<p>In my 'Why Duke?' essay, many times I addressed the reader (in this case, the admissions officer or committee) directly by using "you".</p>
<p>Should this be avoided or is it acceptable?</p>
<p>There’s a good chance I’d be annoyed. You might offer to give it out to essay readers on CC, though, to see if they think it’s annoying after actually reading it. They can also make other fixes.</p>