Male student achieves top 1% SAT score worldwide.

Ngo Tien Anh, 18 years old, achieved a near-perfect SAT score of 1,590/1,600 after a summer of self-study.

Tien Anh, a student in class 12AE1 at Nguyen Sieu Secondary and High School in Hanoi , achieved a score of 1590/1600 on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) at the end of August. Specifically, Tien Anh scored a perfect 800/800 on the Math section and 790 on the Reading Comprehension section.

This is a standardized test widely used in college admissions in the US and many other countries. According to the College Board , the organization that administers the SAT, less than 1% of test-takers worldwide achieve a score like Tien Anh's.

Ngo Tien Anh, class 12AE1, Nguyen Sieu Secondary and High School, Hanoi. Photo: Provided by the subject.

Tien Anh's decision to take the SAT came around April of this year, when he set his sights on being accepted into the Pharmacy program at Monash University in Australia. Monash is one of Australia's top eight universities (G8 group) and ranks among the top three in the world for pharmacy programs. To have a chance of being accepted and to compete for one of the 35 entrance scholarships, the student realized he needed to quickly add this certificate to his application.

Tien Anh said he started late because most of his friends began studying for the SAT in 10th grade and finished the exam in 11th grade. However, he decided not to attend extra classes, but to study on his own at home.

"I took a mock exam in June and scored 1,430 points. I told myself that after two months, I could reach my goal of 1,500. Besides, if the August exam doesn't yield satisfactory results, I still have the November and May 2024 exams to retake," Tien Anh explained.

The SAT exam consists of two sections: Reading and Math, each with two modules of increasing difficulty. The exam is computer-based, with a total time of approximately 2.5 hours and a 20-minute break between the two sections.

The Reading Comprehension section has over 50 multiple-choice questions. Approximately half of the questions are accompanied by short passages, readings, or poems, while the rest are questions requiring information tables, sentence arrangement, etc. With his IELTS preparation experience, Tien Anh had developed skimming skills, so he didn't have difficulty with the question types based on the provided text.

The most difficult questions were those with poetic data. The male student said that, like in Vietnamese, this type of data often has multiple layers of literary meaning, while Tien Anh's vocabulary leans towards scientific texts. To overcome this, he studied more vocabulary and practiced these types of questions specifically.

Regarding the Math section, Tien Anh believes this is a strength of Vietnamese students when taking the SAT, as the knowledge mainly falls within the middle school math curriculum, with some difficult questions at the early high school level. However, the test will include distracting data that may not be needed to find the answers, unlike the "no superfluous data" principle in Vietnamese math exams. To answer correctly, test-takers need a solid grasp of the subject matter and careful attention to detail.

Studying for the SAT during the summer break allowed Tien Anh to focus on the subject in June, but by the latter half of July, when he returned to school, he felt quite overwhelmed. Besides his full-day school schedule, the male student also took extra classes in Math, Literature, and French. According to Tien Anh, the advantage was that despite having many things to do, he could manage his time effectively. On days when he was extremely busy, he would dedicate less time to the SAT, but never less than 45 minutes.

Tien Anh primarily uses online study materials and practice tests, rarely using physical textbooks. Additionally, he often asks for extra materials and advice from experienced classmates. Whenever he encounters difficult questions or new question types during practice, Tien Anh takes photos to discuss with his friends.

Tien Anh and his family on a trip to Ha Giang, September 2022. Photo: Provided by the subject.

Mr. Le Minh Thuc, Tien Anh's homeroom teacher, said that his student is always persistent, serious, and meticulous in his studies, and frequently discusses and seeks advice from teachers when encountering difficult problems.

"Tien Anh has clear goals, and from there he creates a suitable plan. The SAT result is the sweet reward for his perseverance," Mr. Thuc said.

The teacher said that in grades 9 and 10, Tien Anh studied the Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) program in Economics. In grade 11, he switched to the AE (Advanced Academic English) program, focusing on science subjects to pursue a degree in Pharmacy at university. The change in program meant Tien Anh started preparing for the SAT later, but it gave him a broader knowledge base.

Having fulfilled one criterion of his study abroad application, Tien Anh said, "I feel so relieved." Currently, he is focusing on improving his grades in class to compete for an entrance scholarship at Monash University.

Vnexpress.net