Prompt
You ask a professor you have worked with for two years to write a reference letter for your medical school application. She replies that she is very busy and asks you to write a draft yourself, which she will look over and sign. She adds that she is happy to describe you as one of the top five students she has taught in 20 years, and tells you to say so in the draft. The application instructions state that letters must be written by the referee. You believe you were a good student, but not one of her best. The deadline is in nine days, and she is the only professor who knows your work well. What would you do?
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What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Professionalism and integrity
- Communication
How to approach this question
This academic integrity station tests whether you'll stay honest when the person asking you to bend the rules has power over your future and a deadline is close. Name the competing duties: the application's rule that referees write their own letters, the admissions committee's trust in what letters say, and your relationship with a professor who means well. Ask aloud whether she would write a shorter letter herself, whether you could offer notes about your work instead of a draft, and whether another referee is possible. Weigh complying, declining, and proposing an alternative, then decide. When the station has her overrule your honest effort, explain whose letter it now is and what responsibility, if any, remains yours.
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