDApps profiles or forum posts and you will find plenty more identifying info posted, not only DOB. I haven't yet seen anyone post their SS#, but name and DOB, sure.

As I've said a zillion times, if you post regularly on SDN, you are *not* anonymous. I'm not the most computer savvy person, but even I can sometimes ID people solely based on what they post with a little help from Dr. Google. Since I'm a mod, I also have access to additional personal info about every user that would make identifying them even easier. Obviously, misusing this info would be a major violation of SDN policy, but if I were a criminal, I probably wouldn't be too concerned about violating the SDN TOS! :d

I said I had a problem with this request but for entirely different reasons.
Agree with you completely on this, as I already said in my previous post.
For all those of you that are scared of ID theft, and especially the one who told the OP that his age was showing bcs he wasn't aware of the security risk - pllllllzzzzz.......
Agree L2D got a bit hyperbolic there, but the general point stands. Having your identity stolen is not a minor thing. Fixing the problems can take months, can ruin your credit, and is very stressful. Fortunately, I have not experienced it myself, but knowing someone who has, I have no desire to experience it. Nor would I like to see anyone else experience it.

I'm just asking all of you who may read this to be aware. This is not a closed community, and any info you post can be seen by everyone who views this forum, including hundreds of unregistered daily visitors whom you know nothing about. The staff do our best to keep SDN safe, but the best guarantor of your safety online is you.
 
OK. I see your point.

As a mod, is it our IP address and e-mail address that you see?
 
OK. I see your point.

As a mod, is it our IP address and e-mail address that you see?

Mods can see right into your soul.

I don't think it's really the mods who you need to worry about stealing your identity, but there are plenty of ways folks inadvertently or carelessly cease to be anonymous on anonymous forums, and when you put info out there on the net, it stays out there more or less permanently for those determined to obtain it. The more nuggets you give out, like your birth day, the more such persons are able to assemble.
 
Mods can see right into your soul.
:laugh:

OK, but seriously, I would like to know what the mods can see. Not that I'm worried of ID theft, as I've said before. But now this thread leaves me curious about how exposed I am to the mods.

A moderator,... please,... any one of you?
Which personal info of ours can you see?
 
37 here! feel like 27..smarter, hotter, and in better shape!😀
 
I've had my identity stolen, and it wasn't because someone knew my bday, people need your ssn to steal your identity. If you don't believe me try to apply for a credit card under the name John smith and make up a bday, it's a common name so I'm sure you'll match someone. The problem with that is that without ssn you will not get approved, and an identity will not be stolen. If you're afraid of getting you're identity stolen apply for a CPN and use that.

To the people afraid, signing up for the Denny's birthday list would be a risk, but it's not. If you're worried but still want to show your age put your bday as 03/01/1975 if your bday is 03/16/1975, no one said you had to be honest and precise

I agree with the OP, it is reassuring to see others, I'm under 30, when the IT bubble began to burst and outsourcing started I thought I was too late and the door had closed on me going back. When I saw the ages on the nontrad forum it allowed me to reopen that door without feeling like I was old because I'm older swimming in a sea in 18 and 19 year olds
 
Man, if someone told my 17-year old self that one day I would love science and medicine I probably would laugh in their face and told em they were FOS. :laugh:

Hats off to you for contemplating this career choice hsdn'er!
 
Man, if someone told my 17-year old self that one day I would love science and medicine I probably would laugh in their face and told em they were FOS. :laugh:

Hats off to you for contemplating this career choice hsdn'er!

+1👍
 
Nice Mahliah,
I'm also 17, turning 18 this summer, and I am non-trad. Not looking at applying until 2014.
Also, age is nothing but a number. Some days I feel about 60 :-D
 
I'm 26. Yeah, I know, I am the oldest person here. 😉

First off - your handle is a very good thing: medicine and rock n roll go together like effin onion and carrots in a mirepoix in my humble opinion. Secondly, representing the 26 year olds in the house! '85ers rule!
 
Wait, yes, not to be ageist, but out of curiosity, how are you 17-year-olds non-trad lol 🙂 did you all mess up your lives too? Just joshin 🙂, but also deadly serious and curious :eyebrow:. If you are 18 now and applying in 2 years, that kinda makes you ultra-trad hehe.
 
Wait, yes, not to be ageist, but out of curiosity, how are you 17-year-olds non-trad lol 🙂 did you all mess up your lives too? Just joshin 🙂, but also deadly serious and curious :eyebrow:. If you are 18 now and applying in 2 years, that kinda makes you ultra-trad hehe.

Haha! :laugh:
A traditional student applies their junior year, I will become a nurse next year, and apply two years after becoming a nurse (2014) ...which makes me non-trad.
 
Haha! :laugh:
A traditional student applies their junior year, I will become a nurse next year, and apply two years after becoming a nurse (2014) ...which makes me non-trad.

You're going to be a fully-fledged nurse at 19? Wow.

But...if you want to be a doctor, why are you finishing nursing school? That's a pretty inefficient way to get to where you want to be. Just so you are aware (you probably are already), nurses who are interviewing for med school get grilled pretty hard with questions like "But you are already helping people, why do you want to stop being a nurse?" and "If you knew you wanted to be a doctor, why did you go to nursing school?". Nurses are a really really important part of the healthcare system, and I've heard that interviewers can get pretty grouchy if they find out that you finished nursing school without the sincere intention of becoming a nurse, since there is already such a shortage of them.

Either way, good luck dude! We each forge our own path, and it seems that people in this forum prefer to do it the hard way, so, welcome to the mosh pit 😀
 
I can't hide my age. If someone has been on SDN for "10+" years, that makes me ancient by default!

Well, I changed my subtitle to "Tiger Mother" just to express my nontraditional ways.

17 would make you definitely nontraditional is a good and unique way! 🙂
 
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You're going to be a fully-fledged nurse at 19? Wow.

But...if you want to be a doctor, why are you finishing nursing school? That's a pretty inefficient way to get to where you want to be. Just so you are aware (you probably are already), nurses who are interviewing for med school get grilled pretty hard with questions like "But you are already helping people, why do you want to stop being a nurse?" and "If you knew you wanted to be a doctor, why did you go to nursing school?". Nurses are a really really important part of the healthcare system, and I've heard that interviewers can get pretty grouchy if they find out that you finished nursing school without the sincere intention of becoming a nurse, since there is already such a shortage of them.

Either way, good luck dude! We each forge our own path, and it seems that people in this forum prefer to do it the hard way, so, welcome to the mosh pit 😀

Wow! We couldn't even apply to nursing school until we were 18 here. Medic school was the same way.
 
my age is self-evident 🙂
 
<------ 30 years old, female, married with child, graduated with distinction, nervous about embarking on pre-req's starting this June. 🙂

👍

Lets do this!
 
Man, if someone told my 17-year old self that one day I would love science and medicine I probably would laugh in their face and told em they were FOS. :laugh:

Hats off to you for contemplating this career choice hsdn'er!

Lols thanks!
 
Wait, yes, not to be ageist, but out of curiosity, how are you 17-year-olds non-trad lol 🙂 did you all mess up your lives too? Just joshin 🙂, but also deadly serious and curious :eyebrow:. If you are 18 now and applying in 2 years, that kinda makes you ultra-trad hehe.

Haha! I love hanging out in the non trad forums, less cut throat gunners than the preallo🙂
 
No hiding here. 33 years old and starting med school in a couple of months.
 
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