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[quote=Anonymous]My kid insists on using [i]lots[/i] of em dashes in her essays.

She doesn't use ai in her writing--or if she does, she does it stealthily and well enough that I can't tell--but she looooves em dashes.

I have two concerns:

The milder one is that em dashes--with no spaces, like [i]this[/i]--are a nakedly obvious "trick" for getting around word count limits. She says, nobody will care or notice that her essay is 253 words with three em dashes. I say, respect the word counts.

My more significant concern is that some readers will see well-written essays with plenty of em dashes, immediately think "gpt," and not give her a chance. Why bother even raising an eyebrow when there are plenty of other applications to read? She says, em dashes make her essays better and enhance readability--and that's what matters most.

Anyone have good info on this? Heard from any readers or AO's directly, for example?

Alternatively, please feel free to offer uninformed but nonetheless entertaining hot takes :) :) :)

What say you, DCUM: Are em dashes dooming her applications??[/quote]

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