5 talented young Vietnamese faces enter the prestigious Harvard gate

Nguyen Do Thu Phuong

Nguyen Do Thu Phuong (born 2001), studied at Bao Loc High School for the Gifted, Lam Dong Province. She graduated with a nursing degree from VinUni University and completed a double degree in foreign economics at Foreign Trade University before applying to the Global Health Delivery master's program at Harvard Medical School.

At first, Thu Phuong had no plans to study abroad, she only started preparing her application at the end of her third year of university. Researching the requirements, supplementing documents and completing the essay were done in a rather short time, but her clear personal story helped her get accepted to Harvard Medical School - the third oldest medical institution in the US, founded in 1782.

Here, Phuong became the first Vietnamese and the youngest student to enroll in the Master of Global Healthcare Delivery program. After her first year, she achieved a perfect GPA of 4.0/4.0, a result that reflects her ability to adapt and pursue a high-standard academic environment.

Nguyen Do Thu Phuong (middle) achieved perfect scores at the world's top school.

Nguyen Do Thu Phuong (middle) achieved a perfect score at the world's top school.

Nguyen Duc Anh Phu

Nguyen Duc Anh Phu (born 2003) from Lam Dong, followed his family to the US at the age of 6. Because his parents were not fluent in English, he quickly adapted to the new environment and proactively learned to keep up with his friends. His childhood was associated with the low-income life of an immigrant family, but Phu always tried to create opportunities for himself.

At the age of 16, Phu opened a phone repair and sales store called Phu's Phone Emporium. He learned all the skills of repairing, managing and promoting the business online. After two years, the store had more than 2,500 customers with a revenue of about 250,000 USD, becoming an important highlight in Phu's application.

His story of overcoming difficulties, his ability to self-study and his good academic performance helped Phu stand out from 57,000 applications to Harvard, where only 1,900 candidates were selected. The school appreciated the efforts of the boy from a family of migrant workers and gave him an admission and a scholarship of 288,000 USD.

Nguyen Duc Anh Phu with his startup story, conquered Harvard scholarship.

Phan Linh Lan

Phan Linh Lan (born 2007) was admitted to Harvard Law School after three months of completing her application. The process of preparing for her goal of becoming a Harvard student began when Linh Lan was in middle school.

From grade 6, Linh Lan transferred from the British-Australian International School to Concordia International School Hanoi to pursue her goal of studying abroad in the US. From grade 6 to grade 8, the female student focused on studying for the ACT and achieved a score of 35/36 in October 2024, right before the application deadline.

Since grade 9, Linh Lan has expanded her academic activities through business clubs and scientific research on history and politics. She won first prize in two AI JAM projects related to rare bird conservation and traffic accident prevention using AI technology; and also won a bronze medal at Vietnam DECA 2024 with a creative business case study. These activities are considered an important foundation for her Harvard application.

For two consecutive summers, Linh Lan attended a seven-week Harvard summer camp each year, choosing to study law and history - her favorite fields and also the main content of her 650-word essay to the school.

With her strengths in foreign languages including English, Spanish and the ability to communicate in French and Chinese, Linh Lan said she chose Harvard University to pursue her goal of becoming an economic lawyer in the future.

Phan Linh Lan persistently pursues her goals and passion.

Tran Thi Dieu Lien

Tran Thi Dieu Lien (born 1997), a former English major student at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (HCMC), was admitted to Harvard University in April 2016 with a scholarship of 302,920 USD for four years of study. Before that, she had passed both major specialized schools in HCMC and chose Le Hong Phong to focus on practicing English.

Born into a poor family, with a father who worked as a sign maker and a mother who worked as a janitor, Dieu Lien once considered Harvard a distant goal. Her dream of studying abroad was nurtured since middle school when she learned about Singapore's A*Star scholarship, although it only stopped at the interview round.

Tran Thi Dieu Lien, a female student admitted to Harvard University with a scholarship of more than 300,000 USD.

During her high school years, Dieu Lien continuously made efforts to study, won many scholarships and scientific research awards, typically the fourth prize at the Intel ISEF competition with the topic "Braille display board for the visually impaired".

Without financial means, Dieu Lien studied and prepared her own scholarship application, while maintaining her passion for science by constantly tinkering with old materials. She believes that circumstances are no excuse for failure, and it is her determination that has helped her get closer to the door of Harvard.

Le Vu Minh Tri

Le Vu Minh Tri (born 2006), a 12th grade Math 1 student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, has an IELTS score of 8.5, SAT score of 1,550/1,600 and many national excellent student achievements. With an outstanding profile, Tri passed the rigorous selection process and received an acceptance letter from Harvard University, along with a full scholarship for 4 years of study.

Tri started preparing his application in April 2023, but he encountered many difficulties even though he searched for information online. After receiving guidance from a free study abroad consulting program, the male student completed his application according to Harvard's strict requirements, including one main essay and five supplementary essays.

In his main essay, Minh Tri chose to recount his experience of viewing an art exhibition made from sugar materials - where he realized the connection between mathematics and art.

According to Minh Tri, that moment opened up a new approach, becoming an important milestone in the journey of maturity and self-affirmation.

Le Vu Minh Tri, a talented young man, seeks the connection between mathematics and art.

Minh Tri said he was extremely surprised when he was admitted to Harvard University and received a full scholarship of 9.4 billion VND because this is really not easy.

"Every year, Harvard University only accepts 1-2 students from Vietnam, so the chance of being accepted into the school is very difficult. This is even more difficult when I applied in the Regular Decision period with a very high competition rate and Harvard accepted a Vietnamese student from the Early Decision period," the male student said.

Giang Pham (synthesis)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/5-guong-mat-tre-viet-tai-nang-buoc-vao-canh-cong-harvard-danh-gia-ar990960.html