As the Director of Curriculum at Compass, I have specific advice that I would offer to students preparing to take the new ACT Essay: #1 Breathe Seriously. Just breathe. You…
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“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” – Aristotle At Compass, we are big fans of analogies. A great way for…
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In a recent post, guest author and independent college consultant, Steven Mercer, described ways in which students can ‘demonstrate interest’ during the application process to improve their odds of acceptance.…
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In light of the June 6th SAT debacle, we have brainstormed several ways that students can safeguard against mishaps on testing day. 1) Know the Test and Its Instructions The first…
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I want to preface my criticism by acknowledging that College Board and ETS took what was a horrible situation — and that was their own doing, mind you — and…
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From May 18th through the 20th, four members of Compass’ leadership team (myself included) ventured to the SuperACAC conference in Reno. We attended a number of educational sessions, including those…
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We are proud to feature the voices of prominent Southern California neuropsychologists, Dr. Dana Chidekel and Dr. Deborah Budding. In this post, Dana and Deb explain the history of testing…
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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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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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