Vietnamese-American male student invited to study at 10 top universities in the world

Born and raised in Ukraine, Nguyen Trung Cuong soon showed his talent in Natural Sciences. After graduating from high school, the Vietnamese-American male student was welcomed by 10 universities, including many leading names in Mathematics such as Princeton University, Brown, UCLA, Berkeley, Michigan...

Conquer 10/13 schools you applied to on your own

Cuong was born and raised in Ukraine, he is fluent in Ukrainian, English and Russian.

Nguyen Trung Cuong was born in 1998, his parents are Vietnamese who settled in Ukraine. Born in an Eastern European country, Cuong speaks fluent Ukrainian, English, Russian and knows a little Vietnamese.

Realizing that their son had the ability to learn natural sciences, Cuong's parents researched and applied for him to take the entrance exam to Ukraine's leading specialized math high school - Leader 171 High School - Kiev.

Diligent and passionate about studying, Cuong won a series of First, Second, and Third prizes in city-level and national Olympiad competitions in Math, Physics, and English continuously from grade 5 to grade 11.

“For me, every exam is fierce and stressful, but perhaps the thing I remember most was the Math team exam in 8th grade. My friends chose me as team captain, at that time the competition was very tense, there was no winner, the two team captains were called out to compete against each other and I won for my team,” Cuong said.

Passionate about Mathematics, Cuong is always busy with competitions and has almost no days off (every Saturday there is a Math competition for the Math major class). On Sundays, he tutors Vietnamese children who are weak in natural sciences.

In grade 12, Cuong temporarily withdrew from competitions to focus on his dream of studying abroad. It was not easy for him because in Ukraine, the movement of studying abroad in the US was not as popular as in Vietnam or other Asian countries (Korea, China, India). His family could not find any center that could advise and guide him on the application process to universities in the US.

To nurture their son's aspirations, Cuong's parents bought many books by authors who were experienced admissions officers at top universities in the United States.

Cuong also actively searched for information on websites that shared information from many excellent students who had conquered their dream of studying abroad for reference. According to the Vietnamese-American guy, the book that helped him the most was “The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges”.

Completely self-reliant, the 9X guy was welcomed by 10 top universities in the US and the world. Sharing the factors that make a profile "score points" in the eyes of admissions officers in the US, Cuong thinks that high scores determine 60%, 20% is assessed from the transcripts of the last 3 years (grades 9, 10, 11), 20% is the essay and extracurricular activities.

Cuong also noted that, according to comments from students who have directly experienced the US university admissions process, no one can guess what factors schools base their selection of future students on; the only thing that can be confirmed is that there is no standard formula.

9X Vietnamese origin has won many high-level city and national awards in Natural Sciences, especially Math and Physics.

“Strategy” for success

Cuong admitted that his thesis was his weak point, and it took him a long time to complete it. “I wrote it, crossed it out, erased it, and only finished it on the last day. I had to accept it even though I knew I wasn’t satisfied and that people would probably laugh at me,” Cuong said.

Cuong scored 2350 on the SAT, 800/800 on the SAT Subject Mathematics Level 2 and 800/800 on the SAT Physics. Personally, I think that the SAT score determines a lot of results besides the essay and extracurricular activities.

“Applying to top US schools from Ukraine are 4 students that I know (because we all participated in Olympiads in Math, Physics, and Informatics). They also have impressive academic achievements, having won many prizes in Math, Chemistry, Physics, and Informatics at the city and national levels... They applied to Stanford, Princeton, and UCLA and were also rejected. Regarding their academic achievements like mine, their SAT scores are a bit lower at 2100, 2150. So I think SAT scores also play a big role in the application review and approval process,” the Vietnamese-American shared.

“And one important thing, you should choose 10 schools to apply to: 4 schools within your ability, 3 schools that are difficult to get into, and 3 schools that are within your ability,” Cuong “revealed” more.

Cuong (middle) chose to study at Princeton University, pursuing a major in Applied Mathematics.

In 2016, Nguyen Trung Cuong has achieved excellent results when 10/13 schools that applied announced his acceptance. All 10 schools he passed are highly ranked schools in Mathematics and Information Technology in the US and the world such as: Princeton University, Brown University, UCLA University, University of Michigan...

Cuong confided that his family had no experience in submitting applications and declaring finances (including assets and annual income), so this determined whether he would receive a scholarship or not.

Among the 10 schools inviting Vietnamese 9X students to enroll, the University of California, Davis decided to grant 100% scholarships in 2017.

Currently, Cuong has just become a freshman at the prestigious Princeton University, one of the oldest universities in the United States, ranked number 1 in the best National Universities system in the United States. The school is considered an “academic paradise” for global scientists with world-class modern laboratories and extremely well-off students.

I hope to have more opportunities to learn and pursue my passion at this quality school. Unable to imagine what human life would be like without the support of the field of Mathematics, Cuong decided to pursue Applied Mathematics at Princeton University.

“My plan for the near future is to study well at Princeton University, find a job and pay off my parents' student loans,” Cuong confided.

As a key member of the soccer and volleyball teams of Leader 171 High School, Ukraine, when he became a student, Cuong continued to be selected for the soccer team of Princeton University.

The Vietnamese-American said he returned to Vietnam last summer, traveled to Hanoi, Da Nang beach, and visited his parents' hometown. In the future, Cuong hopes to have more opportunities to return to Vietnam.

According to Dantri