COMPASS Referral Procedure

COMPASS scores can be used as an alternative to ACT scores for initial placement in literature, performing arts, humanities, communication studies and social sciences courses. However, in order to take the COMPASS test, students must receive a referral from their counselor. Students can receive a referral if they meet one of the following conditions:

1. the student has not taken the ACT test; or
2. the student has a good reason to believe that their score on either the Arts/Literature Reading or Social Studies/Science Reading section of ACT does not reflect their true ability.

Students meeting one of the conditions listed above must see their counselor to request a referral to take the COMPASS test. If the counselor agrees to make the referral, they will send a message to the NLC supervisor, Wesley Blue, at wnbnbc@rit.edu. The message should state that the student is being referred for the COMPASS test, and it should indicate which portion of COMPASS the student needs to take.

Two portions of COMPASS are being used. The COMPASS Literature Test corresponds to the Arts/Literature Reading section of ACT. Students seeking a substitute for the Arts/Literature Reading portion of ACT should be referred for the COMPASS Literature Test. The COMPASS Social Sciences Test corresponds to the Social Studies/Science Reading section of ACT, and students seeking a substitute for this test should be referred for the COMPASS Social Sciences Test. Each COMPASS test requires about half an hour (30 minutes) to administer, and will be scheduled by appointment only.

The referral procedure simply requires the student to see their counselor, and the counselor to send an electronic referral via email to Wesley Blue. The referral should include the student's email address so that Mindi can follow up with the student to arrange for an appointment. Wesley will inform the student of their score, and send a report to the counselor and the Department of Cultural and Creative Studies chair. Please refer to the "Criteria for Initial Placement" section of the Humanities and Social Sciences Handbook for details concerning course placement via ACT and COMPASS scores.