Pittsburgh secondary essay moral/ethical dilemma

[IUth21]

I am having trouble with finding something "substantial" to write about noting that the question says "Please do not address cheating in an academic setting". My question is what is your interpretation of this requirement about cheating. Do you think it extends to anything remotely related to cheating or just the common situations where cheating occurs. Because I have an idea for the essay in which i want to discuss the dilemma i had with a friend who want to use adderall, a performance enchancing drug to help study for and/or take the test. Do you think this situation is appropriate to write about or would i be risking getting rejected immediately for not following the rules. Thanks for your help.

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[Quix]

That doesn't really strike me as weighty, but it's not cheating any more than using Vivarin/Jolt/etc. is "cheating", IMO.

 

[Boreas]

I really don't see taking supplements as cheating. I mean they still have to learn the material, and what they're taking is for the purpose of keeping them awake longer to study, right? I suppose there might be an ethical/moral dilemma if you don't have a prescription for whatever you wanted to take, but I don't see taking supplements to stay awake to study as cheating.

 

[inaminute]

gawd

adderall isn't a "supplement." It's speed, essentially. If your dilemma was that a friend asked for some of YOUR prescription, that's interesting, especially since you are asking to be given the chance to have the responsibility to dispense meds someday.

 

[IUth21]

inaminute, it wasn't my prescription but somebody elses, but either way I think I am going to write about another situation related to drug use and what I did or didn't do. I have another question about the essay. Do you guys think it is okay to write about a situation where we may not have done the right thing, like something that we regret, and may have made a mistake, and therefore learned from it. And is there a such thing as a right or maybe better answer for each dilemma or it is something that adcoms are open to opinions because I am afraid my reasoning may not be strong enough in such a gray area issue.

 

[doctortobe2012]

i think it's fine if you didn't "do the right thing" as long as you have learned from it and didn't do anything illegal

 

[inaminute]

inaminute, it wasn't my prescription but somebody elses, but either way I think I am going to write about another situation related to drug use and what I did or didn't do. I have another question about the essay. Do you guys think it is okay to write about a situation where we may not have done the right thing, like something that we regret, and may have made a mistake, and therefore learned from it. And is there a such thing as a right or maybe better answer for each dilemma or it is something that adcoms are open to opinions because I am afraid my reasoning may not be strong enough in such a gray area issue.

I think that would be an interesting essay, especially if you talk about what you'd do differently if you had to go through the same dilemma now.

 

[Quix]

That's actually very similar to what I wrote about - the decision made at the time seemed justified, but the more I looked into it the less comfortable I felt with it. I'm keeping it intentionally vague, as it was an ethics consult for a patient.

 

[sanchopanza]

I agree with you guys. I just filled that bad boy out, and my take on the question is that it's not so much the quality of the dilemma or situation that you found yourself in, but how you reacted, what the coping strategies were, who you sought for help, etc. You could probably write a brilliant essay about the dilemma of choosing the right tampon brand (and I'm a dude).