Footnotes in PS? Forum

[Marinekingprime]

I have allot of supplementary information for my law school package (medical records, youth record, elementary and high school records, newspaper article and so on and so forth) would it be all right to reference this material in my PS by using footnotes?

[Kilpatrick]

I have allot of supplementary information for my law school package (medical records, youth record, elementary and high school records, newspaper article and so on and so forth) would it be all right to reference this material in my PS by using footnotes?

So you're asking if you should do something like:

"And then when I was 14 I won a pie eating contest at the county fair.[1] That's why you should let me in to your law school.

[1] see attached article from the Bumfuck Examiner."

The answer is absolutely not.

[Holly Golightly]

If I were an admissions dean, I would auto-ding anyone who used footnotes in their PS.

[kaiser]

Of course not

[DocHawkeye]

I would auto ding anyone who has ever used the word "allot" when they mean "a lot."

[boosk]

haha brutal in here

[billyez]

The point's already been made, but no. All this will do is just pull the reader out of the story. If you want to say (to paraphrase Kilpatrick), "I won a pie-eating contest when I was 14 and still remember with pride reading my name in the paper!" that's reasonable. But a footnote is not.

[Dany]

If you want to say (to paraphrase Kilpatrick), "I won a pie-eating contest when I was 14 and still remember with pride reading my name in the paper!" that's reasonable.

Also no.

[Flips88]

First, no footnotes.

Second, in what capacity are report cards from elementary school relevant to law school admissions?

[billyez]

If you want to say (to paraphrase Kilpatrick), "I won a pie-eating contest when I was 14 and still remember with pride reading my name in the paper!" that's reasonable.

Also no.

Lol - I'm not being literal. The point is that if you have facts that you want to bring in to your PS then weave them into it in a normal fashion - not through something that would interrupt the flow of the PS.

[Dany]

That's still kind of like a citation, and it still sucks. You shouldn't be listing sources for stuff even if you're doing it in a narrative fashion. It's still weird and detracts from the essay.

[blsingindisguise]

I disagree with the "conventional wisdom" being espoused in this thread. Footnotes are a great way to show erudition. However, it is absolutely essential that they be in proper Bluebook (legal citation) form. These people on the adcoms are lawyers and legal academics! I suggest you start reading up: http://www.legalbluebook.com/

[NZA]

I would totally do it. Don't listen to the haters.

[Helmholtz]

[danidancer]

I seriously debated using/not using a footnote in my PS (completely tangental to the narrative, but necessary background info for the statement's message). I ultimately used the footnote. But again, in my case it was only one footnote, the footnote itself was just 5 or 6 words long, and the footnote was solely used to CLARIFY something (i.e., not as a citation) I didn't want to discuss at length and that otherwise would have broken up the main text in a really bad way if incorporated into the PS in any other way.

Bottom line: while I definitely wouldn't ENCOURAGE the use of footnotes, in my case I don't think it hurt my application.

[Anonymous Loser]

I disagree with the "conventional wisdom" being espoused in this thread. Footnotes are a great way to show erudition. However, it is absolutely essential that they be in proper Bluebook (legal citation) form. These people on the adcoms are lawyers and legal academics! I suggest you start reading up: http://www.legalbluebook.com/

Even at an early age, I demonstrated academic excellence. See, e.g., Mrs. Johnson, 3d Grade Report Card, Smalltown Elementary (1993) (indicating the award of 4 gold stars). My work ethic and study habits have been consistently recognized as above average. Id. at *2; accord Mr. Wagner, 5th Period Remedial Algebra, 7th Grade Report Card, Smalltown Jr. High (2000) ("Marinekingprime completed all required assignments").

[xmrmckenziex]

I have allot of supplementary information for my law school package (medical records, youth record, elementary and high school records, newspaper article and so on and so forth) would it be all right to reference this material in my PS by using footnotes?

So you're asking if you should do something like:

"And then when I was 14 I won a pie eating contest at the county fair.[1] That's why you should let me in to your law school.

[1] see attached article from the Bumfuck Examiner."

The answer is absolutely not.

+1 I think the humor of said citation will succeed in a greater capacity than an actual footnote.

[sneijder]

I have allot of supplementary information for my law school package (medical records, youth record, elementary and high school records, newspaper article and so on and so forth) would it be all right to reference this material in my PS by using footnotes?

So you're asking if you should do something like:

"And then when I was 14 I won a pie eating contest at the county fair.[1] That's why you should let me in to your law school.

[1] see attached article from the Bumfuck Examiner."

The answer is absolutely not.

+2

[071816]

I would urintate on a PS with footnotes.

[blsingindisguise]

I disagree with the "conventional wisdom" being espoused in this thread. Footnotes are a great way to show erudition. However, it is absolutely essential that they be in proper Bluebook (legal citation) form. These people on the adcoms are lawyers and legal academics! I suggest you start reading up: http://www.legalbluebook.com/

Even at an early age, I demonstrated academic excellence. See, e.g., Mrs. Johnson, 3d Grade Report Card, Smalltown Elementary (1993) (indicating the award of 4 gold stars). My work ethic and study habits have been consistently recognized as above average. Id. at *2; accord Mr. Wagner, 5th Period Remedial Algebra, 7th Grade Report Card, Smalltown Jr. High (2000) ("Marinekingprime completed all required assignments").

[1] The applicant was also voted best dresser. 5 Yearbook at 27, supra note 42.

[xmrmckenziex]

Just roll with me on this one...

PS consisting of nothing BUT footnotes!

[NZA]

Just roll with me on this one...

PS consisting of nothing BUT footnotes!

Footnotes to footnotes. We'll call it the snow fortress level.

[Kobe_Teeth]

Try to be funny and clever with your footnotes - like Chuck Klosterman!

[DocHawkeye]

Just roll with me on this one...

PS consisting of nothing BUT footnotes!

I've seen Law Review artices and publications in other scholarly journals that appear this way - entire pages of footnotes. Ugh - who reads that crap?

Edit: I'm not sure why I capitalized law review.

[Flips88]

Try to be funny and clever with your footnotes - like Chuck Klosterman!

Ah, if anything, this. When I was a senior in high school I wrote a paper that mentioned MacGuyver and had a footnote with a picture of MacGuyver for reference. Picture footnotes are TCR.