Resource Center

Free Compass test prep and college admission resources for counselors, students, and families. No sign-up required. Bookmark this page or use our share tool on any webpage.

Testing Overview & Planning

Complete Compass Guide to College Admission Testing

College Admission Testing Today

Popular Testing Timelines

SAT & ACT Dates, Deadlines & Registration

Testing Accommodations

Test Scores & Merit Aid

GPA, Test Scores, & College Performance

SAT vs. ACT

SAT & ACT Comparison

SAT/ACT Concordance

Using PSAT Scores to Compare SAT & ACT

SAT vs. ACT: Math Topics

Top 10 SAT & ACT English Errors

College Policies & Deadlines

College Testing Policies & Score Ranges

ACT Science Requirements & Recommendations

Superscoring & Score Choice

Self-Reporting SAT & ACT Scores

Early Action & Early Decision Deadlines

How Colleges Use AP Scores

PSAT/NMSQT & National Merit

Free Webinars & Workshops

College Admission Testing Webinars

For students and families.

Free SAT & ACT Workshops

Tutor-led sessions for students.

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Resource Center FAQs

Compass resources are free, updated, and designed to help college counselors, independent educational consultants, students, and families navigating college admission testing or prepping for PSAT, SAT, ACT, or AP exams. No account or purchase is required.

Yes. Counselors and educators may download, print, copy, post, share, and distribute any resource on this page for non-commercial, educational use. Where possible, please credit Compass Education Group.

Compass resources are updated continuously through the admissions cycle. The Compass Guide is revised annually, and time-sensitive resources such as test dates, college testing policies, Early Decision and Early Action deadlines, and National Merit cutoffs are updated as the relevant colleges and testing agencies announce changes.

Many resources include both a PDF version and an online version or explanatory article. The PDF is a print-ready excerpt from the Compass Guide, formatted for handouts. The online version is either a web page explaining the document or a corresponding article on compassprep.com, which may include updates published after the PDF.

The full Compass Guide to College Admission Testing is free and available online, as a PDF, or physically distributed at school events. There is a link to download the PDF at the top of this page or simply visit the Compass Guide page to learn more.

Yes. Compass offers free webinars and presentations on college admission testing for schools and organizations. See the Free Webinars & Workshops section above or contact us at [email protected] to schedule one.

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Compass Resource Center

About These Resources

The Compass Guide to College Admission Testing is a complete, annually updated guidebook of free resources available as a comprehensive PDF or as individual downloadable excerpts such as an overview of today’s test-optional admissions environment, popular testing timelines that help students map when to take the SAT or ACT, current test dates, registration fees, and fee-waiver instructions, step-by-step instructions for requesting testing accommodations, and short explainers on how test scores relate to merit aid, GPA, and college performance.

The comparison and policy resources answer the questions counselors field most. The SAT vs. ACT materials include a side-by-side comparison of the digital SAT and the ACT’s structure, timing, scoring, and content; the official SAT/ACT concordance for comparing scores; a guide to using PSAT scores to predict SAT ranges and choose between tests; and one-page references on the math topics and the top English errors each test emphasizes. The college policy resources track admission statistics, testing policies, and score ranges for more than 400 colleges, ACT science-section requirements as they change, superscoring and Score Choice rules, colleges that allow self-reported scores, Early Action and Early Decision deadlines (EA 1, EA 2, ED 1, and ED 2) at hundreds of selective colleges, and how colleges award credit for AP scores.

For the PSAT/NMSQT, the National Merit resources cover state-by-state Semifinalist cutoffs and how the scholarship program works. And beyond the documents, Compass runs free public webinars on college admission testing and free tutor-led SAT and ACT workshops for students, which are both linked above.

Last reviewed September 2026.

About Compass

Compass Education Group (“Compass Prep”) is a college admission test preparation company specializing in one-on-one private tutoring and small group instruction classes. Compass is a licensed provider of official ACT® content through the ACT affiliate program and qualified creator of proprietary digital and adaptive SAT, PSAT, and AP content, curriculum, and test prep materials. Every year the Compass team researches and publishes the Compass Guide to College Admission Testing, an updated guidebook used by counselors and independent educational consultants across the country to help students and families achieve their testing and admissions goals, while also offering an array of up-to-date lists, policy trackers, interactive tools, free resources, proctored practice tests, webinars, and free workshops, many of which can be found on this page.

Recognized nationally for an award-winning technology suite, Compass administers full-length digital practice tests online on-demand nationwide or proctored in person in eight metro areas: the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Manhattan, Boston, Houston, Seattle, and Washington D.C. Every test includes an interactive score report with national percentile rankings, time-per-question pacing analysis, attractor answer detection, skill-level breakdowns, a similar scorers comparison, and an SAT/ACT comparison tool that shows which test favors the student. Students can review their questions and answers for 120 days after each test and to get a feel for the process, students can take a free guided tour of the Compass Online Testing Center, which mirrors the official digital testing environment, or families can attend a free two-hour SAT or ACT workshop that includes a complimentary full-length practice test. Compass practice tests are also administered in partnership with hundreds of high schools nationwide. After any test, families can schedule a complimentary score review call with a Compass director. 10% of practice test proceeds are donated to organizations advancing educational access.

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