In particular, in the Reading and Writing section (evidence-based reading and writing), as well as the Maths section, Linh got 800/800 for both.

With this result, Thuy Linh is part of a group of candidates that have gotten perfect scores, accounting for a very small percentage of the world's population.

Le Thuy Linh (born in 2004, a 12th grader majoring in Mathematics of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted) scored a perfect SAT 1 score of 1600/1600.

Linh shared that the results probably came partly from the fact that she has kept her concentration and mentality calm during the test.

"I think this result is somewhat a part of fortune, but it is also a reward for the effort I had put into preparing for this exam," said the Hanoian school girl.

“Practice makes perfect.”

Linh said that even though she got a perfect score on the SAT 1, her English ability was not so excellent. In fact, she was rather unconfident in her English foundation.

"There have been times when I thought that since I was a student majoring in Maths, my English is not as excellent as English majors. That’s why I thought that those majoring in English would have an advantage when doing English questions," Linh shared.

Le Thuy Linh is a former 12th grader majoring in Maths at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School

Recognizing his weaknesses, Linh spent most of her time overcoming them, such as learning more vocabulary and trying to concentrate on grammar.

"The biggest lesson I learned during my SAT study was 'practice makes perfect.’ You don't have to be a person with an excellent English background and an extremely intelligent brain to get high scores on this test. It's important to take time to do tests and understand your past mistakes, since doing so can help you know your strengths and weaknesses. It is also worth talking to teachers to discuss and overcome those weaknesses," Linh confided.

For Linh, the Reading and Writing parts of the SAT were the most difficult. She thought that the mistake that she, as well as many other friends, easily makes is doing the exam carelessly and hastily, leading to regrettable mistakes in the Writing section.

In addition to knowledge, according to Linh, psychological and tactical preparation is essential for any examination.

"The time pressure of the SAT is quite high, so when I practice I always set the timer and try to improve my speed when doing the test. For the Reading section – one of the most difficult parts of the test – I usually do the difficult parts first and do easy ones later, marking questions that I ponder with, so I can come back to them later," Linh shared her experience, and said that choosing an effective test-taking strategy depends on one’s strengths and weaknesses.

Le Thuy Linh and her family at the scholarship event from the University of Melbourne, Australia

With this result, Linh was admitted to 8 universities in the US and Australia with high financial support and scholarship packages. However, Linh decided to study at the University of Melbourne, Australia, majoring in Computing and Software systems.

"I decided to go to this school because I used to visit the school in person during a summer study abroad program in 9th grade and greatly enjoyed it.

As for my major, I chose it based on my ability. I feel that I have a mathematical background and a passion for Information Science; moreover, I also feel that Computer Science is a very promising major in the future."

The school girl said she will try to adapt to studying abroad in Australia, make many new friends and get good results during her studies.

Before Le Thuy Linh, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted  used to have 2 boys who got perfect scores of 1600 in the SAT 1 in 2019: Tran Dinh Quan (then 10th grade student of class Mathematics 1) and Nguyen Manh Quan in 2021 (12th grade student majoring in Physics).

Translator: Ngo Vu Ngan Ha - Russian 2124