Hanoi University of Science and Technology stated that since the university switched to the credit-based training system, only The An and one other student majoring in Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering have achieved this score. Thus, The An has received an A grade in all subjects.
The male student said he had anticipated this result. "I feel very happy, even though this isn't a huge achievement. It gives me more motivation to continue pursuing my studies and research in the future," An said.
Nguyen The An is one of the first two students to graduate from Hanoi University of Science and Technology with a perfect GPA of 4.0/4.0. (Photo: Provided by the student)
The An, born in 2002, was the top-scoring student in the A1 group in Bac Ninh province in 2020. At that time, he achieved 29.1 points (excluding bonus points), ranking 5th nationwide. With this score, An was admitted to the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence program at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
The male student said that when he first entered the university, he didn't set a goal of becoming valedictorian because he knew the Polytechnic's program was very demanding and difficult. However, he had planned early on to achieve the university's academic achievement scholarship.
“At the Polytechnic University, the lowest scholarship amount is equal to the tuition fee; higher scholarships are 1.5 times the tuition fee. My program is one of the most expensive at the university, costing around 50-60 million VND per year. Therefore, I want to win a scholarship to help my parents avoid the additional burden of tuition fees,” Thế An said.
Although she didn't face any obstacles because the program was taught entirely in English due to her prior knowledge, An still found it difficult to adapt in the beginning because "each subject covered a different area of knowledge." To achieve high grades, students need to have a solid grasp of the subject matter.
"For some theoretical courses, the amount of lecture slides from the professors can reach thousands of pages, such as Operating Systems or Computer Architecture… To understand the content, I usually have to preview the provided slides, then go to class and continue listening to the professor's lecture."
According to An, students should not underestimate or ignore any knowledge but must learn everything. Furthermore, learners should expand their knowledge through books, online research, and doing many exercises to retain information better.
Studying for exams should also be planned well in advance, about a month before the exam, to avoid missing any material. "The first few semesters might be a bit difficult, but once you get used to the university-level learning style, the later semesters will be much easier," An said.
The An (on the left) and his classmates. (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)
Despite consistently achieving A grades in all subjects, An said: “Studying at the Polytechnic University, I never dared to be complacent for a single moment. To get a transcript full of A grades, besides effort, many other factors are needed, including luck. The more that happens, the more pressure I feel if I happen to get an A in any subject; I would be very upset.”
But in his third year, when he started participating in the machine learning research lab of Associate Professor Than Quang Khoat (School of Information Technology and Communications, Hanoi University of Science and Technology), The An gradually realized that grades weren't everything.
“The field of artificial intelligence is developing rapidly and continuously, demanding high-quality human resources. Therefore, students also need to learn how to conduct research and improve their knowledge base. In fact, many of my classmates may not have as high grades as me, but they do excellent research. That's when I realized that I still have a lot to learn.”
Aiming to pursue a research career alongside her studies, An began actively researching and working on assigned projects in the lab from her third year. Currently, An has two papers co-authored that are undergoing peer review at the International Conference on Neural Network Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2024).
An is currently an artificial intelligence research engineer. (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)
As An's research partner and mentor in the lab, Dr. Ngo Van Linh (Department of Computer Science, School of Information Technology and Communications) assessed that An always demonstrated seriousness and diligence, constantly taking the initiative to explore and propose creative ideas.
“An has a scientific work style, paying attention to even the smallest details. When receiving a research topic, she always spends a lot of time synthesizing and reflecting on related articles, asking herself questions and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of existing methods. From there, she will come up with ideas for improvement and create new, more effective methods. I think these qualities will be a solid foundation for her on her long research journey,” said Dr. Ngo Van Linh.
Dr. Linh also commented that An achieving a 4.0/4.0 GPA at the Polytechnic University "is extremely rare."
The Data Science and Artificial Intelligence program is taught in English by leading professors from both Vietnam and abroad. “Maintaining a perfect score in such a demanding environment shows that An is an all-around excellent student,” said Dr. Linh.
Currently, An is an artificial intelligence research engineer at FPT Software's Artificial Intelligence Center. During this time, she hopes to focus on her research to achieve certain results, and then apply for a doctoral scholarship abroad.
"Although the workforce in the artificial intelligence industry is growing, there is still a significant shortage of high-quality personnel. Therefore, I think this will be a path that will help me become more competitive in the job market," An said.
Vietnamnet.vn
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-bach-khoa-tot-nghiep-diem-tuyet-doi-2317697.html
Comment (0)