Pham Nguyen Minh Tuan, 19, was accepted to study Medical Science at UTS in late November last year. The university is ranked in the world's top 90, according to the 2024 QS rankings.

"I was both surprised and stunned. I screamed in the middle of the cafe when I received the email notification," Tuan recalled. Tuan's scholarship covers all tuition and study expenses.

According to Ms. Lu Thi Hong Nham, Director of Duc Anh Study Abroad Company, this 100% scholarship is "extremely rare and very difficult to win" because each year UTS only has one scholarship globally and the last time a student in Vietnam achieved it was in 2020.

Tuan was a student majoring in Chemistry at the High School for Gifted Students of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. In 2022, when he was in grade 11, Tuan participated in and won a gold medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad (ICho).

Since he did not initially plan to study abroad, the male student did not invest in studying for the IELTS or SAT certificates (standardized tests used for university admission in many countries around the world). It was not until grade 12 that Tuan decided to study abroad in Australia and prepared his application for the October 2023 application period.

"I decided late so I was a bit rushed and had to push myself to study," Tuan shared.

Tuan said he had a foundation in English, having read specialized materials in grades 10 and 11, but still had difficulty studying for standardized tests. In February 2023, he started studying English three times a week with a tutor and taking an SAT course at the center.

With IELTS, the male student is confident with the Listening and Reading sections, mainly learning the two skills of Speaking and Writing. He was taught by the teacher about the structure, the simplest outline of an essay, and common types of questions in IELTS Writing. In the Speaking skill, Tuan studied by topic and main ideas to remember. After 4 months, Tuan took the IELTS test and achieved 7.5.

The SAT consists of two parts: Math and Reading-Writing. Tuan studied Math lightly, only learning specialized English vocabulary in this subject. Meanwhile, the Reading-Writing part took him a lot of time to review because the specialized vocabulary covers many fields such as politics, culture, science... In addition, because the SAT exam changed to a new format, he had to find more questions online to do.

"The only way is to practice the test to get used to the way it is set and learn a lot of vocabulary," Tuan said, adding that he achieved his desired score on the third attempt after 7 months of studying. He applied to three schools including UTS, Monash University, and the University of Melbourne.

According to Mr. Nguyen Nhut Hung, Vietnam Admissions Manager of UTS, Australian universities place a high emphasis on academics, so to pass the preliminary round, candidates need to have excellent records. In addition to a GPA of 9.9/10, SAT 1570/1600, IELTS 7.5, Tuan also stands out with an IChO gold medal.

After entering the second round, the judging panel will evaluate the quality of the application based on the candidate's introduction of about 500 words. This essay shows the motivation, reasons for choosing the industry, career and actions to achieve the candidate's goals. Each judge evaluates according to their own criteria, on a scale of 1 to 5.

"His profile has a harmony between extracurricular activities and academics, and is rated higher than other candidates," said Mr. Hung, adding that Tuan was selected from more than 350 applications for a full scholarship.

Tuan said that two of the three schools he applied to required essays, all of which were about sharing what he did in high school and what it meant to him. The essays were limited in word count, so Tuan chose to briefly talk about his studies and extracurriculars.

Tuan said that his experience of training for the national team and winning the IChO medal helped him have a solid knowledge foundation to study well in the Medical Science major at school. When participating in charity activities, distributing porridge and medicine at the hospital, learning more about the lives of patients and doctors, he was motivated to pursue a career in medical research. Tuan was also impressed with the UTS training program because it had subjects that were suitable for his orientation to become a researcher.

"I arranged these two activities in order, linked them to create a connection, then gave a conclusion related to school," Tuan shared.

While waiting for the results, Tuan applied for direct admission to Hanoi Medical University and studied there for one semester. Tuan also planned that if he was not successful in Australia, he would apply to two more schools in Singapore, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, in the July admissions period this year. Singaporean schools directly admit students with international awards, so Tuan was almost guaranteed a place.

Although he achieved results beyond his expectations, Tuan still regrets not having prepared early. I advise those who plan to study abroad to plan early so that they have time to polish each part of their application. During the preparation process, focus on your own goals so that you are not pressured by your peers.

"Build a targeted profile. Know what you want and tailor everything in your profile to the school you want," Tuan said.

Next week, Tuan will leave for Australia to enroll. Having studied some similar subjects at Hanoi Medical University, Tuan is confident that he will quickly integrate into the new environment. He also believes that he will get used to the university teaching style because he was guided by lecturers during his review time in the International Chemistry Olympiad team.

Dawn