A tutoring student's friend request: a medical school interview question
- Kind
- Ethical dilemma
Prompt
You tutor a 15-year-old in math through a private agency. This week her mother asked you to follow her daughter on social media so you can "keep an eye on her," and the student sent you a friend request the same day. The agency has no written rule about it. What would you do?
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How to approach this question
What this question tests
- Professionalism and integrity
- Ethical reasoning
- Communication
How to approach it
This panel interview question tests whether you can hold a professional boundary with a minor when a parent invites you across it and no written rule tells you what to do. Name the people involved: the student, her mother, you, and the agency that employs you. Think through what following a 15-year-old's social media would mean for your role as her tutor, and how monitoring her for her mother would place you between parent and child. Consider how you'd respond to each request, whether to tell the agency so it can set a policy, and what else you could offer the mother, such as regular updates on her daughter's progress. Commit to a clear decision and say how you'd explain it to both the mother and the student.
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