Female student wins 6.6 billion VND scholarship to Stanford

Tran Phuong Anh, 18 years old, will go to Stanford University to study architecture, carrying the dream of building "cities with extremely good transportation systems for everyone".

Phuong Anh, a 12th grade student of Physics 1 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, received news that she was accepted to Stanford University at the end of 2022 with a total four-year scholarship equivalent to 6.6 billion VND. This school is ranked third in the world university rankings by US News, with an acceptance rate of only 4% out of more than 50,000 applications each year.

Originally majoring in Physics, Phuong Anh initially set her sights on being admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. However, at the beginning of 11th grade, she decided to change direction and apply to Stanford University to pursue Architecture.

This turning point came when Phuong Anh realized that she could spend all day and night drawing or thinking about projects, buildings and the lives within them. "The logical thinking when deducing, the ability to estimate, and the recognition of development when studying Physics helped me confidently pursue Architecture," Phuong Anh said.

Contrary to what many people think of students in specialized schools, this girl said she doesn’t spend much time studying after school. Since primary school, during breaks between classes, Phuong Anh often draws and makes paper models, and does all her natural homework right at school. When she gets home, she plays the guitar, has dinner, and talks to everyone. In 2020, when she entered 10th grade, Phuong Anh focused on Physics.

Phuong Anh at the campus of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, January 2023. Photo: Le Lai

Phuong Anh won first prize in the Hanoi Physics Competition for Excellent Students in 2021, a Silver medal in the Nordic International Physics Competition in 2022; and a Bronze medal in the International Science and Invention Fair (ISIF) in the same year.

Phuong Anh's application to Stanford University's Architecture program includes her resume, school grades, standardized scores (SAT, IELTS), essay, recommendation letter, extracurricular activities, and artistic portfolio.

Phuong Anh has been proactive in extracurricular activities with a reasonable time allocation strategy from grade 9 to grade 12. She said she once interned at an interior design company to gain access to construction designs and construction materials commonly used in Vietnam. She also founded the Tet Envelope Project, designing Tet lucky money envelopes, using the proceeds to donate to the classes where she volunteered to teach.

"I do extracurricular activities based on what I like. Therefore, they have naturally identified with my passion for architecture and are pieces that make up who I am," the female student said.

The transcripts required by American universities include grades 9 through 12. Phuong Anh believes that if you start studying hard in grades 10 or 11, it will be very difficult to get into the top 20 schools in the US. She tries to maintain good academic results with an average GPA of 9.7/10, 7.5 IELTS and 1500/1600 SAT.

Since grade 11, female students have written essays, created art portfolios, and asked for recommendation letters.

The essays were written by Phuong Anh from the beginning of 2022, with many ideas. In total, the female student submitted 9 essays to Stanford, along with an art portfolio of 10 digital drawings.

Phuong Anh (third from right) takes a photo with the 2022 Nordic Physics team at the Hanoi - Amsterdam High School yard, May 2022. Photo: Provided by the character

“The first thing you should know about me is: I am a kid and I am proud of it,” Phuong Anh began her main essay. The student admitted that her Netflix recommendations were full of cartoons; the lion-shaped cookies made her happy. But nothing could stop her from studying.

"Like a panting child pulling a bicycle uphill, developing motor skills with each step, I also like to experiment with the real world to understand our theoretical world," the student wrote in the essay, citing how she often stuffed her backpack with ropes, pebbles and plastic tubes, then tested her "weird" ideas.

Phuong Anh thinks that in addition to a comprehensive application, what helped her conquer the Stanford University admissions board was that she consistently expressed her identity.

Phuong Anh and her mother. Photo: Le Lai

Ms. Le Kim Phuong, Phuong Anh's mother, said that her daughter is independent, kind, eager to learn, witty and also very stubborn, often arguing with her mother. "She likes to spend time playing outside rather than sitting and studying, so sometimes I am very worried. However, seeing that she learns a lot when she goes out, I let her be comfortable," Ms. Phuong said.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Quang, Head of Physics Department at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, said that scores, titles and awards are not too important to Phuong Anh. He recalled that his student skipped the IELTS exam in October 2022 because he was busy guiding a group of primary and secondary school students to participate in science competitions. Some of them won medals, both domestically and internationally.

Participating in supporting Phuong Anh in the Nordic Physics Olympiad, Associate Professor Nguyen Cao Khang, from the Physics Department of Hanoi National University of Education, assessed Phuong Anh as having a broad knowledge and a unique way of explaining social phenomena despite her young age. Initially, he was disappointed when the student did not choose to pursue Physics in university, but he believes that Phuong Anh will succeed in any field she participates in.

Phuong Anh will go to Stanford to study next September. After graduation, she plans to try to gain experience and improve her qualifications abroad and then return to Vietnam, where she believes there is still much to develop in terms of urban architecture.

"I want to build cities with excellent transportation systems, applying high technology to every corner, and standard housing planning to save time going to school and work and improve people's lives," Phuong Anh said.

vnexpresss.net