Dashes in PS Forum

[edditb]

Hey all, I'm fixing up the final draft of my PS and I wanted to see what your takes on dashes are. For example: (I felt stuck – sure, I was getting good grades) etc. If anybody's able to give me a read through please let me know I only need a couple more outside looks at it. Thank you.

[k5220]

The example you gave feels like period, new sentence would be more grammatically correct than a dash. I'd stay on the safe side and use a period (or maybe a semicolon in other cases), just in case you get any sticklers for grammar reading your PS.

[fats provolone]

this isn't really responsive to your question but man i abuse the shit out of em-dashes

[nicknar]

I can't speak to how adcomms view them, but I'm certainly using them. Just make sure you type it correctly—like that. If you type two hyphens in a row with no spaces, Microsoft Word should automatically convert into an em dash. Otherwise shift+alt+- will do it.

[edditb]

what about contractions? I've read in a couple places that they're a major no-go but in others that not having any can make the writing seem to formal and can distance you from the reader. So confused.

[rnoodles]

what about contractions? I've read in a couple places that they're a major no-go but in others that not having any can make the writing seem to formal and can distance you from the reader. So confused.

Don't make it harder than it needs to be, OP. No contractions, start new sentences instead of dashes, etc.

Don't mean to sound harsh, but if you overthink it you risk messing up. Good luck otherwise, OP!

[rpupkin]

this isn't really responsive to your question but man i abuse the shit out of em-dashes

Me too.

OP: Obviously, lawyers love em-dashes. For every 10 em-dashes you use in a PS, you get a one point boost in your LSAT score. If you manage to fit 30 em-dashes into your PS, that 167 becomes a 170.

[rpupkin]

Don't make it harder than it needs to be, OP. No—no contractions, start new sentences instead of dashes, etc.

[rnoodles]

Don't make it harder than it needs to be, OP. No—no contractions, start new sentences instead of dashes, etc.