lechuck said:

Is there any difference between the Canadian and the American SAT test? It is standard for all of North America? Does it vary depending on what level of education you are apply for?

oLahav said:

The biggest difference would be that there is no Canadian SAT. The US does have an SAT and it’s required for pretty much all admissions into American colleges and universities. Canada doesn’t have this type of standardized test, and admissions are based mostly on personal grades, extra-curricular activities, etc. However, some Canadian universities have their own required tests, and international students are required to take standardized TOEFL tests to ensure their English is at an appropriate level. There is only one official SAT test which is standardized all over the world. It does not vary by which level of education you’re applying for, but your score determines whether you should apply to certain places or not. For example, if you don’t score very high, you’re unlikely to get accepted into Harvard. I hope that answers most of your questions.

lechuck said:

Thanks Oren, how does the TOEFL stack up in difficulty to the SAT?

oLahav said:

The TOEFL only tests your English skills, no math. It’s also structured differently in terms of the English testing, as it includes listening and speaking sections in addition to reading and writing. TOEFL is an internationally accepted test, and it can help you get into universities not only in the US and in Canada but also in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other English-speaking countries. In terms of difficulty, that’s more of an opinion issue, and since I haven’t taken both tests I can’t really answer that, but I expect the tests have similar difficulty in terms of vocabulary, grammar, etc.

lechuck said:

Very interesting, thanks Oren.

oLahav said:

No problem

cappy_bg said:

he lechuck i think i can help you with the TOEFL. i had my TOEFL exan three weeks ago.compared to the SAT test i have done at home it is considerably easier. the reading section isn`t that hard, definetely easier than the SAT. the listening is clean and with no hard questions and there are 30 minutes for you to write an essay. what i had most dificulty in was the speaking since you have between 15 and 20 seconds to prepare your answer and 45 to 60 seconds to speak so the time issue is little pressing. everything else is not that big of a deal and a lot easier than the SAT. hyope the info is useful

oLahav said:

That’s great info cappy_bg, thanks a lot!

ang said:

Has any Canadians on the board written the SATs in hopes of getting into an American university/college?

What were your expectations before the exam? How did you find it? Was there much prep work that went into it? And did you score low or high considering you’re a Canadian?

Thanks!

oLahav said in response to:

According to what I’ve heard from a few Canadian friends who took the SAT last year (without preparing more than a couple of weeks), the level wasn’t that hard. Taking into account the fact that they have a high-80, low-90 average in grade 12, I think that’s reasonable. They also found the math section much easier than the reading and writing ones.

They scored a bit lower than they wanted to, I can’t remember exactly what it was but it was still a very respectable score. They ended up going to Canadian universities though, but mostly because it was close to home.

ang said:

Thanks oLahav!

rishitha said:

thanks for heplping to know something about TOFEL and SAT