<p>I agree with homeschoolmom and with texas 137: talk to your mentor, and try to find a counselor to discuss this with. These are complex issues, and you should seek trusted adult support to help you make your decisions.</p>
<p>deliciousgeek,</p>
<p>There is more than one path to a very fulfilling life and excellent career; if one door is closed you will find many others open. Try not to let the result of the “right action” (whatever you decide is best) prevent you from taking it. First things first: do the right thing. Your moral compass will do more to make you a GREAT life than ANY specific college’s degree.</p>
<p>The sticky part is the friend. My D had a similar dilemma when she discovered, after the fact, that a partner with whom she had played a tennis tournament was not eligible. The partner did not want to confess, but my D went to the tournament director alone and came clean to him. Not nearly the same situation… but a similar dilemma involving one of a pair taking action.</p>
<p>Finally I agree with others who have said you need to be able to forgive yourself. You made a mistake. You have learned a great deal. You are a good person with a healthy conscience. After you have decided what to do and done it, let the chapter close and move on unencumbered.</p>
<p>I know this question may seem like a step backward; I very much agree with you that I should not make this decision based on what the consequences might be, but rather what I think is right. I will do my best to do so, but nonetheless I want to get some opinions on possible consequences because I think this could be important in discussing options with my partner and agreeing on a course of action.
I’ll break this down:
-What is the WORST thing ISEF could do? Just take away the award or also ban us from future competitions or anything worse still?
-What could our school do? Is there any chance this could fall under school regulations of academic integrity (like cheating or plagiarism), even though the school really had nothing to do with our project? Is punishment on our school’s part (suspension, etc.) a possibility?
-What could colleges do? Again, since there was only one opinion on this, would this fall under the category of things to check YES to under the section on apps like Harvard’s that ask about previous serious disciplinary action? Obviously, if we got the award taken away, it would no longer be an asset on college apps, but is there anything WORSE than this, and if so what?</p>
<p>Again, I do NOT wish to make the decision based on possible consequences, but I think they will be important to consider especially in regards to my partner. Thanks as always.</p>
<p>This is a question for your science teacher/advisor. If you can’t get a good answer from him/her, maybe you could call someone at another HS or at ISEF (anonymously) and present your dilemma for an indication of what the reaction would likely be.</p>
<p>Is there any sort of rule book for the contest? Any notion of what one is expected to do and not do? Any written rule regarding tossing inconvenient results?</p>
<p>deliciousgeek, my take on this is that your mea culpa is not going to be required or even welcomed. I ,too, believe whether or not it is cheating is to be determined within a scientific context , by a scientist. Regardless of how that decision turns out, it appears you feel your actions to be improper and the award to have been granted to you under false pretenses. That is where I would concentrate my efforts. </p>
<p>It seems that one reasonable way to handle this would be to refuse to accept the “capital” gained by what you feel was improper. Had you come to realize money was stolen and you were unable to give it back to the lawful owner ,so to speak, what would you do? Spend it on yourself? I think you’ve shown you can’t do that and face yourself in the mirror (a really good thing BTW).So , given that your beliefs don’t allow you to use the capital gained without compromising your own sense of morality-don’t use it.</p>
<p>If it was ever brought up in the admissions process ,really highly unlikely, you should respond at the time that your application included “only those awards that I thought I deserved . The experiments or methodology that resulted in that particular award in my opinion were flawed and I am no longer proud of it or the work I did to achieve it. I felt it would be deceitful to include it.” Then I’d shut up.</p>
<p>curmudgeon’s advice is good.</p>
<p>SBmom, thanks. Clear your PM box. I need help on something. Thanks.</p>
<p>OK - I don’t know what the worst that ISEF can do, but here is what they say:
<a href=“http://www.sciserv.org/isef/about/rules/rules3.asp[/url]”>http://www.sciserv.org/isef/about/rules/rules3.asp</a></p>
<p>The lawyer part of my brain notices 2 things: (1) “fabrication or falsification of data” is not necessarily the same as “omission” of data; (2) the only penalties pertain to qualification for competition – there is no penalty set for discovery of fraud or misconduct after the competition is over.</p>
