Kink

I am using CMS for the writing sample I have finally decided to send in. This is a strange question but since I don't want to get rejected on the grounds of plagiarism I thought it would be best I clarified this doubt. See, when you paraphrase somebody else's arguments you have to cite the source, right? If this paraphrasing spills over into a a number of paragraphs, where exactly do you put the footnote? at the end of all the paragraphs that summarize the other person's views or at the end of each paragraph and then you use ibid or something? the latter sounds annoying and a little ridiculous but I'm thoroughly confused.

I would interweave my own argument except I don't have a very strong, original one. The other option I have is to submit this other paper which too contains evidence from secondary material. However, I've used the works of other scholars to bring out my own views. Problem with this is that its a piece on Medieval Indian History and not exactly related to the course I'm applying for (International Affairs). Plus it requires quite a bit of tweaking which I'm willing to do but wondering if starting something from scratch, something more relevant and with my own argument, might be a better idea. I've been advised by everyone to not do that since there's barely enough time to research anything entirely new too thoroughly (I have a dec deadline) What do you think I should do? Currently running out of time and getting nowhere.

A couple of more questions. I am applying for a taught Masters program that requires a 15-20 page long writing sample. Approximately, how many words are they talking about over here? Must I double space the lines? Also, how should I go about formatting the paper? Also, any other little details that you are aware of and could share would be really helpful. The other problem is that I didn't have to write any research papers, thesis, dissertations yada yada for my undergrad. Therefore, I was thinking of submitting one of my term papers. The paper's a mere historiographical review of sorts. My opinions don't exactly figure anywhere. Unfortunately, that's the kind of coursework I was allotted. However, the paper's pretty thoroughly researched as far as secondary material is concerned. What should I do?

Does the writing sample necessarily need to be a graded paper?