Value in the context of writing the US application essay really means anything that gives meaning to your essay. The US application essay really is this valuable space for you to talk about yourself so do not squander it by using blank fillers. Every word counts! Normal fillers such as "It is in my opinion blah blah blah..." can be easily spotted but value-less fillers are harder to find. Lets look at this as an example:
This was the message I understood when I was selected for National Service, but National Service was a genuine Rashomon. Nobody knew what would happen, but everybody agreed that it was bad news.
This sentence was in the fourth draft of my Commonapp essay and in hindsight not a very good inclusion. On the surface, this sentence looks OK. I was explaining about the mysterious concept of National Service in Malaysia but then what happened was after that I went on to talk about the other facets of National Service. This move was totally a disservice to the explanation earlier. The earlier sentence was not used properly and became useless. It became value-less.
You might ask: So I can't explain anything now?
I like to think of the essay as harmonious music. One dissonant note and it would spoil the whole effect of the essay, so imagine you were playing the piano. Would you go an press an unnecessary key randomly? Sometimes it will spoil the music but most of the time it would just do nothing. It is not logical to waste your word limit on such empty sentences.
When I was editing the school magazine in form 5 of my secondary school, my teacher kept telling us about the concept of “取舍” or "taking and abandoning". One of the basics of editing essays is to always write long and cut short (which I used in my UCAS Personal Statement) but how do you know which to cut? That is the skill and art my friend, and once you have learned how to identify the valuable sentences, you would be able to retain the treasures and throw the trash.
Let Lumo answer your question: Cut out the explanations that are not very relevant. You have to write only what matters. Those that have value.
Another weird property about value is that it can swing the other way. Take this opening as an example:
I once dreamt of becoming Malaysia’s first astronaut, but Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar beat me to it.
I sympathize with astronauts - intrepid explorers of the vast universe. Of 7 billion people in the world, how many are astronauts?
I once wanted to touch the moon and live without gravity, but who else shares these feeling?
Who would understand me?
Cue Sunway College.
These took up 62 words of 500 out of my UC essay, but I think that it was words well spent. Although it does not explain anything concrete, it conjured a feeling of alienation with imageries of space. These add value not in the concrete sense of aiding the narration but rather creating a majestic feeling. Also it functions as a hook to get people interested. At any time, you should write sentences like this, instead of plain-old-Jane sentences. Sometimes sacrificing a bit of content to create some mood in your essay is perfectly acceptable. You are not supposed to tell the story, you are supposed to describe it.
Again using the piano analogy: How do you play music if you don't have the scores? Use your intuition. Let your sense guide you. How do you feel at the time of the event? What was the mood hanging in the air? Pepper your essay with some of these feelings - vague or regardless.
At the end of the day, value is really a very powerful guideline for you to write your essay. Instead of using some superstitious rules in writing the essay or depending on others' opinions, you now have a solid rock to rely on. Instead of reading it in its generalities or scrutinizing every word, you can now self-censure using the "does it add value?" method. If the answer is a "NO", you should probably find a substitute for it.
If it doesn't work or if you have better methods, just share below!
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