Est. 1999 · Kerrisdale, Vancouver
Ivy Academy is a K–12 tutoring centre in Kerrisdale. We prepare students for the SAT, SSAT, AP and IELTS, and guide families through university admissions in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
In season now · Free
Twelve Canadian and American applications — the Common App essay, the UC questions, UBC, Waterloo, Ivey and the rest — with the real word caps, the real clocks, and a note on every prompt telling you how that one is written. Free, and no sign-up. Interviews are the other half of this season — Interview Labs tells you which of your schools actually hold one.
Why we give these away
Ten years ago a strong transcript was close to the whole application in Canada. It is not any more. UBC now asks for six written responses. Waterloo reads an Information Form and records a video. Ivey, Schulich, Sauder, Queen’s and McMaster Health Sciences each add their own writing, and several of them record the student answering on a clock. The same students are applying to the U.S. as well, where the Common App essay and an alumni interview have decided borderline files for years.
So the part of the application that used to be a formality is now where places are won and lost — and it is the part almost no one practises. Students rehearse for tests for months and then write the essay the night before the deadline, or walk into a recorded interview never having heard their own voice answer a question under a timer.
That is what these tools are for. We built them for our own students, in the middle of a season that is harder every year, and there is no good reason to keep them from anyone else preparing seriously. They are free, there is nothing to sign up for, and nothing is held back to sell you the rest. If you want a teacher beside you when it matters — reading the draft, sitting through the mock interview — that is what twenty-seven years at this academy is for.
Ivy Path
Twenty-seven years of admissions work, built into one place that holds your child's grades, courses and activities together. Registration is free, and you decide about anything further only after we have met.
Free to register · A meeting before any decision · No obligation to continue · Opens in a new tab
What we teach
Every student starts with a diagnostic. What we teach after that depends on what the diagnostic shows — not on which class happens to be running.
Reading & Writing and Math for the adaptive digital format, with full-length practice under real timing.
Middle Level and Upper Level preparation for entry to independent and boarding schools.
Advanced Placement subject coaching and IELTS preparation for university entry and language requirements.
Application strategy, essays and deadlines for Canadian, American and British universities.
How we work
A student who is losing points on inference questions needs something different from one who is running out of time. We find out which it is first.
Most of our families speak Korean or Mandarin at home. Lessons run in English; conversations about your child's progress can happen in whichever language is easier.
Ivy Academy opened in Kerrisdale in 1999. We have watched the SAT change format twice and the admissions landscape change more than that.
There is no charge for the first conversation. Tell us your child's grade and what you are aiming for, and we will tell you honestly what the gap looks like.
Programs
Placement follows a diagnostic, not a grade level. A strong Grade 8 student may sit in an Upper Level SSAT group; a Grade 11 student may need to rebuild reading before touching a practice test.
Grades 9–12
The SAT is now adaptive: the second module of each section is chosen by how the first went. That changes how a student should pace themselves, and it changes what practice is worth doing.
Grades 5–11
For families applying to independent day and boarding schools. Middle Level covers Grades 5–7; Upper Level covers Grades 8–11 and is a noticeably harder test, particularly in vocabulary.
Grades 5–11
For families applying to boarding schools in the United States. The SSAT is the same test the Vancouver independent schools use, so the preparation serves both applications — what differs is the essays, the interviews and the timeline, which we work through with the family.
Grades 10–12
Subject coaching timed to the May exams, for students taking AP courses at school or sitting exams independently. Subjects offered depend on the term — please ask.
Grade 10 and up
Academic IELTS preparation across all four bands, for university language requirements and immigration purposes. Speaking is practised one to one.
Grades 11–12
Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom each reward a different application. We help families build a realistic school list, plan the timeline backwards from the deadlines, and work through the essays.
Free Essay Lab — Canadian and U.S. applications, the real limits, and how to write each one →
July – August
Concentrated SAT and SSAT courses over the summer break, when students have the hours to make real progress rather than maintaining. Places are limited and fill early.
Kindergarten – Grade 8
After-school English and Math through our Reading Town Kerrisdale programme — reading, writing and arithmetic built steadily, years before any test is on the horizon.
