Phan Linh Lan, 17 years old, grade 12 student at Concordia School (Hanoi), was overwhelmed with emotion when she received the letter of acceptance to Harvard University's Law program in the early admission round. Linh Lan became the first student of the school to be accepted to this prestigious university.
Phan Linh Lan, a 12th grade student at Concordia International School Hanoi, received news of her admission to Harvard University on December 13 - Photo: NVCC
"At 7am on December 13, I sat down and pressed F5 to wait for the email announcing the results. When I opened the email and saw that I had been accepted to Harvard Law School, I was very surprised. During the days waiting for the results, I was very worried because in previous years, many students had been accepted to top US schools, but none of them had ever been accepted to Harvard.
I even took the initiative to write essays to apply to other schools if I didn't get into Harvard. Luckily, this preparation won't be needed anymore," Linh Lan recounted.
Build a plan to apply to Harvard from high school
Linh Lan said that it took her 3 months to prepare her application for early admission to Harvard University, but in fact she had been preparing since her junior high school years.
In 6th grade, while studying at an international school in England and Australia, but because she was so passionate about studying abroad in the US and loved Harvard University through movies, Linh Lan transferred to Concordia International School Hanoi to have suitable preparation for her personal plan.
From 6th to 8th grade, Linh Lan began studying for the ACT, an exam that many top schools in the US use for admission. In October 2024, near the deadline for submitting applications, Linh Lan took the ACT and scored 35/36.
Since grade 9, the female student began participating in business clubs, scientific research in the fields of history and politics to compete.
Accordingly, in grades 9 and 10, the female student won first prize in the AI JAM research on the conservation of endangered birds in Vietnam by using AI technology to detect animal sounds, and the AI JAM project on accident prevention by using AI to detect road faults.
In addition, Linh Lan won the bronze medal in the national competition of Vietnam DECA 2024 with a creative business case study, demonstrating analytical skills.
Previously, in March 2023, Linh Lan was elected as the president of DECA Vietnam, a member of DECA International - a non-profit organization with many activities for students.
In the summer of 10th grade going to 11th grade and 11th grade going to 12th grade, Linh Lan also attended a summer camp at Harvard, studying for 7 weeks each year. Linh Lan chose to study her favorite subjects at this summer camp such as law and history. Through these two trips, the female student became even more eager to conquer this prestigious school.
Linh Lan said she always works with discipline, the female student makes personal plans every day, every week, every month - Photo: NVCC
Ms. Do Thuy Linh - Linh Lan's mother - said that since she was a child, the girl has developed quite evenly in both music and sports. Linh Lan can play many musical instruments, especially the zither, piano and violin. In sports, since grade I, Linh Lan has won many gold medals in swimming; and has competed in soccer and basketball tournaments in Malaysia and Thailand.
In terms of languages, Linh Lan is strong in English and Spanish, and can also communicate in French and Chinese.
"From primary to high school, Linh Lan studied and communicated 100% in English, and read books in English. Because she was afraid that her child would forget the nation's history and culture, from a young age my husband often let her watch movies about Vietnamese history so that she could understand the nation's culture. From here, Linh Lan had a special passion for reading. The books she chose to read were mostly related to the history and politics of countries around the world," said Linh.
Using passion for history to convince Harvard University
Linh Lan said that when applying for admission, Harvard University requires candidates to write a main essay and 5 supplementary essays. In the main essay of 650 words, Linh Lan chose to write about her passion for history, in order to preserve the cultural and historical values of the nation in the digital age.
Linh Lan’s favorite essay is about her family’s seafood business. Specifically, in the essay, Linh Lan shared the story of how, at the age of 12, she followed her parents to Canada, Korea, etc. to meet business partners, using English and Spanish to help her parents translate.
The trips gave the 12-year-old girl her first experiences with family work and a better understanding of her parents' work. "This is also the motivation for me to see the importance of English and how the international environment affects me," Linh Lan said.
Sharing her future plans, Linh Lan said she will choose to study at Harvard University to realize her dream of becoming an economic lawyer. In the future, the female student will still study normally to maintain her grades and consider learning another foreign language.
Linh Lan has a special passion for the zither - Photo: NVCC
Mr. Ben Compton - university advisor of Concordia International School (Hanoi) - said that during her studies, Linh Lan was especially interested in complex ideas, especially issues related to history and politics.
To pursue learning in the most authentic way, the female student constantly searched for connections between the past and the present to make learning more personalized.
"Linh Lan is a good student who has taken the most rigorous academic program available at Concordia, and she has taken advantage of the flexibility of the advanced placement curriculum to explore her love of the social sciences.
In addition to being the president of DECA Vietnam, Linh Lan is also the deputy editor-in-chief of Concordia's school newspaper. Linh Lan is an extremely kind person, a talented historian, and loves the history and culture of the Vietnamese people," said Mr. Compton.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nu-sinh-17-tuoi-trung-tuyen-harvard-voi-bai-luan-chia-se-ly-do-muon-hoc-lich-su-20241217201920112.htm
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