For many students, college admission tests are accompanied by unpleasant physical and emotional side effects – heart palpitations, distractibility, nervousness, self-doubt – which sometimes lead to lackluster scores. We subsume…
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This post was contributed by Steven Mercer, Ed.D, the founder of Mercer Educational Consulting, a private college counseling practice in Los Angeles. In addition to his extensive counseling experience, Steven…
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We have written a lot about the coming paradigm shift for the PSAT (October 2015) and SAT (March 2016). ACT takes a far more gradual approach in introducing change but…
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Mapping the ACT We have all heard the stories of drivers taking GPS instructions too literally and performing a “Turn Left Now” into a ditch. Navigating a standardized test poses…
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Several members of the Compass leadership team — Bruce Reed, Matt Steiner, and I — spent February 19-20 in Newport Beach attending the College Board’s annual Western Regional Forum. We make it…
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When we started Compass in 2004, we entered familiar territory. The founders had worked together before, having started California's first in-home one-on-one test prep company in 1989. Back then, we…
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Faithful readers of this blog know that the major SAT redesign is framed and heavily influenced by the Common Core landscape nationally. Well, score one for the College Board in…
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This post was contributed by Chelsea Watkins, an independent counselor and financial aid expert based in Los Angeles. Chelsea is a certified advisor for the National Association of College Funding…
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In the first installment of this blog series, I examined the damaging effects of achievement culture on privileged teens. Additionally, I noted problematic parenting styles – isolation and narcissism –…
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