That is what the diagnostic is for. Tell us the grade and the goal and we will place your child properly.
About
Ivy Academy opened on Yew Street in 1999 and has been preparing Vancouver students ever since — for the SAT and SSAT, for AP exams and IELTS, and for the university applications that follow.
Most of the families who come to us speak Korean or Mandarin at home. They are usually navigating an admissions system that works differently from the one they grew up with, and they want a straight answer about where their child actually stands. That is the conversation we try to have.
We start with a diagnostic, every time. It tells us whether a student is losing marks to knowledge, to timing, or to reading — three problems that look identical on a score report and need completely different work.
Groups are kept small enough that a teacher can see each student's paper. Where a student needs one-to-one time, they get it.
Alongside Ivy Academy we run Reading Town Kerrisdale, which handles elementary and middle school English and Math. Many families start there in Grade 3 and finish with us in Grade 12.
We are building Ivy Path Education, an online extension of the academy, so that students can carry on with structured lessons at home between sessions. Ask us if you would like to know more.
Getting Started
There is no application process. Call or write, and we will find a time for the assessment.
Tell us your child's grade, the test or subject you have in mind, and roughly when you need to be ready.
Your child sits a proper timed assessment at the centre. It takes one session.
We show you what the assessment found, what the realistic target is, and how many weeks it will take.
Your child joins the group or one-to-one schedule that fits, and we report on progress as you go.
Fees depend on the programme, the group size and the number of hours per week, so we quote after the assessment rather than before. We will always tell you the full cost of a course up front, with no registration fee added later.
We are open Monday to Friday from 1:00 to 8:00 pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Summer intensives run through July and August. Please call for the timetable of a particular course.
Contact
We are on Yew Street in Kerrisdale, a few minutes from the 41st Avenue shops.
Results
Offers received by Ivy Academy students between 2019 and 2026. Students are listed by first name and last initial. Many received several offers; all are shown.
| Student | Secondary school | Offers received |
|---|---|---|
| Justin H. | St. George's | Yale · Stanford · Brown · UC Berkeley · UCLA · Dartmouth |
| Bryan M. | St. George's | Dartmouth (Early) |
| Stella L. | York House | Dartmouth · USC · UBC · U of Toronto |
| Edward T. | St. George's | NYU (Early) |
| Khoi D. | St. George's | Western — Ivey Business School |
| Irene L. | Collingwood | St Andrews — Medicine (UK) |
| Valerie K. | Cushing Academy (US) | Case Western · U of Pittsburgh · UIC |
| Michelle L. | South Burnaby | UC Davis · UBC · U of Toronto |
| Student | Secondary school | Offers received |
|---|---|---|
| Ole H. | St. George's | Johns Hopkins · UIUC |
| Olivia W. | Crofton House | Carnegie Mellon |
| Angela T. | York House | Columbia · UC Santa Barbara |
| Justine T. | York House | NYU · UC San Diego · UC Irvine |
| Markus L. | St. George's | NYU · U of Toronto · UBC |
| Lucas T. | Magee | NYU |
| Becky N. | Sentinel | Purdue (Pharmacy) · UC San Diego · UIC |
| Jay H. | St. George's | UC Irvine · UBC |
| Imaree D. | St. George's | Queen's · Western |
| Melissa X. | Point Grey | UBC (Eng) · U of Toronto (Eng) |
| Ethan L. | Point Grey | UBC Engineering |
| Joshua B. | Eric Hamber | UBC · McGill |
| Student | Secondary school | Offers received |
|---|---|---|
| Dustin W. | Lord Byng | Cornell |
