Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

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Welcome to day 2 of our quick tips for how your student can get ahead of their college admission and test prep goals this December.

What’s the second thing your student should do?

Commit to clear goals, including whether they will be taking the ACT, SAT, or both.

If you’re reading this newsletter, you might be in the high self-efficacy group, and model that behavior to your student. There’s a rich literature on what most contributes to success in test prep (both in general and for college admissions exams), but let’s acknowledge a major one: commitment.

Self-Selection in Preparation:

• Factors such as self-efficacy, test anxiety, ambition, and awareness of resources influenced preparation choices.
• Most test-takers engaged in moderate preparation, with only a few committing significant time and effort.

The takeaway? Discuss your student’s “why” — which of the two tests has gone better so far? Does their target college publish a bar-and-whiskers graph showing the middle two quartiles of the ACT or SAT so you have a good idea which score is competitive? Are they committed to doing the requisite number of mock tests?

You don’t want to find yourself wandering, Alice-style, with no particular direction.