News and Events

After more than two decades since the first international school model appeared in Vietnam, parents gradually have more choices available in the search for an ideal learning environment for their children. However, many people are still concerned with the question: What is a true international school? How different is “the product” an international school can create?

In six articles regarding the topic "Which international school is right for your child?" that will be published every day from Monday, information about the education environment of an international school in Ho Chi Minh City is going to be provided through interesting stories of the journey to an educated imagination.

CHAPTER I: ROAD TO UNIVERSITY

At the start of the second semester, while universities in Vietnam start their recruitment consultancy season to prepare for entrance exams in July, grade 12 students at Canadian International School (CIS) have already finished preparations to apply to universities in many different countries with the help of their guidance counsellor. Some of them have received letters of acceptance from universities at the end of the first semester.

The first achievement

According to Mr. Mark Fenwick – Head of School of the Canadian International School System, in June 2013 CIS will have its first students graduate from grade 12 in Ontario and Vietnam with the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Some CIS students have already received good news from universities and colleges in Canada, USA and Australia.

Nguyen Tuan Hung, the student who achieved a score of 2,160 on his SAT, received an award of nearly US$40,000 from Trinity College (Connecticut, USA). Tuan Hung is also one of two CIS students at the top in the school’s first administration of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) with 370 out of possible 400 points (the other student is a Canadian).

Tuan Hung has been a student at CIS since its very first school year in 2009, attending from grade 9 to grade 12. He is not only academically good, but also highly praised for his leadership skills and community service activities as the vice-president of the CIS Student Council.

In the same class as Tuan Hung, Pham Dang Khoa also received a letter of acceptance from the University of Victoria – Canada's 13th largest university for Bio-Medical Engineering. Khoa is also a good student in grade 12 at CIS and the University of Victoria is the only school he applied for to be educated in Bio-Medical Engineering. Nham Nguyen Quoc Dung received enrollment letters from four different universities in the United States for Computer Science. Denison University offered him an award of up to $37,000 per year.

Competing equally with native students

In addition to grade 12 students studying in Vietnam, last year, CIS sent about 20 students in grade 11 to study abroad; including 17 students for the completion of grade 12 in Canada. Nguyen Thai Quynh Thu, with three years at CIS Vietnam as a platform and with only half a year in grade 12 in Canada, has demonstrated the ability to fairly compete with native students. She received letters of acceptance with valuable scholarships from McMaster University in Business and Queen's University in Art & Science as soon as she entered her second semester. Both of these universities are in the top 10 Canadian universities and have a high reputation.

Alicia Nguyen – one of CIS students who is studying with Quynh Thu in Toronto – said she had received admission letters from at least four universities, including the University of Waterloo – third place in Canada’s university ranking.

CIS’s first graduating class of grade 12 students in Vietnam, as well as Canada, now continue getting offers from many other universities and colleges, mainly in the US and Canada.