Phan School students win US Presidential scholarships

(Baonghean.vn) - In early 2017, another good news came to Nguyen Luu Canh Hao - "ASEAN Youth Leader" when he just received the notification of winning scholarships from 4 universities in the US. Among them is a scholarship from the President for international students (International Presidential Scholarships) with a limited number for students with excellent achievements.

» Young people in Vinh city go to coffee shops to... learn English

The student"multi-talented"

Nguyen Luu Canh Hao (12C5 student - Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted) is known as one of the 5 most outstanding students in Vietnam to receive a full scholarship to participate in the 2015 ASEAN Youth Leaders Program (SEAYLP). This is a 3-week study tour and study program in the United States for high school students from 10 ASEAN member countries.

Also at this program, for the first time, a Vietnamese student was chosen as a typical ASEAN youth leader and represented more than 60 representatives of 11 Southeast Asian countries to stand in the middle of the hall of a major American university to present about his trip. Before that, Hao had an impressive record during 11 years of high school with many provincial and national English awards, attended an international summer camp in Japan and was one of the 10 typical children nationwide.

To the Phan School community, Nguyen Luu Canh Hao is a very active student, the head of the Phan School student club, a famous hip-hop dancer with many elaborately staged and attractive programs... In grade 11, Hao also won third prize in the national excellent student competition in English. In grade 12, Hao was honored to be the only student from Nghe An invited to attend a conversation with US President Barack Obama at the National Convention Center in Hanoi.

Canh Hao (far left) and friends at the "ASEAN Youth Leaders" program in 2015 in the US.

Hao's idea of ​​applying for a scholarship to study in the US also started from his trip to Hanoi to meet the US president. However, at that time, it was too late to start because it took a lot of procedures to complete an application to study abroad. Moreover, with the thought that if he didn't go, then that was fine, if he did go, he had to go "worth it", Hao spent a lot of effort. Hao also said that applying to study abroad was also a way for him to test himself, to prove to his parents that if he tried, he could do it. After returning from the US, he had many thoughts about studying in Vietnam or abroad. Meanwhile, his parents had high expectations, wanting him to travel here and there to "keep up with his friends".

20 times rewriting essays to "hunt" for scholarships

After planning the project, Hao realized that getting a scholarship is not easy. Simply, if you want to apply for a scholarship to the US, one of the important procedures is to pass the American ACT exam (similar to the graduation exam in Vietnam). In Vietnam, to take this exam, students must spend at least 4 months preparing for the exam in Hanoi. This is not practical for Hao because he is studying the 12th grade program at school.

At that time, there were only a few months left until the application deadline for universities in the US (usually in November and January). With no other choice, Hao had to go online to search for documents and study for the exam. In essence, Hao said, this was not a very difficult exam in terms of knowledge. However, the biggest requirement of the exam was to do it quickly, have a broad understanding...

To complete the test, each candidate must take 5 tests including: reading, math, science test (including fields such as Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Art, etc.), writing test and English grammar test... With the ACT test, candidates only need 27 points to be recognized. As for Hao, despite only a very short preparation time, he got 31/36 points, higher than his initial expectation.

To get a scholarship, Hao also shared his experience in preparing the application. In particular, to achieve high results, it is impossible not to rely on the "role" of the Vietnamese community abroad. Hao himself, through the Viet Abroader community (Association of Study Abroad Consultants), met a Vietnamese student currently studying at the University of Washington. From here, he was guided a lot in the application process and consulted about the schools he was studying at.

Talking about this, Hao shared: one of the important contents when preparing a profile is writing an essay. For me, with the content "Tell me about an experience that marked your maturity", I had to edit it 20 times, shortening it from 2,500 words to 700 words.

Hao's dance team (red shirt) and friends at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted have participated in many competitions in the City.

Choose a major that suits your interests

Hao also said that his decision to apply for a scholarship only took a few months, so all the preparation steps were "rushed". Even when receiving Hao's application, students in the US did not believe that he would be successful because the time was too short. Therefore, in November, after submitting his application and registering his wishes to 4 universities in the US, Hao did not believe in the results. However, only one month later, he received acceptance notices from 3 schools, which were Tulane University (Los Angeles), Trinity College (Cannecticut), and Depoul University (Chicago).

After winning scholarships to four universities, Hao had a second chance to return to the United States.

Hao was surprised again after receiving the results at the fourth school, Wabash College (Crawfordsville) with the President's Scholarship for International Students (International Presidential Scholarships). This is a scholarship with a limited number for students with excellent achievements... With this scholarship, Hao's scholarship costs will almost be covered in full.

With this result, in the last months of grade 12, Hao can leisurely have many choices (entering university directly in Vietnam, studying abroad in the US). Hao himself also shared online that "I am a lucky person, with many choices". However, that is not the final goal and before deciding "to stay or go", Hao still needs more time to consider. In the immediate future, Hao is setting a new goal, simple but very meaningful to Hao: "I will register for the university entrance exam at Foreign Trade University and University of Economics to test myself once again. This is both pressure but also motivation for me to overcome myself"./.

My Ha

(Photo provided by the character)