Bac Ninh male student Pham Tran Tien Khanh achieved SAT score in top 1% in the world thanks to self-study

Khanh is also one of the few candidates who registered for Hanoi University of Science and Technology this year with a maximum SAT score of 1,600/1,600. In addition, he has an IELTS certificate of 8.0 and many other impressive achievements.

Get a perfect SAT score from self-study

The male student said he used SAT scores to apply for international certificates (category 1.2). Because he was not confident, he continued to apply for the application based on his profile combined with an interview (category 1.3) to increase his chances.

Khanh said he had just completed an online interview with the school on the afternoon of June 22.

“I think I can answer. The questions the teachers asked were all open-ended, mainly asking about myself, why I chose the field of artificial intelligence and my plans for the future,” Khanh said.

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Pham Tran Tien Khanh at the University of Technology on the morning of June 22 (Photo: Ngoc Trang).

According to the male student, after losing points on the first test for unknown reasons at the end of last year, on the second test last May, he achieved the maximum SAT score of 1,600.

The special thing about getting this score is that the male student did not take any extra classes. He went online to find old exam papers from previous years and studied them himself to develop logical thinking when taking the exam.

According to the male student, his love for math and his strength in English from large and small competitions helped him complete his SAT study plan early.

“In 10th and 11th grade, I barely paid attention to what the SAT was. Around December 2024, I started to research and plan for this exam. Around February and March, I went online, downloaded old exam papers and studied on my own.

At first, I took a mock test and scored between 1,550 and 1,560, and then my score increased over time. Around last May, when my mock test score reached 1,590, I thought I could take the real test and unexpectedly got the maximum score of 1,600,” Khanh recalled.

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Khanh achieved the maximum SAT score from self-study (Photo: NVCC).

Average "reap" one award per year

It is known that in grades 11 and 12, Khanh won second prize in the national excellent student exam in English.

“In primary school, I didn’t invest in English. I think at this point, the results aren’t too bad, but I haven’t invested in the subject,” Khanh said.

In 6th grade, he started learning English and found that he really loved this subject. Except for 7th grade, in the remaining years of secondary school, he almost always won provincial-level excellent student awards in English.

In grade 10, the male student was admitted directly to Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted because he won first prize in English in the provincial competition for excellent students.

According to the male student, in the first years of secondary school, due to his weak knowledge, he focused on doing exercises in textbooks and studying grammar.

Because of his strength of being in the team of excellent students, he was confident because he had a good foundation in English. Around the end of grade 9 to grade 10, the male student began to learn English more freely in his own way and won second prize at the national level.

Sharing the secret to getting good scores and common mistakes that candidates make when taking the SAT, Khanh said that many students are not careful or read but do not understand the questions or do not have enough vocabulary, leading to incorrect judgment when answering.

Especially in the SAT exam, the English section is often more difficult than math, so according to Khanh, test takers must translate very carefully to avoid misjudging the question.

SAT is a standardized test widely used for admission to universities in the US and many other prestigious universities in the world . The 1600/1600 mark is the maximum score of the SAT test.

Of the millions of test takers who take the SAT each year, only about 1 percent achieve a score of 1530 or higher, with 1600 being the highest score, according to the College Board.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nam-sinh-bac-ninh-dat-diem-sat-top-1-the-gioi-nho-tu-hoc-20250622224833909.htm