Female student majoring in Pedagogy achieved a perfect score of 1,600 on SAT after only 3 months of studying

(Dan Tri) - Pham Do Thai An, a 12th grade Biology major at the University of Education High School for the Gifted, just received his perfect SAT score of 1,600 on the evening of December 20.

At 7 p.m., while visiting his sick homeroom teacher with his friends, Pham Do Thai An received his SAT results via email. Seeing his score of 1,600 appear, An trembled with surprise and happiness. His friends hugged him, congratulated him, and reassured him. This was An's first time taking the SAT.

Pham Do Thai An is a 12th grade student majoring in Biology at the University of Education High School for the Gifted (Photo: NVCC).

The female student majoring in Education started studying for the SAT on August 16. During the 3 months of studying, in addition to doing the questions assigned by her teacher, An searched for more test questions and materials online. She also did the questions on Bluebook, the official test preparation platform of the College Board - the unit that manages this exam. According to An's assessment, the test questions on Bluebook are relatively close in difficulty to the actual test questions.

As a student majoring in biology, with strengths in math and natural sciences , the math section of the SAT test was not difficult for An. The challenge for the female student was in the reading comprehension section. An shared that she used a logical learning method to solve the problems instead of trying to memorize.

When practicing, An focuses a lot on the formats that are often wrong, such as the literature section. She prints all her mistakes into a book, and will review them carefully at the end of the week.

"I also discovered that I shouldn't read and translate each sentence and each word, because this is very time-consuming. Instead, I read according to "keywords" (important keywords), grasp the main ideas of the paragraph, and my test-taking speed will be faster and more effective. To do this, I have to carefully study the vocabulary commonly found in the SAT test," An said.

Pham Do Thai An's secret to studying for the SAT is to print out all his mistakes in a book to review carefully (Photo: NVCC).

Every day, An attends regular classes in the morning. In the afternoon, the school allows students to study on their own, and An practices SAT questions from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. In the evening, An does homework for school subjects.

On December 7, when An stepped out of the SAT exam room, she was quite confident with her results. However, she only set a goal of 1,500. Achieving a perfect score surprised An greatly.

Mr. Pham Duy Minh - Pham Do Thai An's father - shared that before getting her SAT score, the female student also achieved 7.5 IELTS on her first attempt.

An's house is in Long Bien district, while the University of Education High School for the Gifted is in Cau Giay district. Every day, An travels nearly 20km to go to school. An said he feels grateful and lucky to be able to study at this school.

"Teachers always create conditions for us to develop our abilities and strengths, and my friends are very good. That is both motivation and pressure for me to strive to study. I am also lucky to have parents who always follow, support and accompany me," An confided.

Despite her excellent academic results, An has no intention of studying abroad at university level. Her goal is to be admitted to VinUni University, majoring in Medicine. She hopes to receive a good scholarship to be able to study here.

An's goal is to be admitted to VinUni University, majoring in Medicine (Photo: NVCC).

The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the USeducation system. The test consists of two sections, math and reading, each with a maximum score of 800. The maximum total score is 1,600. Only 1% of test takers worldwide achieve this score.

Figures from the College Board - the SAT testing unit - show that the number of Vietnamese candidates taking the SAT has increased sharply in the past two years.

The number of SAT test takers increased by about 6-17% each year from 2019 to 2022. In 2023, that number will be 74.4%. The College Board estimates that the increase in 2024 compared to 2023 will be about 63%.

The surge in the number of SAT test takers is related to the increasing number of universities in Vietnam using the results of this standardized test in admissions.

According to the College Board report, candidates with high SAT scores also achieve outstanding academic results in college. The College Board's global survey data shows that candidates with SAT scores of 1400 or higher have a freshman GPA of 3.57 or higher.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nu-sinh-chuyen-su-pham-dat-diem-tuyet-doi-1600-sat-chi-sau-3-thang-on-20241220230330274.htm