To SAT or ACT?

To SAT or ACT: that is the question: Whether it’s best to subject the mind to the 3-hour-45-minute SAT Reasoning Test’s three sections in Writing, Critical Reading and Math to achieve the desirable 2400 or to take masterful control over the ACT and its 4 parts, based on the curricula of English, Math, Reading and [...]

2012 SAT/ACT Prep Program

Options Solutions is excited to launch our 2012 SAT/ACT prep schedule.  We will offer four different prep options this season. 1.    Full Length Practice Exams and Debriefs This option includes a 4-hour exam (SAT or ACT), exam marking (including customized essay marking), and a 2.5-hour debrief. Students are each given a cover sheet to help [...]

The ACT

If you are looking for an alternative to the SAT as a standardized test for admissions to a US university or college, the ACT (American College Test) would be your choice. A curriculum-based test similar to the SAT, the ACT also measures the high school student’s readiness for US universities, but assesses not three, but [...]

The SAT and SAT Subject Tests

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized admissions test used to assess academic preparedness for universities and colleges in the United States, offered by the College Board. Required for entry to most higher education institutions in the U.S., the SAT (the ACT being the other) tests an undergraduate applicant’s writing, reading and mathematics skills and [...]

Factors in US Admissions: More than GPAs and SATs

If you’re thinking of applying to a university or college in the US, aside from facing higher tuition costs, you will be encountering a number of factors that have made gaining admission progressively harder each year. At the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Education Fair in downtown Vancouver last Saturday, December 3rd, Melinda Giampietro of Options Solutions identified and [...]

PSAT Next Steps: Part 3

Students who took the PSAT as a way of preparing for their SATs have found great benefits from writing the test. The following is what some Grade 10s and 11s have to say about their experience: I came into the test purposely not having studied in order to lower my SAT stress in the future. [...]

PSAT Next Steps: Part 2

After taking the PSAT/NMSQT test and upon analyzing your performance and answers in each of the three test sections closer, you can identify which type of questions (easy, medium and hard) you were successful at.  You can use “My Online Score Report in My College Quick-Start” at collegeboard.org to examine which questions you tackled well [...]

PSAT Next Steps: Part 1

After you have completed your PSATs and received your results, what’s next? Let’s have a look at your scores: what is a good PSAT score report? On your PSAT score report, you will notice your scores for Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing Skills, reported on a scale from 20 to 80 points for each section [...]

SAT Prep: Sentence Completions Part 2

In Part 1 we explored some tips on how to tackle the sentence completion section of the SAT. Increasing your vocabulary base should be an essential component of your SAT prep routine. Reading is a great way to learn new vocabulary. Students should create a vocabulary list to help them with their SAT prep. Be [...]

SAT Prep: Sentence Completions Part 1

The SAT contains a number of sentence completions questions. Each sentence contains one or two blanks. Students are given a list of five words from which they must select the word that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Here is an example: The practice of storytelling for entertainment and instruction was [...]

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