At 3:00 a.m. on December 14, Nguyen Bentley Minh Nhat, class 12B3, Vinschool The Harmony, received the results of his admission to the Film and Business major at Dartmouth College (USA).
"My best friend and I called each other to wait for the results. Part of me was worried, but the other part was very hopeful. When I opened the letter and read the word "Congratulations", I jumped out of my chair and ran around the house in overwhelming happiness. I told my dad and grandma the news, and they were very proud," Minh Nhat proudly said.
Dartmouth awarded Minh Nhat a scholarship worth more than $80,000 a year (VND2 billion) for 4 years of study. With this support, his family only has to pay $11,000 (VND280 million) per year.
Minh Nhat received a scholarship worth more than 80,000 USD a year (2 billion VND) and lasted 4 years of study at Dartmouth University, USA (Photo: NVCC).
Minh Nhat was born in Canada and moved to Vietnam with his parents in first grade. Throughout elementary school, he traveled back and forth between the two countries before returning permanently in sixth grade.
"Thanks to my parents' upbringing, I had no difficulty adapting to Vietnamese culture. My parents always reminded me of my roots, taught me to speak Vietnamese, and always kept family traditions such as eating Vietnamese food and celebrating Tet according to customs," I confided.
When he began the college application process, Minh Nhat knew he wanted to study filmmaking in the United States. Minh Nhat initially considered schools like NYU, USC, and Chapman—top film schools. But after doing some research, he realized that these schools rarely offered large scholarships to international students.
"My family always prioritized scholarships, so I turned to Ivy League schools. Among them, Dartmouth stood out because they did not consider financial ability when considering admission - and met all my criteria, had a film major, high scholarships, and reputation," Minh Nhat said.
The male student said that he did not participate in many clubs or events at school. Most of his time was devoted to his greatest passion: filmmaking. "I have made many short films and sent them to international film festivals.
As a director, screenwriter, and editor, I can freely express my emotions and ideas through each film. For me, this is not only a hobby but also a part of life," the male student confided.
Minh Nhat (right photo) and his best friend during a graduation photo shoot (Photo: NVCC).
Minh Nhat said that because he had been negligent in the past, he decided that he needed to "plow" to improve his score first. This male student practiced the types of questions and test questions from previous years and studied for the SAT. As a result, Minh Nhat got 4 As, and 1,530/1,600 SAT points.
The application process took more than 6 months, and the deadline for early admissions to US schools was early November, so preparing the application was somewhat rushed. "I had to prepare the application while also ensuring my schoolwork, so I only slept 3-4 hours a day," he said.
Minh Nhat's "Why Us?" essay required him to convincingly explain why he chose Dartmouth. He did so creatively, demonstrating the fit between Dartmouth and his career aspirations.
It is worth noting that Minh Nhat himself gave many ideas in his essay. But in the end, the male student chose to write about his favorite dish, steak.
Normally, delicious tender steak is often made from expensive ingredients such as tenderloin, but when we don't have money to buy good ingredients, we have to find a way to prepare it to get the best finished product.
In the first part, the essay begins by describing the smell of smoke and beef filling the house as Minh Nhat tries every trick in the book to make the flank steak tender. Minh Nhat pounded the meat, sprinkled it with baking soda, and marinated it in pineapple juice, but the meat remained tough.
"My dad taught me how to make beef softer by rotating it 90 degrees and cutting across the grain. Finding a way to cook delicious beef steak even with cheap ingredients, I realized that all difficult problems in life can be solved by changing the perspective and approach," Minh Nhat said.
Minh Nhat will study Film and Business at Dartmouth College (USA) from August 2025 (Photo: NVCC).
In the essay, Minh Nhat shared how his favorite steak is not just a cooking challenge, but a metaphor for how he faces every difficulty in life, always looking to change his perspective to find a solution.
The steak dish helped Minh Nhat realize that sometimes in life, just changing the way you approach a problem can solve everything effectively.
Additionally, in a supplementary essay, Minh Nhat wrote about his dream of making films about Vietnamese folk tales such as Son Tinh Thuy Tinh, Thanh Giong, Tam Cam... and how he wants to preserve Vietnamese cultural identity instead of copying Hollywood.
Next August, Minh Nhat will begin his journey to study abroad. He always tries to live by Connor Roy's quote from the movie "Succession": "I'm like water, I flow". This means he doesn't worry too much about the future, but instead focuses on adapting to every situation and doing his best to take advantage of opportunities.
Minh Nhat not only wants to pursue his dream of making films, but also wants to use the experiences he learned at Dartmouth to expand his career and support his family, by combining business and art. With passion, perseverance and endless creativity, Minh Nhat will continue to write his success story.
"After focusing on my goal of getting into university and winning a scholarship, now I can go out more and continue filming my favorite film projects," he said.
Dantri.com.vn
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