The topic is: “Write about a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It could be a research query (I can’t remember the other options, they aren’t relevant for my essay) that carries any importance to you. Tell us about how you solved it, or what steps could be taken to solve it.”
Since they allowed us to write about a research query, as well as gave us leeway to talk about hypotheticals, is it acceptable to incorporate outside research into our essay? For example, “as the CATO Institute posits on April 13, 2015, …” . I do this for debate, so it would highlight a quality I see as strong in myself.