SAT Writing: Eliminating Wordiness

The golden rule of SAT writing: keep it clear and concise. While your instinct may be to show off all your colorful vocabulary and complex sentence structure for College Board, that is the exact opposite of what they’re looking for. Formal, complex writing does not equal good writing on the SAT.

Consider “The SAT likes clear, concise writing” your new mantra. Say it over and over again until it sinks in. I’ll wait.

To-the-point writing is not only ideal on the SAT, it’s ideal in life as well. Have you ever tried to read a classic novel or a scientific paper only to have the main idea of the writing lost in the details and flowery language? Same. The longer you take to get to the point, the more likely It is that you’ll lose reader’s interest and attention along the way.

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Writing, unlike math or science, is generally more of a subjective art. Some writers prefer wordiness and stuffing as many details as possible into a sentence, which is cool for them, but probably not the route to take on the SAT. Other writers get straight to the point and leave little room for detail, and that’s cool too! While wordiness levels depend on the writer’s style and isn’t technically wrong either way, the SAT prefers clarity and a to-the-point style in writing.

One of the most important things to keep in mind in order to be a good writer is who your audience is. If your audience is a friend wanting to hear every detail of your hot date last weekend, go off sis. Needless to say, your audience on the SAT is College Board, and they do not care about every single little detail, they want the highlights presented in a clear way. Once you’re past the SAT, you can feel free to go crazy with every detail your heart desires and be as wordy as you’d like.

Let’s say it again: The SAT likes clear and concise writing.

When you’re examining pieces of writing on the SAT for correctness, always see if it can be said in a simpler, clearer way. If you’re unsure of what that looks like, it’s not an exact science after all, see if any of the choices you’re provided with accomplish this goal.

How do you know if it’s a wordiness question on the SAT?

The thing about the SAT is they’re not going to tell you which skills are required for which question. In the math section they’re not going to tell you which formula to use, in reading they’re not going to tell you which parts of the passage are the most important, and in writing they’re not going to tell you what’s wrong with the sentence in question. We can go over some exercises to help determine when you should simplify wordiness.

Francesca likes tacos, but sometimes she thinks they’re too spicy and wishes they had less seasoning.

1. NO CHANGE
2. but she wishes they had less seasoning on them because she doesn’t like spicy food.
3. but sometimes they’re too spicy for her taste.
4. But sometimes she doesn’t care for the seasoning because it’s too spicy.

The first question you should ask yourself is: which choices are grammatically correct? If a choice isn’t grammatically correct, you can eliminate it immediately. If all choices are grammatically correct, it’s safe to say the question isn’t testing grammar or word choice, but rather style.

SAY IT AGAIN! The SAT likes clear and concise writing.

A – you could leave it as is, it does make sense after all. However, the original sentence does not do a good job of getting to the point. You can definitely say it in a more direct way, so this option is out.

B – Again, you could get to the point quicker, so if you can simplify the wordiness, this answer isn’t the BEST choice. While all answers could be correct, you’re looking for the BEST possible answer.

C – This option basically says the same thing as our original sentence, but it’s short and to the point. It would be hard to say it in a quicker way, while still hitting all points of the original sentence.

D – Again, this wording can be simplified to satisfy the clear and concise rule for the SAT.

C is our best option. It cuts out the fluff and gets to the point without losing meaning, which is exactly what College Board is looking for.

Redundancy on the SAT

While more commonly tested on the ACT, redundancy is the inefficient cousin of wordiness, and you may see it on the SAT as well. It essentially does the same thing as wordiness, it junks up your sentence with unnecessary language. Redundancy also breaks the number one rule of SAT writing: always simplify for clarity and conciseness.

You typically only need to say things once to get your point across, but in case you didn’t know, the SAT likes clear and concise writing.

Here are some examples of redundancy:

The two twins dress the same and it’s weird.

Obviously, there are two twins. ‘Twins’ literally means: made up of two similar, related, or connected members or parts. You don’t have to clarify that there are two twins, it is assumed by the word ‘twins’.

I repeated myself again: the SAT likes clear and concise writing.

The word ‘repeated’ implies something is happening again, so you don’t have to mention it.

However, contrary to Francesca’s incorrect opinion, tacos should be spicy.

‘However’ and ‘contrary to’ mean essentially the same thing, so you don’t need both here.

Final Thoughts

One more time for the road: the SAT likes clear and concise writing. If you don’t get it by now, I don’t know what to tell you.

If you bring nothing else with you to this section on the SAT, bring your new SAT prep mantra. As long as you keep in mind to simplify wordiness and redundancy on the SAT, you’ll do great. Eliminate what you don’t need and prioritize clarity. After the SAT, go crazy with as much detail as you want, but always keep your audience in mind to be the best writer possible.