Show Don't Tell

<p>I've heard this advice a lot regarding college essays. I've been writing mine with lots of dialogue and with very little direct exposition. Is this the right approach? I'm worried that the message of my essays has become too subtle. Should I be more straightforward? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.</p>

<p>That is good advice, to a degree. You for sure need a decent amount of direct exposition, that’s what makes it an essay. There can be fantastic college essays that use no dialogue but still manage to show. You can show it through the voice in your writing. However, using some dialogue is very helpful for many topics, just not all topics. Yet, i wouldn’t say that any college essay should be MAJORITY dialogue, with a few extreme exceptions. For example, I once read a good essay where the writer broke himself up into different personalities (acadmeic, stressed, lighthearted, artistic, doubting, etc.) and had a big conversation/argument.</p>

<p>you wouldn’t have happened to read that in 12 college admissions essays that worked now would you? ;P</p>