Tracker Anonymity

[MikeLawrence]

I love the people in the tracker who chose not to disclose the name of their college only to then put "top 2 UK school" instead.

Yes, well done, no one here can guess where you could have graduated from .

 

[Andy Nguyen]

There is an option where members can choose to hide their username on the Tracker.
I think there is a balance here. We want you to only share things that you are comfortable with. On the same token, the Tracker is only as helpful as how much you decide to share.
I plead many times for every member to share their timeline and profiles on the Tracker but we have few data points compared to the number of members posting about the results.
Thoughts on how we can get more data?

 

[Lukee]

There is an option where members can choose to hide their username on the Tracker.
I think there is a balance here. We want you to only share things that you are comfortable with. On the same token, the Tracker is only as helpful as how much you decide to share.
I plead many times for every member to share their timeline and profiles on the Tracker but we have few data points compared to the number of members posting about the results.
Thoughts on how we can get more data?

Other sites such as wall street oasis only allow users to view their database if they contribute to it (salary, interview questions, etc.). Something of that nature could be useful but it would create obvious problems for users who have not applied to any programs yet (like me) along with users that are older and already graduated. I have seen other people here suggest rewards such as gift cards to people who contribute to the tracker but I think this is flawed because it is expensive and would incentivize lying. I think perhaps giving the users that contribute to the tracker their own private threads for networking and whatnot could be useful and would pull in more data. It's not the best idea but it's the best I've come up with.

 

[jbd]

I love the people in the tracker who chose not to disclose the name of their college only to then put "top 2 UK school" instead.

Yes, well done, no one here can guess where you could have graduated from .

rip think this might be in reference to me...

Main idea is to give off some level of anonymity (albeit not very much but better than nothing) while still giving a fair representation of one's stats given the point of the tracker is to help current and future applicants on their own applications. I guess sometimes it's hard to find a good balance. Didn't mean to come off as pretentious at all

 

[Lukee]

rip think this might be in reference to me...

Main idea is to give off some level of anonymity (albeit not very much but better than nothing) while still giving a fair representation of one's stats given the point of the tracker is to help current and future applicants on their own applications. I guess sometimes it's hard to find a good balance. Didn't mean to come off as pretentious at all

It didn't come off pretentious at all, dont worry about it. Congrats on the acceptances as well man

 

[Andy Nguyen]

rip think this might be in reference to me...

Main idea is to give off some level of anonymity (albeit not very much but better than nothing) while still giving a fair representation of one's stats given the point of the tracker is to help current and future applicants on their own applications. I guess sometimes it's hard to find a good balance. Didn't mean to come off as pretentious at all

We all appreciate your contribution to the Tracker. It's an additional data point that we don't have for a very competitive program so it's worth 10 normal points.
Imagine when we have enough data for this program, we can show the prospective applicants the probability of his admission given his profile compared to all applicants who got admitted because we got all the historical data in the Tracker. That's the power of the Tracker so the more people update data in the Tracker, the more accurate it becomes.

 

[MikeLawrence]

rip think this might be in reference to me...

Main idea is to give off some level of anonymity (albeit not very much but better than nothing) while still giving a fair representation of one's stats given the point of the tracker is to help current and future applicants on their own applications. I guess sometimes it's hard to find a good balance. Didn't mean to come off as pretentious at all

It wasn't pretentious, I just found it really funny. I totally understand the thought process, it still helps keep you slightly undercover. Congrats on the acceptance. In the name on anonymity, I won't go back and figure out what program you were accepted too .

 

[MikeLawrence]

Other sites such as wall street oasis only allow users to view their database if they contribute to it (salary, interview questions, etc.). Something of that nature could be useful but it would create obvious problems for users who have not applied to any programs yet (like me) along with users that are older and already graduated. I have seen other people here suggest rewards such as gift cards to people who contribute to the tracker but I think this is flawed because it is expensive and would incentivize lying. I think perhaps giving the users that contribute to the tracker their own private threads for networking and whatnot could be useful and would pull in more data. It's not the best idea but it's the best I've come up with.

Its a fine idea, but half the posts where people talk about what programs they were accepted too are those people trying to set up a discord with their cohort. So they kind of already do this once they get in.

 

[MikeLawrence]

Thoughts on how we can get more data?

Actually, yes:

Plan Common App for Quants:
The best way to get data points would be to somehow set Quantnet up as a portal for applications. Connect with programs and tell them that there is some great talent that they aren't currently receiving applications from and try to show that if they linked their application with Quantnet they would get a ton more applications and probably increase their collective student talent. Best part is, it's probably true, applications take forever so people prioritize their short list.

The downside is that the most selective programs have less incentive, it's very possibly they receive more reject-able applicants than good ones and it might create more hassle than it is worth. They will almost certainly join last, since they are 'elite' and 'don't need to stoop to such measures'. (which is fine, but they will come last.)

But still, it's a thought. You would have access to a lot of data that way, all you'd have to do it create a smoother process for those accounts that upload data to the tracker. Maybe get them a discount on application fees, and hedge it with kickback from the programs based on # of applicants you brought to them
(Maybe a perfectly hedged arbitrage, no cash outflow and lots of data + site inflow... minus the ridiculous amount of time this would take to pull off, but still, wrt money it sure beats gift cards).

I would say make it required (or even one of those nifty 'default' settings that most people are too lazy to turn off), but I'd bet you run into legal issues with that. So creating a smoother path for those who upload to the tracker is probably the best bet. But if no legal issues... just go the required route.