<p>So ISEF may not even have a procedure in place for post-competition review or for cancellation of a previously-given award. I’m sure that if they discovered a very aggregious case of fraud - such as outright plagiarism or presentation of fabricated data - they’d do something about it no matter what their rules say or don’t say… but I’m not sure if a polite little letter explaining the omission of data under the circumstances you lay out would be the type of thing that would get anyone too excited. </p>
<p>But this really is leading down the wrong path. From an ethical standpoint, if you are worried about consequences to your friend – that is a genuine concern. It is fair and moral to weigh the issue of potential harm to someone else in the equation.</p>
<p>As far as you are concerned, if you weigh concern about consquences to yourself against your decision, you really have entered the world of moral relativism … and then you might as well just forget it. I mean, no one is talking about the death penalty here. If the risk of not getting into Harvard is too much for you to bear … then keep your mouth shut. You are going to have all sorts of situations in your life where doing the right thing is going to mean risking giving up something important to you, whether it is getting a promotion or a bonus or whatever. We live in a dog-eat-dog, very political world where those who are unwilling to cut corners usually lose out to their more machiavellian competitors. Don’t worry - you will be in good company. I guarantee you, you aren’t the only Intel winner who fudged on the data (even though you may be the only one with who actually feels badly enough to want to do something about it). </p>
<p>I’m not trying to give you a bad time. I’m just saying that if your question is one of concern about the consequences to yourself – if you are willing to write the letter of the consequence is A but not if it is B or C … then there really isn’t the dilemma you present. You’ve already figured out that there is a price you are not willing to pay. </p>
<p>And I’m saying that the only sensible thing to do is to act on the assumption that the worst possible consequence you can imagine is in fact what is going to happen. That may not be the case… but lets not get into a “what if” game and call it an “ethical” dilemma. It is a cost/benefit analysis, and in this case the potential costs clearly outweigh the benefits. </p>
<p>I am not saying you are a bad person if you forego the letter and forget about it. The law does recognize the concept of an offense that overlooked because it is de minimis - so from an ethical standpoint maybe this is the case. </p>
<p>I am also not saying that you necessarily will lose out on your Harvard dreams if you write that letter. Maybe things will come out o.k. Maybe they will respect your honesty and reward you with an offer of admission. But if you don’t get admitted you are never going to know, and odds are 9 to 1 that you won’t get in, just based on their admission rate. So if you write that letter and then spend the rest of your life blaming yourself and the letter for your failure to win Ivy admission… emotionally you won’t have made any progress.</p>
<p>cur, mailbox is clear</p>
<p>deliciousgeek, don’t get your advice from this forum. We don’t know you, and no one here is in a position to accurately judge how you will deal with the consequences of whatever decision you make. This is something you should disuss with your parents or a trusted adult.</p>
<p>I want to again extend my thanks to everyone who has posted here. On the topic of consulting a trusted adult, I have done this already to only mild success. My parents have been pushing me somewhat to go to a top school, and Harvard has definitely been on their wishlist. Needless to say it wasn’t surprising to me that their advice was to stay quiet and not risk anything; they don’t even object to putting the award on my app. I’ve still been discussing this with them but needed some outside advice. Also, my mentor is away all summer. Nonetheless, as many have pointed out, the decision is ultimately mine but I am glad I have additional input to take into account. One last question: If I decide not to write the letter and also not to put it on college apps, would an essay on the topic be a good idea? Or would it just needlessly bring up the topic in the first place and inspire admissions officers to ask why I didn’t tell ISEF, etc.?</p>
<p>I think the easy part of the decision is that you should NOT put the award on any apps (don’t spend the ill-gotten gains, so to speak). Your partner can do whatever he wants to, just w/o mentioning your name. I also agree with Cur, who put it better than I did, that a letter to ISEF may not be well-received. I would also not use this as essay material.</p>
<p>texas137 has it right. Don’t put it on the app. Don’t write an essay about it. You don’t believe you earned the award to start with, don’t use the confession of impropriety in winning the award to gain a benefit, i.e. a good essay topic. JMO. </p>