| David Y. | Lord Byng | Carnegie Mellon |
| Tomson L. | St. George's | St Andrews — Medicine (UK) |
| Anne H. | Point Grey | NYU |
| Haoming X. | U-Hill | NYU (Early) |
| Nicole L. | Little Flower Academy | UC San Diego · Georgia Tech · Boston U · U of Toronto · UBC · Waterloo |
| Novyanna T. | Crofton House | UC San Diego (Computer Eng) · UC Irvine (CS) |
| Doris L. | Point Grey | UC San Diego · Waterloo · UBC (Sauder) · Western (Ivey) |
| Justin Y. | St. George's | U of Toronto · Western (Ivey) |
| Jora D. | St. George's | U of Toronto · UBC · Queen's (Life Science) |
| Marcus P. | Vancouver College | U of Toronto · UBC · Waterloo |
| Brandon Y. | Lord Byng | U of Toronto · UBC · Waterloo |
| Zachary P. | Vancouver College | U of Toronto · UBC |
| Jiho L. | Point Grey | UBC (Eng) · U of Toronto (Eng) |
| Student | Secondary school | Offers received |
|---|---|---|
| Bryce W. | St. George's | Stanford |
| Jamin F. | St. George's | Columbia |
| Christina K. | Seoul International School | Columbia |
| Jerry X. | St. George's | Cornell (Early) |
| Carnell Z. | St. George's | Cornell (Early) |
| San L. | St. George's | Cornell |
| Risa S. | York House | UC Berkeley |
| Run G. | Sentinel | Carnegie Mellon |
| Jason R. | Lord Byng | Imperial College London |
| Martin H. | Magee | Emory |
| Cherise T. | Point Grey | USC |
| Bryan Z. | St. John's | USC |
| Kush R. | St. George's | Northeastern |
| Chris L. | Point Grey | William & Mary |
| Student | Secondary school | Offers received |
|---|---|---|
| Phillip X. | St. George's | Harvard |
| Vivian Z. | West Point Grey Academy | Harvard |
| Kevin L. | St. George's | Yale |
| Annabelle J. | Lord Byng | Princeton |
| Jonathan S. | Vancouver College | U of Pennsylvania |
| Jessica C. | York House | Columbia |
| Allen L. | St. George's | Cornell |
| Jerry X. | St. George's | Cornell |
| Eunice P. | Crofton House | Caltech |
| Katherine Z. | Crofton House | Duke |
| Bonnie W. | Collingwood | Carnegie Mellon |
| Amelia T. | Crofton House | UC Berkeley |
| Ashley K. | Handsworth | UCLA |
| Tony L. | St. George's | UCLA |
| Yolanne L. | Crofton House | Georgia Tech |
| Linda D. | Crofton House | Pomona College |
| Anna S. | Kitsilano | NYU |
| Elena C. | Point Grey | NYU |
| Chloe W. | Crofton House | U of Hong Kong |
We opened this to families in 2024. Every placement since then is listed here.
| Student | School admitted to |
|---|---|
| Vicky K. | Cushing Academy · Massachusetts |
| Mark Z. | Fay School · Massachusetts also admitted to St. George’s |
| Daniel L. | Fay School · Massachusetts |
Ivy Academy and Reading Town have placed more than 300 students in independent schools since 2005.
| Student | School admitted to |
|---|---|
| Kairoi C. | St. George's School |
| Elmer W. | St. George's School |
| Yiwei S. | St. George's School |
| Chris M. | St. George's School · Vancouver College |
| Mark Z. | St. George's School |
| Yoyo Z. | York House School |
| Anastasia M. | York House School · Little Flower Academy |
| Jin S. | Little Flower Academy |
Results reflect students who studied at Ivy Academy. Admission depends on many factors beyond preparation, and past results are not a guarantee of future outcomes.
There is no charge for the first conversation. Tell us your child's grade and what you are aiming for, and we will tell you honestly what the gap looks like.
Private Schools
Each school runs its own intake grades, entrance exam and calendar. Below is how the six Vancouver schools our families apply to most often are structured — and, further down, how U.S. boarding school admission works.
Dates change every year. Treat the deadlines below as a guide to how each school works, and confirm the current year's dates with the school before you plan. We keep track of them for the families we work with.
