Studying at a school with a low entrance score, male student unexpectedly won the national excellent student award

The male student from Minh Quang High School surprised everyone because for many years this school had the lowest entrance score for grade 10 in Hanoi, even at 3.4 points/subject, he was able to pass the exam.

The Son Tay - Ba Vi admission cluster has nearly 10 public high schools, including Son Tay High School. However, Tien said he chose Minh Quang High School simply because it was close to home, not just because he wanted to "pass by a margin". Because in the 10th grade exam, he scored nearly 40 points, while the school's standard score was 13.

Do Chi Tien, a student at Minh Quang High School (known as a school located in a disadvantaged area and with the lowest entrance score for grade 10 in Hanoi) impressed when he won third prize in the national excellent student selection exam for the 2023-2024 school year. Photo: Thanh Hung.

Tien said that as a student of a non-specialized school, and a low-ranking student, being able to enter the Geography team of Hanoi City to compete in the national competition for excellent students was truly a stroke of luck, because he had to overcome many opponents, especially those from specialized classes.

This year is the first time Tien has participated in the national excellent student competition. Last year, he participated in the Geography exam at the city level excellent student competition and won second prize, but luck has not smiled on him.

But the male student's efforts were eventually rewarded.

The Hanoi team participating in the national excellent student competition this school year consists of 20 students, 15 of whom won prizes, including 1 first prize, 6 second prizes, 5 third prizes and 2 consolation prizes.

Of the 20 people, only Tien is a non-major student, the rest are from Geography specialized classes of specialized schools or have specialized classes.

“The first days of studying, I was a bit scared. I was worried about the knowledge and the new learning environment. It was the first time I studied away from home and the number of study hours was also different.”

Coming from a school in a poor district with a low entrance score for grade 10, Tien said that at first, he felt at a disadvantage compared to his classmates at specialized schools. “At first, I was a bit out of breath compared to my classmates. After the first tests during the team preparation process, I found that my score was not high.”

Tien was a bit confused because of the new knowledge that he had never known before. He felt that his friends were exposed to a lot of new and broader knowledge.

Feeling a bit behind, Tien proactively consulted seniors in Ba Vi district about learning methods, as well as finding ways to change learning methods.

“The first days of studying for the national team were really difficult for me in terms of both transportation and knowledge. However, thanks to the encouragement and support of teachers, friends and family, I was able to overcome those difficulties. Gradually, when the whole class approached a new problem together, I no longer felt any differences in thinking,” Tien said.

His test scores also gradually improved and Tien proved his ability with third prize this year.

The result was surprising, but the male student also felt a bit regretful. “Because I got 13 points, while 13.25 points could have won second prize,” Tien shared regretfully.

The result could have been better if Tien had not misread the content of a question due to the pressure in the exam room. “In addition, I missed some ideas in some questions, while in reality I could have done those ideas completely.”

With the third prize, Tien is the first national excellent student in Geography and also the first national excellent student of Minh Quang High School in its 10-year history, and also the third candidate of the district to do this. Photo: Thanh Hung.

Tien said that he pursued Geography because of his passion since middle school and was inspired by a teacher. He has a hobby of looking at maps, atlases and learning about the world.

Geography also attracts me because I feel that the knowledge can be applied in real life.

“I feel that this subject has both natural and social knowledge, and can be applied in many aspects of life, so I have pursued it since then.”

Geography not only requires social and population analysis, but also requires skills in calculation and data processing. At first, Tien spent a lot of time solving questions that were more mathematical than theoretical. But gradually, he improved and shortened the time for questions that required calculation.

Tien's study method is to try to study hard to master the basic knowledge in the textbook, then learn how to process data and do exercises fluently. "Only when we have a solid grasp of the theory can we apply it to answer the questions well."

In addition to studying in textbooks, I study additional documents from teachers, exchange documents and learn more knowledge on Facebook groups.

With the third prize, Tien is the first national excellent student in Geography and also the first national excellent student of Minh Quang High School in its 10-year history.

She also became the third candidate of Ba Vi district to be a national excellent student.

With this result, Tien will be admitted directly to university after finishing high school. However, the male student said that at this time, he does not have a specific direction and still has a lot of time to consider further directions. What the male student wants to focus on is completing his studies well before graduating from high school.

The school with the lowest 10th grade benchmark score in Hanoi has its first nationally excellent student.

On the afternoon of February 5, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training held a conference to commend and reward collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in the national high school student selection exam for the 2023-2024 school year.