Stanford PhD shares tips for getting into top schools despite poor academic performance

The above comment was shared by Dr. Nguyen Chi Hieu, Academic Director of Olympia, CEO of IEG Global education organization at the educational seminar on conquering top universities organized by Olympia school recently.

Dr. Hieu gave an example of many excellent students with high scores and good achievements but still could not conquer the top universities. Meanwhile, many students with low scores and poor academic achievements won good scholarships and financial support.

Explaining this, Dr. Hieu said that, during high school years, many parents tend to force students to study and take exams. This invisibly creates pressure and causes great disadvantages for children, because children not only need academics but also need to develop soft skills and life experiences through research projects and extracurricular activities.

Dr. Nguyen Chi Hieu shared at the workshop.

" A rich and diverse life experience will help students bring many values to their personal development, instead of just focusing on improving their academic records in their university application," Dr. Hieu said, emphasizing that especially in the early stages of middle school to early high school, students should be allowed to freely pursue many different interests.

When it comes to systematization, let your students choose which experience they find most interesting and are willing to go through it for four years of college.

The former Oxford and Stanford University student believes that many students need to thank the university application process, which does not involve an interview, to be able to "get" into the university. "There are things that look great on paper, but when you go into the interview, they may not be so good and vice versa," he said.

In the future, when students graduate and look for jobs, employers will not really care about what is on your resume, because the resume is only a factor that leads you to the interview round. Who you are, what your life experiences are, how you think about life when answering the interview are what employers care about.

Colleges don't look for the best students.

As the competition for admission to top schools increases, many tips are given on how to become an outstanding candidate or create an excellent application. These perfect words may have discouraged many parents and students because the journey is arduous and seems out of reach.

However, every year, many Vietnamese students are admitted to the world's top universities with their own unique stories, although not everyone has a perfect starting point. Nguyen Hong An, a student at Olympia School, has just been accepted to 13 prestigious universities in the US, with the highest scholarship of more than 4.8 billion VND, is a typical example.

Having nurtured the dream of studying abroad in the US since childhood, Hong An was once criticized as “impossible” because her English skills did not meet the requirements. However, with a burning dream, combined with the effort to learn and support from teachers and seniors, the female student has improved day by day and reached her dream of studying abroad in the US with achievements beyond expectations.

“Recognizing that my academic performance was not outstanding compared to my peers, I cultivated my strengths in extracurricular activities and used my own experiences to impress the admissions board,” Hong An said.

Hong An expressed that it is not necessary to be an excellent student according to the usual definition of school to be able to conquer top universities. What she learned is that American universities do not look for the best student but for the most suitable color puzzle piece.

Building a personal profile is extremely important when applying to top universities.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen Chi Hieu assessed that good academic performance is an important starting point for the path to conquering top universities, but this is not the only important factor. Among thousands of applications, prestigious universities in the world always look for excellent candidates not only in the academic field but also in demonstrating personal values and the ability to contribute to the community.

“Excellence is not about grades, excellence lies in human qualities, which help students to be independent and walk their own path without their parents and relatives by their side,” said the doctor.

Kim Nhung

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/tien-si-stanford-chia-se-bi-kip-trung-tuyen-truong-top-dau-du-luc-hoc-khong-gioi-ar873310.html