Talented male student enrolls in Hanoi University of Science and Technology with perfect SAT score

At the program "Hello Idol Talent Selection 2025" recently organized by Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Pham Tran Tien Khanh, a student of Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted, was one of 13 talented candidates honored for their excellent academic achievements.

Choosing to be admitted based on international certificates, Khanh has a score of 1,600 on SAT and 8.0 on IELTS. Currently, many Vietnamese candidates are in the top 1% with the highest SAT scores in the world , but the number of people who achieve a perfect score like Khanh is quite rare.

“When I applied for the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, I thought there would be many students who were more outstanding than me. However, I still applied because of my passion for programming and my desire to pursue a career in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence,” Khanh said.

Pham Tran Tien Khanh, student at Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted. *Photo: Ngoc Trang*

Having been admitted directly to the English class of Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted thanks to winning first place twice in the province in grades 8 and 9, Khanh said he was lucky to have built a solid foundation in this subject early. However, during his junior high school years, Khanh mainly learned English through books, focusing on improving basic grammar and vocabulary.

It was not until grade 10, when he had a lot of “capital”, that the male student began to change his way of thinking about learning English. Not considering it as a subject, Khanh considered English as a language, learning language means learning culture. Therefore, the male student began to learn English comfortably and freely, through sources such as watching news, international programs or any content related to English that made him feel… satisfied.

“When I started to put down my books, I realized that there are many interesting ways to learn English. I found learning with a relaxed mindset much more effective, so I started to take full advantage of that learning method,” Khanh said.

The male student also believes that learning English is a process, requiring a solid foundation, but not cramming vocabulary and grammar. Through specific contexts, learners can gradually develop their vocabulary.

Tien Khanh is a rare candidate who registered for Hanoi University of Science and Technology with an absolute SAT certificate and IELTS 8.0. *Photo: NVCC*

Having twice achieved national excellent student in English in grades 11 and 12, but fearing that the talent selection for this award is limited, Khanh decided to take some more certificates to "firm his feet". Thanks to his solid English foundation, Khanh did not feel "overwhelmed" when deciding to study for SAT and IELTS certificates.

Not attending any center or online course, Khanh chose to self-study, finding review materials on free sharing groups. The male student also did not practice randomly, only focused on doing real exam questions from previous exams, from there getting familiar with the way the questions were set, and gaining experience in the process of doing the test.

The most difficult part of the SAT, according to Khanh, is the Command of Evidence section in Reading, which requires candidates to identify evidence to support a specific statement.

This type of question often requires reading comprehension, logical reasoning and assessing the appropriateness of the paragraphs to the given argument. However, Khanh was familiar with these types of questions during the national excellent student exam preparation process, so they were not too difficult.

“In all the practice tests, I scored 1,550 or higher. In the last test, I scored 1,590. Therefore, in the official test, I only allowed myself to get one wrong question. When I left the test room, I thought I could get 1,600, so I wasn’t surprised,” Khanh said.

Applying for the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence major, Khanh said that many students majoring in IT and Mathematics will have an advantage over him. However, with his love for programming and experience making some games for his hobbies, Khanh hopes to be accepted and be able to conquer complex algorithms.

Associate Professor Dr. Vu Duy Hai, Head of Admissions and Career Guidance Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that Tien Khanh is one of the outstanding "Idols" among about 5,000 applications for talent recruitment this year.

In addition to Khanh, many candidates who participated in the selection based on international certificates had high results such as SAT score of 1600/1600 with IELTS 8.0, AP 15/15 and IELTS 8.5. Some students achieved A-Level 30/30 with IELTS 7.5.

Mr. Hai said that more and more students are taking international certificates, so the number of candidates applying to schools with these certificates has increased sharply in recent years. In addition, the fact that some countries such as the US have recently begun to limit the number of international students applying to Hanoi University of Science and Technology may also be the reason why more students with international certificates are applying to Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

What does Hanoi University of Science and Technology interview 'talented' candidates about? 450 teachers of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, all of whom have experience studying abroad and have participated in scholarship interviews, will directly interview 3,000 talented candidates.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-tai-nang-dang-ky-vao-bach-khoa-ha-noi-voi-diem-sat-tuyet-doi-2413935.html