Boys · Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | K (36) · Gr 4 (16) · Gr 6 (20) · Gr 8 (45–55) |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | K–Gr 3 in-house · Gr 4–5 Elementary SSAT · Gr 6–8 Middle Level SSAT · Gr 9+ Upper Level SSAT |
| Process | Application → group assessment → interview → exam → decision (mid-Feb to early March) |
| Deadline | Nov 1 for K and Gr 4–11 · Jan 31 for Gr 1–3 |
Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | JK (25) · SK (15) · Gr 6 (26) · Gr 8 (44) |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | JK–Gr 7 in-house · Gr 8 Middle Level SSAT plus in-house · Gr 9+ Upper Level SSAT |
| Deadline | Late Nov for JK, SK, Gr 6, Gr 8 · Jan 31 for other grades |
| Note | Gr 8 applicants sit the in-house exam in January. SSAT scores due early February; decisions in February. |
Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | JK · SK · Gr 5 · Gr 8 |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | JK–Gr 7 in-house · Gr 8 Middle Level SSAT plus character skills snapshot · Gr 9+ Upper Level SSAT |
| Deadline | Early Nov for JK, SK and Gr 8 · Early Dec for Gr 5 · Jan 31 for other grades |
| Note | Canadian citizens and permanent residents only. Gr 8 applicants submit SSAT scores by mid-November. |
Co-ed · Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | JK · SK · Gr 1 · Gr 8 |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | JK–Gr 1 readiness test · Gr 2–7 in-house (reading, writing, math) · Gr 8–12 SSAT plus snapshot |
| Deadline | Late Oct for JK, SK, Gr 1 · Early Nov for Gr 2–7 · Nov 1 for Gr 8–12, SSAT by early Dec |
Co-ed · IB World School · Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | JK (28) · K (4) · Gr 1 · Gr 4 |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | JK–Gr 7 in-house · Gr 8 Middle Level SSAT · Gr 9–11 Upper Level SSAT |
| Deadline | Nov 1 for JK and K · Nov 15 for Gr 1 and 4 · Dec 1 for Gr 11 and non-intake years |
| Note | Applicants to Grade 8 and above should have prior experience learning French or Mandarin. |
Co-ed · West Vancouver · Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12
| Main intake | JK (32) · K (28) · Gr 3 (20) · Gr 8 (25) |
|---|---|
| Entrance exam | JK–Gr 7 in-house · Gr 8 and up in-house · International applicants from Gr 4 need SSAT or MAP |
| Deadline | Dec 1 |
United States
Some families are looking further than Vancouver. We began guiding U.S. boarding school applications in 2024 — an extension of the work we have done for Vancouver independent schools since 2005, since it rests on the same SSAT, the same essays and the same interviews. Our students have gone on to Cushing Academy and Fay School in Massachusetts. For most children raised here, the SSAT is the only test they need to sit.
Almost every U.S. boarding school reads the SSAT — Middle Level for Grades 5–7, Upper Level for Grades 8–11. It is the same test the Vancouver independent schools use, so the preparation carries across both applications.
U.S. schools weigh essays, teacher references, the interview and what a student does outside class. We help families build a realistic school list and work through each piece rather than leaving it to the last month.
Boarding schools generally waive the English proficiency test for students who have been in an English-language school for four years or more — which covers most children raised here. In practice that usually leaves the SSAT as the only test to prepare. Requirements vary by school, so we confirm it for each one on your list.
Applications are generally due in the winter before entry, with testing and interviews before that. Families who start in the spring have room to sit the SSAT more than once; families who start in November do not. Ask us for the current year's dates.
More than 300 students have gone from our classrooms into independent schools since 2005. Tell us which school you are aiming for and which grade, and we will tell you what the preparation looks like.
Our Teachers
Our teachers are subject specialists, not generalists. Several have been with Ivy Academy for more than a decade.
SAT Head Teacher · UK Admissions
Online onlySSAT & SAT · US Admissions
English & French
English & AP Literature
Math, Physics & Economics
Math, Physics & Chemistry
In person preferredLevel Test
A free online assessment of vocabulary and reading, run on our own Ivy Path Education platform. It takes about 35 minutes and gives us a real starting point to talk from.
You get the score and a teacher's written explanation by email within one business day. Nothing appears on screen when the test ends — a number on its own tells a family very little. What we send is what it means: where your child is strong, what is costing them marks, and what to work on first.
