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Hanoi student wins scholarships to nine US colleges
  • | dtinews.vn | May 31, 2020 07:39 AM

A high school student in Hanoi has just won scholarships worth USD1.6 million to nine universities in the US.



Nguyen Hai Ly


Nguyen Hai Ly, 18, from the Amsterdam High School has received invitations from the nine schools including Dartmouth (Ivy League) which will offer her tuition fees valued at USD300,000; Amherst (#2 LAC) with a scholarship of USD321,500; Colby (#11 LAC) with USD248,000; Drexel with USD168,000, etc.

The student said that she sent applications to many colleges to increase her chances to study abroad.

"The competition is becoming tougher so we all need to try harder," she said.

Ly shared that she had thought of seeking opportunities to study abroad since secondary school. As her parents cannot afford the cost, she has tried a lot to look for scholarships.

She loves maths but then realised that chemistry can be applied in many of her favourite fields, she decided to focus on the subject at high school. She won first prize at the Hanoi Chemistry Competition for 9th graders and then a consolation prize at the national chemistry competition for high school students.

Besides preparing for the scholarship applications, Ly still did well at school and participated at various international events and competitions for students. She won a gold prize at the Asian Student Leadership Conference and a bronze prize at a competition by the World Invention Intellectual Property Associations.

"Each competition brought a good chance for me to explore my desire and potentials," she said.

Ly also participated in doing research at the Vietnam Military Medical University's Pharmaceutical Biology Research Centre where she received supports and encouragement to apply for the Biomedical Engineering Department at some US universities.

The student is vice chairman of her school's Society of Open Science Club which organises various events including Science Tornado, Science Fair, and different seminars every year. She has also joined the Muse Exhibition which focuses on promoting gender equality.

In an essay sent to Dartmouth College, Ly wrote about herself, seeing her as a virus, tiny but can have great effect on human history.

“I have been impressed when watching videos showing how viruses evolve and resist our immune system," Ly said. "At the time I prepared for my essay, the coronavirus outbreak had only begun to spread. It turned out to be an interesting coincidence."

The student has decided to choose to follow Biomedical Engineering at Dartmouth College which offered her USD300,000 for four years of study.

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