<p>Is a reference to a song, movie, book, etc. risky to put in your essays? </p>
<p>Of course the reference does not include anything dirty, curse words, or anything that would give a bad impression on you.</p>
<p>I think this is one of those "be yourself" kind of problem.</p>
<p>If you really feel like using it, then use it.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>The "risk" I was referring to was whether or not the adcom knows what you are talking about.</p>
<p>ooh, that's a good one. it's always a gamble... =\ i know what it's like to mention a singer and people respond with a "what? who the **** is that?!?" maybe if you describe the song/movie/book with an additional sentence or two, that could make up..</p>
<p>Some of the people who will evaluate your application could have graduated from college just a year or two ago. So it's not just oblivious old men and women who read your application.</p>
<p>I think you should stick to well known books (ie Harry Potter), very popular movies (ie Star Wars) and very, very, popular singers (Britney Spears or Michael Jackson). Make sure it is something that they will almost certainly know, or explain it in more detail as suggested above.</p>
<p>I'm referencing Law and Order.</p>
<p>Eh. I don't know, if it's anything more than a pun on the name of the show, I'd stay away from using that reference at all in your essay. It's a popular TV show and all, but I would imagine most people haven't seen every episode/know the character's names/etc.</p>
<p>Take another look at your essay and ask yourself, is this reference truly essential? Can I make the reader understand what I'm saying without it?</p>
<p>It's simply a quick reference, along the lines of "even at the age of 12 I had seen enough law and order go know what perjury and obstruction of justice meant"</p>
<p>Oh ok, forget what I just said, that kind of reference should be no problem...</p>
<p>I think it's OK to make a reference as long as you do it in a way that doesn't assume that the reader is familiar with whatever it is you're referring to. This is true, however, even if one is referring to intellectual things. For instance, just because a student is expert on things related to English literature doesn't mean that the adcoms are. Even highly educated people don't know everything.</p>
<p>As for Law an Order -- no one in my family watches much TV, so an unexplained reference to that show would go by everyone in my house including my teen S.</p>
<p>^I think that the title of the show basically explains my reference, obviously law and order is about the legal system, so I think I'm safe.</p>
<p>make sure Law and Order is capitalized and it would probably be best to say, I'd seen enough Law and Order episodes... The word episodes makes it super super clear.</p>
<p>^good point about the episodes thing, didn't think of that, thanks.</p>
<p>I hate to bump a kind of old thread, but I'm going through the same dilemma. The thing is, it's the basis of my entire essay. I was thinking about writing my commonapp free choice essay on dancing and lip synching to Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" with a glittery fake microphone and a jacket with "word to your mother" printed on the back, all in front of an audience. Is that too esoteric for the adcoms to get how much I had to overcome embarassment?</p>
<p>vanilla ice i don't think would be the person u want to talk about. also that is not esoteric it can be seen as not so appropriate but not esoteric. anyways vanilla ice wouldn't be a good choice. He tried to be a gangster and lied about his "gangsta past" so i don't think that's a good person to mention.</p>