<p>I know it says that there's no "wrong" answers for any of the short answers, but it's probably best that I include something here that isn't something "dishonorable" right?</p>
<p>It's probably best to steer away from things along the lines of "So I was standing by the train tracks on a Saturday afternoon and saw a train coming. It was heading straight for a large group of very young, obviously deaf children who would go on to win Nobel Peace Prizes whom I had earlier decided to tie to the tracks. On the other hand, if I threw the really-easy-to-throw switch right behind me, the train would wipe out war, malaria, and AIDS without causing a population crisis. I decided to focus on killing ants with a magnifying glass. Best decision of my life." </p>
<p>On the other hand, generally the choices you learn most from are the ones you regret--and we've all made some; it's probably possible to give a very selective history of the life of anyone over, say, 10 that makes him sound like an awful person. The application is, overall, a chance to show who you are--not to show that you've never messed up. (Which isn't going to be what anyone thinks when they read about how you stepped in to stop a mugging anyway.) In fact, I decided under time pressure last year that MIT's "Tell us about a time you failed" essay would work fine for Caltech's "What do you do outside of school?" prompt. So I'd say if the "dishonorable" example is interesting and says more about you than the others you're thinking of, try it out and just make sure you don't sound proud of what you did if you aren't. (Disclaimer: I know NOTHING about admissions.)</p>
<p>Caltech relies heavily on the honor system. If your essay addresses something you did that was dishonorable, I'd make sure you show how you learned from it and that it's not something you're proud of. I'd also make sure you use good judgement in what you talk about- the time you ran the school-wide cheating ring, even if you learned from it, will probably not reflect very well.</p>
<p>Then again, if you're thinking about writing about the time you ran the school-wide cheating ring, you might be better off in the long run writing about it and not coming here =)</p>