Personal Statement ethical issue

[nightwolf1129]

Good morning all,

 

I know many of you have already applied to MSW programs or are in the process of applying to them so this message may (or may not) be relevant right now; however, I wanted to share wih you all the following:

 

As many of you know, writing the personal statement (especially for MSW programs) can and often is a very daunting and exhaustive task.  I should know because I spent almost an entire year writing, polishing, editing, and having colleagues and supervisors give me their thoughts.  A fellow employee at the hospital I currently work at was (and is) applying to MSW programs here in Boston.  Her and I have similar backgrounds as we're both Veterans and last September she shared with me her frustrations and concerns regarding how to get started on her personal statement.  So, being the kind and thoughtful person I am, I sent her an email with some tips/suggestions of what most MSW programs are looking for and how I tackled the particular questions for the MSW program I applied to.  I then attached a copy of my personal statement not knowing what was to eventually happen (mind you at that time I'd already spent close to 9 months writing it). 

 

So we fast forward to January and I stopped by her office to see how things were going regarding her applications.  She told me she was stressed and frustrated because some of her transcripts are missing, etc.  I then asked if I could see her application status and I wanted to also briefly look at her personal statement.  She showed it to me.  Immediately I noticed that a majority of her introduction was word-for-word (or very close to it) as mine.  I mentioned briefly how hers looked similar to mine to which she replied "Yeah I used some of your ideas."  I spoke with a friend of mine (who works here) about this and yesterday she asked me to bring a copy of my personal statement to compare it with this lady's.  Throughout her personal statement it was obvious that she copied many of my ideas, phrases, words, etc.

 

With that said, I'd like to raise a question to you all.  As we all have, at some point, either read someone else's personal statement or gained feeback from someone about our own in order to help in the development and structure of our personal statement, how then could someone borrow an idea without losing their "voice"?  Reason I ask is I'm deeply offended that this lady literally stole my ideas and concepts that I had worked so hard developing and polishing.  However, I know that many of us have sought the advice and suggestions of others when writing our personal statements but I believe that a personal statement is just that, personal.  Which means I believe it's essential that the individual's voice be the one scripting the narrative.  Any thoughts?

[LincolnLover]

Wow...

 

First, if she is interviewed, this might work against her.  If you are stealing someone else's ideas it is very easy to make them sound authentic on paper.  However, she can't fake this in person.

 

Second, has she submitted the applications yet?  I would really talk to her more about this... It isn't fair to you, and if she really wants to be a social worker this goes against the code of ethics.

 

Third, if she does decide to submit the applications, don't sweat it too much and don't let it cause a rift in your friendship.  Your experiences and how you respond to them are what shape you as a social worker and as a person.  She has her own experiences, and why she couldn't use those I'm not sure.  Maybe she is not confident enough - and that will hurt her in the long run.  However, I'm sure she has had many experiences that she could use if she only thinks about it hard enough and does a lot of self-relfecting.

[nightwolf1129]

She already submitted her applications, and I felt compelled to contact the admissions office at BC to notify them of this.  What they (the admissions office) do is their perogative.  I personally don't feel comfortable confronting her face-to-face as I'm not actual friends with her.  She is just an acquaintance with whom I've met and interacted with just a handful of times (e.g., saying hello in passing, etc.).  I had attached my personal statement NOT for her to copy, but simply as an example because again I know how daunting writing the personal statement can be. 

 

She has a lot of great experience that she highlighted in her personal statement; however, she copied word-for-word many of the key concepts and phrases I used in my personal statement to substantiate her experiences.  I think you did hit the nail on the head about her lack of self-confidence.  She has come across to me as someone who has doubts and struggles (particularly when it comes to writing).  So I guess she thought it'd be easier to snag ideas from someone who writes well than struggle through finding the words to say herself.  I don't know.  Honestly I'm just offended, slightly flattered that she really liked my personal statement enough to steal many of my ideas, but still offended nonetheless.

[Ardnas058]

I am curious if you applied at the same time?

[nightwolf1129]

No I applied and submitted all my materials in November when the application was made available, and my application was completed in late December when all my letters of recommendation were submitted.  From what I remember, she submitted her application in January but at the time when I spoke with her (mid January) she was still missing her transcript & a letter of recommendation. 

[VirginianFeminist]

Your coworker plagiarized your work, which is a sufficient reason for BC to revoke her offer of admission. You did the right thing by contacting the admissions office. It appears that your coworker does not understand the difference between collaboration and plagiarism. It's better for her to learn the difference now, rather than one or two years into her program (with the corresponding debt). At this point, she only has her application fees to lose. It would be much worse for her to go through the pains of an Academic Integrity Committee.

[SaraFL]

I don't blame you at all for feeling offended, I think that's only natural after you worked so hard on your statement.  I don't know if I would have had the confidence (one of my issues I'm working on) to contact admissions and tell them.  I'm really curious how this turns out so I hope you'll update us.  I'm also curious how you informed them, how did they take it, etc.  Good luck on your application.

[nightwolf1129]

Thanks for the support!  Yeah I debated whether or not to inform the admissions office about this; however, I'd hate to see her get accepted into the same program largely due to my efforts rather than her own.  Honestly, that's what convicted me to contact the admissions office---mainly to inform them and let them take the appropriate action.  SaraFL, to answer your question I spoke with someone at the admissions office who passed along the message to the Director himself.  She agreed with me that what this lady did was wrong and assured me that something would be done.  I followed up this morning with the Director who said they're handling it.  I have a feeling that her application will now be rejected (and possibly any other programs she applied to will at the very least be notified).  I'm just curious what the admissions office would either say in the rejection letter/email or what the admissions office would say if she were to call them inquiring a reason for rejection.  My fear is if there's any reprocussion from her since we work in the same building, but hopefully she takes this as a lesson learned rather than a reason to lash out.  Bottom line, it was an ethical issue and I felt compelled to take action.

 

As for my application, I've already been accepted to this program so by me contacting the admissions office was my way of clearing my own conscious.

[esimanon]

WOwWOWOW!

 

How can someone go through life - and get to the point of deciding to attend graduate school - without ever learning that plagarizing is WRONG. I would be so upset if someone did that to me. I am speachless - good thing I'm typing

 

Also - you're handling this really well. I wouldn't have been so kind - I would have told her just how wrong that is. She's got a long way to go in life.

[beyond_dreamz]

WOwWOWOW!

 

How can someone go through life - and get to the point of deciding to attend graduate school - without ever learning that plagarizing is WRONG. I would be so upset if someone did that to me. I am speachless - good thing I'm typing

 

Also - you're handling this really well. I wouldn't have been so kind - I would have told her just how wrong that is. She's got a long way to go in life.

 

 

lol..what this person said..

 

I would've been P-i-S-s-E-D.

 

I've always known how to write, and pretty well, don't get me wrong..but even still, writing those admissions statements were HELL. It's HELL for everyone. We all suffer through it. No shortcuts -- especially THAT kind -- here, buddy. I would never in a million years...

 

No reason for you to have suffered through that full near-year of perfecting yours, only for her to come along with her tears and "borrow" notable chunks from it. That's preposterous! And also part of the purpose of the admissions statement is to demonstrate your writing capabilities, so if she is really needing to go to such an EXTREME for something that serves that kind of purpose...well, I'd just hate to think what all extremes she'll feel the need to go once in the program and having to write papers and complete large assignments on the regular.

 

Again..you handled this well. I agree with the person who said I'm not sure I would've been so bold as to contact the school directly about it, but I know I would've felt the need to do something. The most ideal would've been if you'd become aware of it before she submitted the application, and then you could've just confronted her and demand she revise! lol.. But with your circumstances..I don't know -- I guess that's pretty much all you could do.. No point in putting your own credibility and potentially future in jeopardy because of her laziness, lack of confidence, or whatever other insufficient excuse to do something like this..

 

But okay, rant complete .