Helped me through every step, from learning about schools, to creating a timetable. Helped me stay…read moreorganized and now I'm as happy as I can be at UVic right now. Check it out, because you learn so much there that you can be one step ahead of everyone else.

From the owner: Options Solutions was created to help students, aged 14 to 24, and their families explore and…read morepursue educational and professional opportunities available to them during and after secondary school. Options Solutions is a comprehensive educational consulting practice dedicated to assisting with course selection, study skills, career counseling, SAT prep classes, sports recruitment, and post-secondary placement.

Marisa was amazing. She helped me prepare for my English 12 provincial a few years ago and for…read moreuniversity applications. I was seriously lacking in confidence in English to the extent that I felt like giving up but she helped me regain some self-esteem in my writing.

One-day-per-week West Van advisor Edwin, is awesome and has amazing international experience, but…read moreunfortunately there is only one of him (shared by West Van, Van and Surrey). The rest of the Options experience was definitely not a good fit for us and I totally agree with the 'factory' reference mentioned in the previous review. Here in West Vancouver we are spoiled by and used to awesome, personalized, flexible service. We were advised of a two-plus month waiting list to book follow-up appt for our advisor in West Van office. Too late and totally impossible and implausible for students and busy families with urgent needs to meet strict university deadlines that are often not communicated to students until well after the school year starts. It's a good business model for sure, for them, as one could spend the first part of the second $168 per hour visit catching the new advisor up on what the first advisor had been told, and then again for the third visit and so on. If they were to warn you up front that a series of several bookings with the same advisor, should be done in advance over the course of several months, then one might avoid the time and money wasting 'passing around', but unfortunately they don't - not in person or in writing (though hopefully this will change after time of writing). Not a fan of the impersonal and anonymous (and impossible to follow-up on btw) 'team' signature on inquiry emails. I wish you much better luck and a less 'cold and rigid' experience than we had. Also, we learned that it's not that hard finding lovely and enthusiastic, encouraging people in the community and school district who have great experience and advice re university applications. The assumption is that we know nothing, but give yourself a break and be confident that you can accomplish a lot on your own. Otherwise, be sure to call an Options 'team' member in June and book four or five appointments in advance for the following school year; including September, mid October, mid November and early January, for enrollment in University one year from your first September meeting. I have to assume that many people are enjoying Options service, otherwise they wouldn't be too busy to accommodate clients. Happy for everyone all around. It just didn't work out at all, for us.

The biology teacher never showed up, didn't give compensation, not worth it! Kaplan is betterread more

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE: Signed my son up for the Ultimate SAT Prep course. They sent the…read morematerials for class a few business days before class with an ETA to arrive after class has started. I noticed this and tried to have it delivered on time but the only answer I got was "I'm sorry". They don't fix the problem, they tell you to send an email but don't answer them, they seem to care more about their profits than students.

I'm really surprised there are no reviews for this high school, as it was the second high school…read morebuilt in Vancouver and is now the oldest remaining secondary school. The first classes were held way back in 1908! Nobody I know enjoyed their high school years. They are by nature a tumultuous time. Few teenagers emerge unscathed. Add to the traumas and dramas of one's high school experience the extra stress of moving to a new school halfway through one's secondary years. Not only a new high school but one in a new city, in a new country, with all new kids (none of whom you know), with a whole new school system. This is the situation my kid encountered when we moved from Seattle to Vancouver two years ago. Talk about rough! But Britannia made the transition as smooth as humanly possible, for my kid and for our family. In fact, they went above and beyond the call of duty for us, on more than one occasion. And for that, I am forever grateful. Last year's principal, Dr. Andrew Scoffield, took the time to alleviate our anxiety about moving (both to this school and to Vancouver in general). He personally escorted us around the school in July to give us a tour, and he met with us as a family a few times prior to September. He called me prior to our moving here, while I was still in Seattle, to answer my questions about registering my kid and all the documents that were needed, etc. He repeatedly told us all not to worry about the deadlines and paperwork and administrative requirements listed on the school board's website, telling us that he will make sure there's no problems and that I shouldn't lose sleep over all this "school stuff". He said they are flexible and will do everything possible to make the transition as smooth as can be. And he did. He introduced us all to various teachers and coaches and the guidance counselor who would also help us out enormously (Mr. Wayne Shattuck). We were all a bit wary initially of our kid attending this school (my kid was the most apprehensive of us all), as this is an inner-city, gritty school (in contrast, the high school she was leaving was in an affluent suburb, and it was a sprawling, new shiny building, with all the most modern features and amenities, and all her childhood friends attended it with her). Britannia was older, smaller, in a rougher area (for sure the areas she had to go through to get to the school were very rough). The student population is very diverse (which is a great thing!). In many ways, Britannia was the antithesis of the school she came from. But wow, the teachers and principal here really stepped up and were exemplary. For all the glitz and glitter of her past suburban high school, she never would have received the personalized treatment she received here at Britannia. Soonafter we moved here, my kid had a scary health scare and she had to be hospitalized for over a week. She missed two weeks of school. Dr. Scoffield and Mr. Shattuck were incredibly helpful and understanding and they got all the teachers on board and made it easy for my kid to ease back in to her school routine when she was well enough to do so, and make up any required homework and tests and learn the missed material in a non-stressful way. The school staff here was unbelievably helpful to us during this scary time. This school offers some pretty amazing programs, including an expedition/hiking trek to kids who qualify and train hard, to places like Patagonia. They have a wonderful ski and snowboard club at very discount rates. They have some well-known sports teams and there's a regulation-size hockey rink and pool in the Britannia complex here. They have an auto mechanic workshop and other hands-on programs in addition to their academic curriculums. They offer an "Outreach" program for disadvantaged kids. They have students here from all over the world. My kid recently graduated from Britannia and we attended the ceremony. It was so personalized, for each graduate, reading their pre-written comments, describing each kid and what their plans were going forward, and bestowing many scholarships and awards to many of them. We were SO impressed how many bright students this school has! So many were on the honor roll, SO many graduated from the IB program, most were moving on to university and college, and some won some very prestigious national scholarships. Various MP's spoke and we were taken aback how many prominent Vancouverites graduated from or were associated with Britannia. The school isn't perfect (which one is?). It was often disorganized, getting messages crossed and erroneously sending out phone messages about kids' absences (when the kids were excused) or tardiness (when the kid was on time), or monies owed (when they were paid up), etc. I've heard there were discipline issues at times with unruly kids. But in the matters that count, to our family and to our kid, this school was there for us when it counted, in ways no other school ever had been.

