She attended Chungdam High School and later transferred to School of Performing Arts Seoul, from which she graduated on February 7, 2013. In 2013, she was accepted into Dongguk University's Department of Theatre and Film as an acting major. She was also chosen as an ambassador for the said university in 2014 along with Girls' Generation's Yoona and Park Ha-sun.
Throughout 2013 and 2014, Son starred in MBC's We Got Married with Shinee's Taemin as a virtual married couple, for which Son won the "Star of the Year" award at the MBC Entertainment Awards.