<p>I also agree with slugg that there are far better people than me to talk to about this, but since you are listening…just stop thinking in terms of college admissions and this project-negatively or for God’s sake positively. You shouldn’t attempt to purchase the moral high ground with your confession so as to use that high ground to benefit you in an essay or therwise. You are not the prodigal returning to feast on the fatted calf (used it anyway SBmom, couldn’t help it) and I doubt you’d be treated that well, but that’s not the point . You made a mistake. You are trying NOT to profit from the mistake, or your confession of that mistake. At least, that’s what it seemed to me. I believe I am right about your motivation. I least I hope I’'m right. Good luck.</p>
<p>I was thinking of the essay as an alternate way to “come clean” without going to ISEF and involving my partner, but I see your point. Thanks.</p>
<p>Great advice here. My usual advice for something like this is, if you must mention it (as your guidance counselor or teacher might), then put it an in addendum, not an essay. The addendum should be a quick note (a la SBMom’s first post) that you felt as if your results were based on flawed methodology. Say that, as a more mature person, you realize that it is improper to put it in “awards” and want to explain its omission from that section. What you thought was permissible at the time (disregarding results from a potentially flawed experiment) you now realize is not kosher. Finally, request that your application be evaluated as if you had not won the award. Keep it brief (small paragraph) and do not editorialize.</p>
<p>When you get into an excellent college, you will know that it is because of the work you did - an acceptance that you earned. Transfer is always possible. Grad school is always there. There are a lot of possibilities for education for talented students, but there are very few ways to keep your conscience clear. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I don’t want to be too harsh or offensive, even though I was certainly offended by your post, but as someone who worked my butt of for 3 years and only got to ISEF on my third try, I am pretty disgusted by your actions. You seem to be portraying yourself as a morally centered person- but I have to ask, where was all of your great morality back when you were cheating on research work? To think that you lied on your report and may have taken the place of other young researchers more deserving than you is appalling. I know what it feels like to be on the losing end of a science fair you put your heart into, and if I found out that any of the people who had beaten me had cheated, I would be extremely unhappy. I’m sorry if this sounds like I’m taking it personally but in a way I am. In all honesty, a rejection from Harvard and a little crushing of your dreams might be a good wake-up call, and I can’t say it would be undeserved. Just imagine how all the people you beat out felt.</p>
<p>When you put it that way sugardoggy, I must say it does sound even more shameful. I certainly no longer feel that I deserve the award, but to go as far as saying that I deserve to be rejected from Harvard because of it seems a little extreme to me. In my defense, I worked extremely hard on this project as well, it wasn’t as if I just concocted the whole thing one afternoon. I hope that I have shown in my posts thus far that I earnestly want to make this right, but I don’t think one mistake makes me a horrible person.</p>
<p>DGeek: I’d say this is your essay topic.</p>
<p>I like the quick note option. Explain that you have a better grasp now of scientific methodology and now understand that all results must be considered. As a mature scientist you believe that this award is not valid because of an immature omission of data. Don’t list the award; don’t make it the essay topic unless you really like to gamble. In very skilled rhetorical and philosophical hands, it could be a killer topic. In other hands, it could be a loser.</p>
<p>Go back and read curmudgeon’s posts. </p>
<p>I agree that one mistake doesn’t make you a horrible person. If you try to profit from your own repentance, however, that might make you a good contender for horrible-ness.</p>
<p>We all would like to think that we are unconditionally accepted, warts and all, by somebody. If you are a religious person, then maybe you can find that through your spiritual life. Unconditional love is not, however, something to be sought or found through the college admissions process. </p>
<p>Rather than looking to an authority figure to forgive you, maybe you could assuage your guilt by giving back to your community. How about coaching some younger students do research in preparation for the local ISEF qualifying fair? How about tutoring some poor children in science or math? And how about not mentioning either of those community service activities on your college app? Yes, I know you’re busy this year, but this is a chance to show – and develop – some real character.</p>