<p>Unfortunately, I cannot think of any ethical dilemma I have faced. Should I just say so? Or should I try to write a fictional anecdote?</p>
<p>IMO, it would be unethical to write a fictional anecdote.</p>
<p>^ :-)</p>
<p>My son had the same problem. I think kids who are quite ethical often keep themselves out of situations where they might have had to deal with it. If you are the type of kid who goes to wild parties, then you are going to have to deal with drinking/drug issues. If you hang out with kids who might want to cheat to get ahead, then you are going to have to deal with an ethical issue. </p>
<p>My son goes to nerdy mathy summer camps. He spends weekends at math circles and arml practices. Other than dividing by zero, what trouble is he ever going to get into? </p>
<p>He wrote why he feels he hasnt had any ethical dilemas.</p>
<p>You've never found out that someone did something wrong (cheated on a test, lied to a parent) and had to decide whether to tell? Or gotten the wrong change at the cash register? Had the waiter forget to put something on your bill? Have a sibling who asked you to keep a secret from someone? It doesn't matter what you did - that's a dilemma regardless of what you ended up doing.</p>
<p>Ethical dilemmas don't need to be biggies. (And even "good kids" can face these situations.)</p>
<p>My dilemna was about wondering whether or not to mark in an answer on the SATs that I figured out during the break. Small things like that. I had to really rack my head for my dilemna too.</p>
<p>Maybe you can write about whether or not to make up an ethical dilemna for the application. If I was on the committee I'd think it was pretty funny and interesting.</p>
<p>Yeah I had a hard time on this too. I don't really think I wound up writing about an ethical dilemma perse. I wound up writing about when I gave a 20 dollar bill to a homeless guy cuz i dint have nething else, so it was either that or nothing. I didn't want to give him nothing, so I gave him the 20.
I don't think that really counts as an ethical dilemma, but I guess it's better than nothing. If you can't think of anything at all I guess you could just try to think of something you did that was exceedingly nice or w/e. Not that giving a 20 to someone is exceedingly nice lol. I'd imagine that most ppl would do what I did in my situation, at least I hope so. Or maybe I'm just naive lol.</p>
<p>Do they expect you to "do the right thing" in your dilemma? In my case, I acted "wrong," but I explained how I came to that conclusion and what I learned from it (never to do something like that again and so on). Any opinions on that?</p>
<p>Everyone faces ethical dilemmas every day. I bought a danish and I walked by a homeless guy. I had to decide whether to eat my danish or give it to the homeless guy.</p>
<p>"Everyone faces ethical dilemmas every day. I bought a danish and I walked by a homeless guy. I had to decide whether to eat my danish or give it to the homeless guy."</p>
<p>I don't really think this is an everyday kind of thing, unless you live in the ghetto of a major city lol.</p>
<p>Did you ever try to sneak into an R rated or PG rated movie when you were too young for them? If yes, why? If not, why not? That's an ethical dilemma.</p>
<p>Did you ever tattle on a sibling? If not, why not? If yes, why? That's an ethical dilemma.</p>
<p>Did anyone ever ask "Does this make me look fat?" What did you say? That's an ethical dilemma.</p>
<p>Did you ever think about inviting someone that you didn't really like to a party so as not to hurt their feelings? Did you invite them? If yes, why? If not, why not? That's an ethical dilemma.</p>
<p>Did you ever give a Valentine to someone you didn't really like? That's an ehtical dilemma.</p>
<p>Did you ever ditch school and tell the teacher that you were sick? Hand your homework in late with an untrue excuse?</p>
<p>All of these are ethical dilemmas. It doesn't have to be earth-shaking.</p>
<p>GleasSpty, I guess you've never been to Berkeley. ;-)</p>
<p>Whenever you spend money on something unnecessary, or more expensive than necessary, you face an ethical dilemma, since you could be giving the money to charity.</p>
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<p>Maybe you can write about whether or not to make up an ethical dilemna for the application. If I was on the committee I'd think it was pretty funny and interesting.</p>
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<p>Especially if it recurses!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe you can write about whether or not to make up an ethical dilemna for the application. If I was on the committee I'd think it was pretty funny and interesting.
[/quote]
Maybe the first hundred times. I guarantee you, it's been done.</p>
<p>It's not an ethical dilemma to have while others do not. Altruism isn't a necessary, not should it be, part of one's moral creed.</p>
<p>@sonofsam: The very question of whether you should consider altruism inherently virtuous could easily lead to an ethical dilemma if you weren't already convinced of one position or the other. If you do think it virtuous, you can ponder whether you should allow it to trump something else that you think ethically required. If you don't think it's any good, you can ask whether there are other principles that would compel you to do things that might alternatively be interpreted as altruism.</p>
<p>When it comes to giving money to charity, you may well decide that charity is good but needs to be treated as an aspiration rather than a duty -- and then you can start racking your brain as to what a morality of aspiration could possibly mean...</p>
<p>Anyhow, all in all I think that what is important here is more that you can demonstrate that you are able to THINK about ethical issues than that you give the "one right" answer -- although I imagine also that some attitudes would be frowned upon no matter what sophistry you invent to justify them.</p>
<p>would anyone like to read mine? I am not sure if it works</p>
<p>i wrote mine on when my friends betrayed me. not sure if its ethical dillema tho</p>