Great place for some industry and hands-on education…read more Parking is most pay lots, but if you don't mind a short walk, there are spots to be had around the perimeter side streets. The campus is split up nicely into 4 quadrants, though you'll still need a map to find individual buildings. There are quite a few workshops scattered throughout, and they look pretty well-equipped. Food selection is a bit limited, but there is some catering available.

I went to school here! Took some courses which are mostly IT courses. I still have my student card…read moreand its still valid! The campus is split into 4 section. But because most of my courses are either in business related or IT related, they are usually in the B or C area. All parking are pay parking. I would take the skystrain and then bus which stops right in front of the school. They have another campus downtown!

There's been a lot said of this place. Some of it is exaggerated, some of it isn't. I recently…read moregraduated from their flagship program, Film Production. Was it worth 37 thousand dollars? Short answer, no. But, I'll provide more information. For starters, the program moves very fast. It's honestly too much to pack in one year and really benefits those with previous education and experience. In my class, the students who did well in cinematography literally all had either professional experience or degrees in film. It definitely surprised me that a lot of people from foreign countries who go to VFS already have careers and use this program to get started in North America. Beyond that, so much of your success in this program is based on how much you vibe with your class. There's new intakes every two months so it really is a dice roll. Your class only does 5-6 final projects and you and your classmates vote on which ones to do. From there, the students who get their pitch get to choose all the roles. There's literally no checks and balances from the teachers if you want a certain role and want to get your money's worth out of this THIRTY SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLAR program. There's also very little to do in the final term. I just wanted some more lectures to potentially learn something after the finals had fizzled out. Some positives are that you get a lot of experience with professional equipment. You get to sub through every role in the first two terms. I did learn a lot, honestly. But like, I've already directed more outside of VFS than I did in that entire year (and it has cost me a lot less!). Due to the speed of the program, you'll "learn" one type of software for one assignment and then you're already onto a new one for the next assignment. I thought I'd be covered by purchasing the entire Adobe Suite. Nope! We used Premiere Pro for Term 1 but for Term 2 we switched to Avid and that's what we used for the remainder of the course. Why? I think it's as simple as VFS wanting to include both in their course sequence. On top of that, you're expected to use a strange software called Movie Magic for budgets and schedules, because it's "industry standard". And yep, Movie Magic certainly isn't free so of course I was restricted to using the computers at school. VFS is in Gastown and it's NOT a nice area of town. It's really quite appalling what you see around there and I did not personally want to stay at school long hours into the night. If you look at how much less tuition costs in University programs like UBC, CapU, Concordia etc. I just can't imagine that they wouldn't be more value for your money. Learning this stuff over years will also just give you so much more time to develop your own ideas and projects outside of the classroom. Overall, I just cannot recommend VFS. The backpack actually is pretty nice though.

I applied to the Game Design program at VFS one year ago with a scholarship and it has been one of…read morethe best decisions I've ever made. I met some incredible and talented people, improved my skills as an artist and grew as a person. What I value the most about VFS are the instructors and staff in there. They are kind, respectful and so incredibly talented. The instructors have a strong industry background and they use that knowledge to teach you what you need to know to make it in the industry. I was an international student, so getting a job after graduating was a big concern, but even after graduating I was still receiving support from my instructors and mentors. I am now working in one of the best studios in Vancouver and I know I wouldn't be here thanks to the all help I received from the people that I met at VFS (: