SHARING EXPERIENCES

Hello everyone! I’m Le Vu Phuong Thao, a student in class B1K7, THSP highschool. I received an official announcement for a full scholarship in Business Administration major from International University (IU), Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh city (VNUHCM). In order to obtain this achievement, I’ve been through a long time of preparation and hard work. I hope what I share today can also be useful for THSP-ers in the future.

1. IU – VNUHCM

VNUHCM is a system of high-quality public schools. Along with Vietnam National University - Ha Noi (VNUHN), VNUHCM is an outstanding representative of Vietnam in many international school rankings.

IU is a young member of VNUHCM (founded in 12/2003) which possesses programs that are completely in English as well as dominant and influential business partners. I aim to work in a multinational environment in the future; therefore, IU is the perfect choice for me.

2. Scholarships 

Annually, IU offers valuable scholarships to first-year students, including 50% scholarships and full scholarships. As a results, the requirements are also challenging. Top 8% will be offered scholarships. About 2-3% of students who have the highest score will have full scholarships. I divided my school year into short periods to  achieve specific goals.

3. Specific Goals

- Grade 10 and 11: study all the subjects evenly, be flexible in choosing combos for the national exam.

- 11/2020 → the end of 3/2021: Prepare for the IELTS exam + VNUHCM’s exam.

+ IELTS band score 6.0 and above equals VNUHCM's highest score for the english test.  I aimed for an 7.5 and got 8.0. Moreover, the IELTS certificate is extremely beneficial in university.

+ I aimed for a 1020, which is a really high score in VNUHCM’s exam. I also prepared myself mentally if I cannot make it. I got 1016 eventually (top 0.29% in Vietnam). It was close and I failed this time.

- 4/2021 → the end of 5/2021: prepare for IU’s exam

+ IELTS certificate helped me to get the highest score for English, I only had to study Math (50 questions in 70 minutes) and Logical Thinking (30 questions in 60 minutes) myself.

+ This exam was discarded 1 week prior to test days because of the Covid-19 epidemic. IU adopted an alternative method of examination right after that which is called Combinatorial Evaluation. The score is the average of highschool scores and national exam scores.

- 6/2021 → 7/2021: prepare for the national exam

+ Math: I only had a month to practice advanced skills and study online, so I aimed for 9/10. I got 9.2 eventually.

+ Literature: I spent the first 2 weeks preparing studying materials and the rest 2 weeks studying. I did not attend any extra Literature classes or buy any online courses throughout 3 years of highschool; however, I rarely got scores below 9. I aimed for 9/10 and got 9.5, which is really surprising for me.

+ English: I would have 10/10 as my score no matter how much I get in the national exam. Therefore, I did not spend any time practising in order to focus on Math and Literature.

4. Making decision

After the national exam, I got these results:

- 1016/1200 for VNUHCM’s exam: qualified + 50% scholarship. I skip this result.

- 28.77/30 for Combinatorial Evaluation: qualified + full scholarship. I used this result to be an official student of IU.

- 28.7/30 for the national exam. I do not have to use this result anymore.

        My advice for THPT-ers:

- Choose your future university carefully. Make sure you know if that school offer any kind of scholarship.

- Divide the school year into many periods to achieve specific goals.

If you have many chances, try your best at the very beginning. Remember to prepare for problems that you may have to face.

Last but not least, enjoy every single moment you have at highschool with friends. Work hard, play hard. Highschool time flies hastily, one second is also precious. Make sure that you don’t miss anything, because “THSP is our home, our youth, our springtime”.

Wish all of you the best of luck.

Lots of love <3