Before you start: each question is timed and you cannot go back, so sit somewhere quiet with a full 40 minutes free. A phone works, but a laptop or tablet is easier to read on.
Ivy Path
Twenty-seven years of guiding Vancouver students into university taught us one thing above all: grades alone never show where a student actually stands. What decides the outcome is whether the marks, the course choices and the activities are pointing the same way. Ivy Path is that consulting work, built into something a family can use all year rather than once a year. Registering is free, and anything beyond that is decided only after we have met.
A report card arrives a few times a year and describes a term that has already ended. It says nothing about whether a student is on course for the universities the family has in mind. Ivy Path holds grades, courses and activities in one place so the direction is visible while there is still time to change it.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Canada each reward a different application, and none of them work the way admissions worked where most of our parents grew up. Once a direction is set, what a student should be doing becomes clear — and so does what they can safely stop worrying about.
Course choices made in Grade 9 shape the application submitted in Grade 12, and some of those decisions cannot be undone later. Starting earlier means more of it is still adjustable. The honest first step is simply to find out where your child stands now.
You do not need a finished plan to begin. Most families who come to us arrive with questions rather than answers — that is exactly the point at which this is useful.
Register free →Free to register · A meeting before any decision · No obligation to continue · Opens in a new tab
It costs nothing and commits you to nothing. You will know far more after one meeting than after another year of guessing.
Free tool · Essay Lab · Canada & U.S.
The Common App personal essay, the University of California questions, the UBC Personal Profile, the Waterloo AIF, Queen’s, Ivey, McMaster Health Sci, Rotman, Schulich, Sauder and Beedie — twelve applications, each with its own word caps, character counts and timed windows, and each rewarding a different kind of answer. Essay Lab puts the real conditions in front of a student, and beside every prompt it says how to approach that particular question and what the reader is looking for. Both parts are free.
Every prompt carries the school’s own character or word cap — 650 words for the Common App, 350 for a UC question, 200 characters for a UBC entry — so a student learns what the limit feels like before it matters.
The timed prompts run on the same kind of clock the universities use for recorded responses, so the first attempt under pressure is not the one that counts.
Each question comes with the advice we give our own students — how to open it, what the reader scores, and the mistake most applicants from our community make on that exact question. In English, 한국어 or 中文.
No account, no sign-up, nothing to pay. Open it and you have all twelve applications — the prompts, the real limits, and the notes on how to write each one. Where we go further is on your own draft: our Canadian and U.S. essay specialists read what you have written, tell you which paragraph is costing you the place, and work through the rewrite with you. If you want that, get in touch.
Opens in a new tab · Drafts stay on your own computer · Laptop, tablet or phone · English · 한국어 · 中文
Nothing to install, nothing to pay, nothing to sign up for. If you would rather have a teacher beside you while you write, that is what the academy is for.
Free tool · Interview Labs
Most families prepare for the wrong thing. Waterloo and Sauder record a one-take video inside the application and never meet you. Harvard sends an alumnus who may or may not get in touch. Caltech and McGill do not interview at all. St. George’s interviews the student and then the parents. Tell Interview Labs where you are applying and it lays out exactly which of those you are walking into, when each one happens, and what to practise for it.
Waterloo, Sauder, Schulich and Queen’s Smith record you inside the application — 60 to 120 seconds, one attempt, scored on structure as much as content. This is the format that most often costs a strong student a place.
MIT, Yale, Harvard, Princeton and most of the Ivies offer an alumni interview rather than requiring one. Some must be requested by a deadline in October. A student who never asks simply never gets one.
Every Vancouver independent school and every U.S. boarding school interviews, and most interview the parents too. Auditions, portfolio reviews and scholarship panels sit here as well — each with its own vocabulary.
Interview Labs is as willing to say “this school does not interview” as it is to hand you a drill. An hour of interview practice for a school that decides on grades and writing is an hour taken from the essays that actually decide the file. When it is time to rehearse in front of someone who knows what a particular school is listening for, that is what our admissions teachers do.
Opens in a new tab · English · 한국어 · 中文 · Policies verified September 2026