Vietnamese prodigy who turned down Harvard, Yale and Seoul National University chooses KAIST — and wants to channel G-Dragon's spirit

"I want to learn G-Dragon's fearless spirit — his willingness to take on challenges without fear of failure."

A Vietnamese student who topped her country's national university entrance exam and scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT has enrolled at KAIST. Her name is Hoang Huong Giang, and she began her studies at the university this fall semester.

Hoang scored 29.75 out of 30 on Vietnam's A01 track — covering mathematics, physics and English — in this year's national high school graduation exam, finishing first in the country. She also achieved a perfect SAT score and an IELTS score of 8.0. Despite receiving offers from Ivy League schools including Harvard and Yale, as well as Seoul National University and other top institutions, she ultimately chose KAIST.

The decision came down to KAIST's world-class education and research environment, its close ties between academia and industry, and its English-language instruction. Her goal of contributing to advances in AI technology was a particularly decisive factor.

"Life at KAIST is far better than I imagined before I arrived," Hoang said. "People are kind, and communicating in English hasn't been a major obstacle, so I was able to adapt quickly."

She was also struck by the thoughtful design of the campus. "Everything — from the roads to the food court, the restrooms and the website — feels designed with the user in mind," she said. "I even find myself wondering whether optimization functions or algorithms were applied when building all of this."

Hoang expressed strong satisfaction with the academic environment as well. "There are moments when keeping up with the pace of classes is difficult, but the professors actively help us understand the core material and provide a wide range of learning resources," she said. "I'm not only learning new things — I'm also seeing what I already knew from entirely different angles."

However, she acknowledged that Korea's fast-paced culture and the pressure of grades remain challenges she is still working through. "I'm curious how Korean students manage to study so hard and still find time to have fun," Hoang said. "It amazes me that they can hang out with friends at night and then get through an enormous amount of studying during the day."

She is currently considering majors in AI computing, electrical and electronic engineering, and computer science. While she has set her sights on contributing to advances in AI technology, she said she has not yet decided whether to focus on hardware or algorithms.

"KAIST recently established a new college dedicated to AI, which has opened up even more options for me," she said. "I want to experience different fields firsthand and find what I truly love."

One person she is particularly eager to meet is G-Dragon — the globally renowned artist who also serves as a visiting professor at KAIST. She said she is drawn not to his fame itself, but to his spirit of forging a path no one else has taken.

"I admire G-Dragon's attitude toward life — his willingness to be the first, even when that means going a different way from everyone else," she said. "I hope to carry that same mindset into my own journey of exploring science."

Her ambitions at KAIST go beyond earning good grades or becoming an expert in a single field. She aims to explore a range of disciplines, discover her own potential, and connect that journey to research that can contribute to society.

"There is still a long road ahead, and right now I am merely at the beginning," Hoang said. "I want to explore myself and my field of study more deeply, and gradually gain a clearer sense of what I can do to contribute to the world."