Use of the "em dash" in the personal statement?

[ipodtouch]

I noticed that the em dashes appear as a regular single dash on the PS print out on ERAS. I was wondering if this was how the readers saw it, as it would then potentially make the papers confusing to read.

Is anyone else using the em dash in their personal statements? Or should we avoid them all together?

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[johnwandering]

You can definitely use it. If you look closely, the em dash actually does appear longer than a regular dash.

A tip is to place a space before and after the em dash as well to accentuate the difference.

 

[inmyslumber]

You can definitely use it. If you look closely, the em dash actually does appear longer than a regular dash.

A tip is to place a space before and after the em dash as well to accentuate the difference.

The "em dash" should NOT have a space before or after. The "en dash" should have a space before and after. "Hypen" is shorter than "en dash" which is is slightly shorter than "em dash".

 

[Azurophil]

You could also use back-to-back hyphens--think back to typewriter days!--just to be safe.