Several times a year Independent Educational Consultants (IECs), high school college counselors, and college admissions officers gather for regional and national conferences to share best practices, get updates on the ever-evolving college admissions landscape, and socialize with their peers. Compass has the opportunity to attend some of these events each year, and we want to share some highlights from the 2025 slate of conferences.
Up next: PCACAC (April 6-8) & IACAC (April 23-25)
March 30-April 1, 2025
Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC)
Compass Senior Directors Matty Steiner and Jon Lee attended the SACAC conference in Atlanta, GA. The SACAC region encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, as well as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The 1,000+ attendees were offered dozens of professional development sessions on a wide variety of topics: Building Your 2025 AI Toolkit for College Admissions; The “new” FAFSA; Best Practices to Support College Access for BIPOC Students.
The Compass team attended two sessions focused on the new “core” ACT test which were hosted by fellow test prep providers from Georgia and Tennessee. The takeaways from both sessions were aligned with Compass’s guidance: current ACT testers should avoid being guinea pigs for the nascent “core” ACT and should stick with the “classic” four-section, science-score-included ACT for the April, June, and July exam dates. Come September, the science-optional, truncated core ACT will be the only game in town and colleges will have clarified their admissions requirements regarding the new version of the test.
March 16-18, 2025
Michigan Association for College Admission Counseling (MACAC)
Jon Lee, Senior Director of Outreach and Partnerships, recently attended the MACAC conference in Ann Arbor, MI:
There were just over 200 participants in total at this year’s MACAC. In addition to speeches and panels, attendees participated in several informational workshops each day. The topics at the conference ran the gamut: how to connect Michigan high school graduates to financial aid and scholarships; supporting Jewish students in the college search; how admissions officers can use ChatGPT for recruitment; using text messages to drive college attendance and enrollment.
I was keen to attend the ACT-hosted session describing the ACT’s new science-optional “enhancements” (their term) and how admissions officers should interpret the test. I brought some Compass handouts to the session to help represent our guidance on the new ACT, which folks found more comprehensible than the ACT’s slides. The majority of attendees were high school counselors and most of them are wondering if colleges’ requirements will change with the introduction of the new ACT, which Compass is tracking here. The lack of engagement from the admissions folks in the room confirmed for me that most colleges are not hung up on the transition to the new test, despite the counselors’ understandable concerns.
