Achieving a perfect SAT score, female student does not choose to study abroad, wants to go to university in Vietnam

In her first SAT exam, female student Pham Do - Thai An, Hanoi University of Education High School for the Gifted, received an excellent result with a score of 1600/1600.

“When I received the email announcing my SAT score of 1,600, I was overwhelmed with happiness, but my parents were quite shocked. They were afraid I had seen wrongly so they told me to check again,” said Thai An, a 12th grade student majoring in Biology at Hanoi National University of Education High School for the Gifted.

10X started studying for the SAT in mid-August. During the 3 months of studying, in addition to studying at the center, Thai An actively searched for materials online to practice, and also did exercises on Bluebook - the official test preparation platform of the College Board (the exam management unit).

When he first encountered the SAT test, 10X felt quite overwhelmed because there were many new words and long paragraphs. To achieve good results, Thai An worked hard, spending 4-5 hours a day studying for the SAT, doing 2-3 practice tests and correcting each question in detail.

When practicing, if she gets a question wrong, Thai An prints it out and does it again at the end of the week to remember it longer and avoid repeating the same mistake. 1-2 days before the exam, the female student continues to summarize the types of questions that are often wrong to review.

With her natural strengths in natural sciences, Thai An assessed that the Math section of the SAT was not too difficult. The challenge for the female student was the Reading section. This passage is often long, making it difficult for candidates to remember. Therefore, the 10X from Hanoi uses a logical learning method to solve the problem instead of trying to memorize.

Every day, Thai An studies in the morning. In the afternoon, when the school allows students to study on their own, she spends time practicing SAT questions. In the evening, Thai An does her homework for school subjects.

Before achieving a perfect SAT score, Thai An achieved 7.5 IELTS on his first attempt. (Photo: NVCC)

On December 7, when she stepped out of the SAT exam room, the female student from Hanoi was quite confident with the result. However, she only set a goal of 1,500, so achieving a perfect score surprised her.

According to Mr. Pham Duy Minh, Thai An's father, his daughter commuted 20km to school every day, from Long Bien district to Cau Giay. When she was young, she loved Math, and later expressed her dream of studying Medicine. Being admitted to the Biology specialized class of Hanoi National University of Education's High School for the Gifted was also when Thai An's journey to fulfill her dream began.

Mr. Minh said that before getting the SAT score, his daughter got 7.5 IELTS on her first try. "After she achieved the unexpected result, my wife and I talked to her that there was an equally important exam ahead, the high school graduation exam. This result is both motivation and pressure for her, so her parents always hope that she will be mentally prepared for this exam," said Mr. Minh.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong, homeroom teacher of the 12th grade Biology class, commented that Thai An is an active student. In addition to studying, An also participates in several inter-school clubs to prepare an impressive extracurricular profile, serving his plans to study abroad and apply to major universities in the country.

According to Mr. Cong, the results that Thai An achieved came from many different aspects. Among them, we cannot fail to mention her great efforts and scientific learning methods. The female student has the ability to self-study and self-correct. A solid knowledge base, along with the support of teachers, helped Thai An build an effective exam review plan.

Despite achieving a perfect SAT score, opening up opportunities to many major universities around the world, Thai An said she has no intention of studying abroad. Her goal is to be admitted to the Faculty of Medicine at VinUni University.

"The medical industry in our country is very developed, I hope to receive a good scholarship to be able to study in the country," the female student from Hanoi shared.

The SAT is a standardized aptitude test widely used for college admissions in the US education system and recognized by many world-renowned universities.
The test consists of Math, Language and Reading. The maximum score is 1600. Only 1% of test takers worldwide achieve this score.
According to data from the College Board (the SAT testing unit), the number of Vietnamese candidates taking the SAT has increased sharply in the past two years. This is related to the fact that more and more universities in Vietnam are using the results of this standardized test in their admissions.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dat-diem-sat-tuyet-doi-nu-sinh-khong-chon-du-hoc-muon-vao-dai-hoc-o-viet-nam-ar915848.html