Are my answers to these secondary questions appropriate?

[TheShaker]

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I just want to make sure that these answers are appropriate for some common secondary questions.

Which one of these answers sound better?

Why are you unique/How do you contribute/etc.?

1. Above average research experience - Allows me to be better at understanding theory vs. practice, evidence based learning/decision making, learning new findings/techniques...

2. Growing up as a low income immigrant in a diverse low income community.

Both of these seem...generic and overplayed. Which one seems like the best one to use?



The ethical dilemma question - I plan to write about how a new member of my lab who was placed on my project tried to fabricate data. I had to choose between explaining the consequences of fabrication to a new lab member or reporting him to the PI to get kicked out and I chose the former.

First, is this good enough? Second, my PI is one of my letter writers, will I be damaging my PI's reputation/credibility by submitting this answer?


Thank you in advance everyone.

 

[mehc012]

If you did write about that example, I would NOT phrase it as 'making a choice'. I would simply focus on the lessons you learned/taught your labmate, or whatever. If your PI doesn't know, especially don't mention that it was in his lab or anything specific. To be honest, I would avoid the subject entirely, but if you do mention it, speak only in generics and get very quickly into the 'lessons' part of it.

It's the kind of experience where no one - not you, your PI, or your labmate - comes out of it looking good.

 

[TheShaker]

If you did write about that example, I would NOT phrase it as 'making a choice'. I would simply focus on the lessons you learned/taught your labmate, or whatever. If your PI doesn't know, especially don't mention that it was in his lab or anything specific. To be honest, I would avoid the subject entirely, but if you do mention it, speak only in generics and get very quickly into the 'lessons' part of it.

It's the kind of experience where no one - not you, your PI, or your labmate - comes out of it looking good.

Well, the lab is my only research experience so it would be pretty obvious. Darn, maybe I should just avoid writing it at all then. The only other response I have to this question is the time I hit a parked car and left a note instead of running away. What can I say, I don't really get into morally questionable situations very often. 😳

 

[mehc012]

Ah, sorry...you barely mentioned the second question so I missed that. I suppose if they are asking specifically for an ethical dilemma it's less of an issue. However, I would still leave it fairly general...they're asking about YOU and how you handled ambiguous situations, not for large amounts of detail on your labmate's actions. I'd be sure to emphasize that there were no long-term effects, further problems, and nothing fabricated went anywhere near an actual publication, or some readers might think that you didn't handle it severely enough (i.e. should have reported it.)

Basically, if you write it up well, it could be awesome. However, research is an area that a lot of schools (and hospitals) take very seriously, and if they think that you were too blase about an incidence of academic dishonesty, that could hurt you.

 

[deleted127837]

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[Leofet]

If you walk into an interviewer's room and they ask "why did you cover this up?" or "why did you hide this from the person in charge?" how would you respond?

Ideas for these questions:

What matters is that he had good intentions. He tried to take on the problem on his own and it was presumably resolved. The question the interviewers would probably ask though, is if the labmate didn't reform, then why didn't he take it to higher authority at that point? I'm assuming it didn't come to that.

As for the secondary, the answer won't damage your PI's reputation. It's not the PI's fault that he or she took on a deceitful student.

EDIT:

As for the question itself and the answer it seeks, I don't think you're answering the question of what's your most significant ethical dilemma correctly. The nature of your current answers is more about showcasing that you indeed have integrity, rather than making a difficult choice. In your cases, it's easy to leave a note for the car you nicked because it's the right thing to do. Setting your labmate straight is also the right thing to do, for your project and for yourself. What I'm trying to say is, your answers present situations in which it was too easy to settle on a choice because it was obviously the right one.

These situations don't really involve difficult choices. A downside has to be present for any choice you make in a dilemma. What it really boils down to is what you believe in (think: Stem Cells, Abortion, etc). From then on you explain your decision and your value system in your answer. This kind of question wants to expose how you operate and think, not whether or not you have integrity and are capable of making the right choices. Try to think of a better example OP, I think you may have been in a significant ethical dilemma but it hasn't occurred to you yet.

 

[deleted127837]

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[Leofet]

Agreed, though I would suggest that "making the right choices" is dependent on the value system.

True.

Hopefully he wouldn't be submitting that example to any schools near Penn State, though.

Nice tie-in.

 

[TheShaker]

Thanks for the advice. You're right Eileron, this does seem like something that can get me backed into a corner very easily. I actually hadn't considered that.

My reason for doing so is that I had known him for about two weeks and it was obvious to me that he didn't understand the difference between an actual research lab and a regular lab class that is attached to a lecture class. I remember that when I first started, I did not fully understand the seriousness of the lab and I could relate to how he was thinking. I didn't report him because it did not seem like there was any malicious intent and I simply explained to him the huge crime that is scientific misconduct and the real world impact of what he does in this lab. For the entire semester after that, I closely monitored his actions and results to make sure that they look honest and not too "perfect". If he were to try it again, I would immediately report it to the PI without hesitation. In the end, he stayed with us for two years and turned out to be a great partner and lab member.

As for me thinking that I have the experience to handle that situation, I can honestly say that I just didn't have the heart to damage his career like that, I believe in second chances. 😳

I'm honestly stumped here, but is this a good enough explanation to warrant using this experience or should I just try and think of another one?

 

[deleted127837]

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