Attention "waitingayearforHarvard"!

[Guest mysterious]

Hi "waitingayearforHarvard"! Did you get accepted at McGill? If so, will you be declining their offer? I certainly hope there'll be more movement down the McGill OOP waiting listl. Thanks!

[Guest JD]

I think that guy was just a troll...

[Guest frivolous]

I can imagine this waitingayearforHarvard loser at his Princeton interview:)

[Guest aliasomani]

Take it from me, I know this guy.. he was in my major at UBC and he's for real. I don't know why he said Princeton though maybe he thought he had applied (cause he applied to almost 30 top schools in the states and he got in to all of them I think).. but maybe it's that European College of Princeton.. but I don't know if he applied to euro schools?

 

And he's a nice guy to boot too, so don't drag him down and player hate.

[Guest JD]

Whatever dude. I don't believe anyone would spend the time and/or money to attend 30 interviews all over the US.

[Guest frivolous]

If this troll was so smart to apply to all the top schools, why leave Harvard out? Also, if this "Princeton medical school" exists somewhere in Europe, please provide a link to their website 'cause I can't find it.

[Guest novice]

Hi, this thread has me confused. Please tell me what's a troll???

[Guest UWOMED2005]

A troll is a goofball who posts misleading info anonymously (or using someone else's login) on this board. Trolls seem to come in 5 varieties, with some overlap:

 

TROLL A: The loser who thinks he can get into medical school by convincing others they can't.

 

Description: This type of troll is usually lacking in self-confidence and either isn't sure or realizes that he probably won't get in. So brilliant guy that he is, he decides the only way to get himself into medical school is by convincing all of the other applicants not to apply. Alternatively, he is really set on a particular school, and so has made it his quest to make other applicants choose other schools. Unfortunately, he is not intelligent enough to realize that schools usually have hundreds of applicants, only the minority are exposed to this board, and very few of them would ever be convinced not to go into medicine by such posts.

 

Modus Operandi: Troll A will often make bogus posts about how awful medical school is, how awful medicine is, or how awful a particular school is. Alternatively, he might provide bogus information about applications or waitlists. More insidious are the trolls who pretend to be "med students" from specific schools that they aren't interested in, trying to paint those schools as much better alternatives than the one they really want to go to.

 

TROLL B: The overly sensitive applicant who was rejected by a particular school (or schools) and now wants to exact his revenge.

 

Description: Getting rejected by a school hurts. Trust me, I know, I've been there. But with the medical school applications, you just can't take these things personally. Some people unfortunately do.

 

Modus Operandi: Troll B will usually make bogus posts about particular schools, specifically the ones that rejected him. The posts will usually either make vague claims about how terrible said school is, or how garbage their admissions process is.

 

TROLL C: The desperate attention seeker.

 

Description: This type of troll never got the attention from mommy he wanted. So he's decided to come here to seek it.

 

Modus Operandi: Most of Troll C's posts will be highly inflammatory. He'll make outrageous comments about a particular school, race, lifestyle, or sex. Or he'll make some comment about how nerdy premeds and med students are.

 

TROLL D: The egomaniac with zero self-confidence.

 

Description: Outwardly, this type of troll seems himself as the greatest premed of them all. Sadly for him, med school admissions often don't see things that way. Troll D also usually suffers from a severe lack of self-confidence, and a desperate need to prove how great he is to others. Somehow he misses the fact that by posting anonymously, noone really knows who has "accomplished" all this stuff he says he did. Nor does anyone care.

 

Modus Operandi: Troll D will often make bogus posts about how great he is: how high his gpa is, how great his MCAT scores were, how many research publications he had, and how many "really great American Ivy League schools (that are SO much better and more difficult to get into than those crappy Canadian schools) he got into." For example, Princeton.

 

TROLL E: The non-meds applicant who thinks it's entertaining to toy with other people.

 

Description: This type of troll is a lot like Troll C. This troll might not even be applying to meds, but rather perversely think it's really entertaining to play games with "a bunch of stressed out premeds." Often, this troll will comment on how people who post here are a bunch of stressed out nerds wasting their time on the internet when they could be out having fun. Somehow, he misses the irony of the fact that taking the time to post here like that is an even bigger waste of time.

 

Modus Operandi: Troll E posts are varied. He could post inflammatory remarks, misinformation, just about anything.

 

TROLL F: The out-and-out whacko.

 

Description: Some people are just plain nuts. 'nuff said.

 

Modus Operandi: Like Troll E, you never know what Troll F is going to post.

 

Please note though that 90-95% of the stuff you read here is bona fide. Most people who post here aren't whackos. But the fact you can post here anonymously from anywhere means you often don't know who is posting or what their intentions are. You have to take everything you read here with a grain of salt. . . not everyone approaches this board with the best intentions. Sometimes it can be really difficult to distinguish who's a troll and who's for real: if a username isn't registered ANYONE can use it (so register your login names or you might find someone impersonating you!) Also, one of the greatest things about this board is that it provides a venue for free speech. For the most part, you can express any opinion here. . . and the fact you can do so anonymously means you don't have to worry about suffering repercussions if the powers that be (ie adcoms) don't like what you had to say. Not everything is rosy-red - there are some problems with med school admissions worth discusing, so it's not fair to assume criticism is automatically from a troll.

 

If in doubt about information, consult a moderator. The moderators here are all medical students and have been through the process of applying to medical school, so might have some vague idea of what's going on, but even more importantly moderators have all checked in with Ian so you can be sure it's always the same person posting.

[Guest maniac]

Letting off a little steam, were we? Good for you! Trolls like WaitingayearforHarvard need to hear people tell them what reality really is. On behalf of others who have to read his crap, I thank you. I personally think he was a Troll E personality.

 

 

Maniac

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Actually, more like having a little fun on the lunchbreak.

[Guest Nubbie]

UWOMeds: Thanks for your excellent explanation, but I believe you forgot Troll G types. You know, the (very much) self righteous moderators who go around telling people the "way" it should be and telling people to trust them because they're "med students".

 

Hehe

[Guest Nubbie]

Troll G's also like to delete posts.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Like it or leave it, that is kind of funny. Kind of predictable though, don't you think. . . after posting I realized someone would probably write something like that. And Troll G doesn't fit into the definition of "troll". . . trolls by definition post anonymously.

 

Apologies if I seem 'self-righteous' to you. . . don't mean to be. Just trying to be helpful to those who want it. If you don't like my posts, don't read them.

 

Anyways, that's enough of that. Sorry, despite the fact this has been entertaining, I really shouldn't be playing along with you. For all I know, you're the same person who posted the post that started this whole thing (dang anonymity!). That's what we should all do when we see a troll posting - just ignore him/her (there I go again. . . telling everybody what to do. Sorry, it's just my true self-righteous nature coming out:) ). Replying to a bogus post just eggs trolls on. But man it is sometimes fun to play along.

[Guest Nubbie]

UWOMed,

 

You're a really cool guy. I can tell from your posts. Glad you liked my jokes.

 

I should be really getting back to my research job. Hope to see you on the wards some time when I get to my electives.

[Guest novice]

Wow, that was very descriptive. Is Nubbie giving me a demonstration now? It's helpful as well.