Realistic goal setting

[el8]

I'm only in year ten (I do a 1/2 tho) and I'm completely unsure where I should be aiming for my atar.......
-my grades are 80-90%  pretty much always
-I go to a decent public school ranked a hundred and something.
Sometimes I think a 60 would be amazing because it would mean I'm in the top 40% of the state, and sometimes I think I can get in the 90s. Just confused :s
Thanks guys:))))

[brenden]

"Realistic" goal setting always messes with my head. Unless you're a perfectly objective agent, how do you know you're being objective? Fact of the matter is, there is no perfectly objective agent, so teachers etc aren't much help  either unless they have an extremely good grasp of your abilities and potential. Feasibly they could grasp your abilities but it's near impossible to evaluate someone's 'potential'. Like, there's a huge issue with this 'realistic' goal setting because any goal you set is going to be arbitrary. "Yeah, 75 is realistic!" Then why isn't 76 realistic? And if you make room for 76, then why isn't 77 realistic? And this goes on forever. It took me until after high-school to fully realise that goals in high school are a bit weird. Like I was aiming for 90 and ended up a few points above that, even though I expected about 85. I tried to aim beyond realistic anyway and I STILL outdid my "beyond realistic" goals. If I could go back I'd just aim for 99+ even though it would be obscenely difficult to achieve given the amount of subjects I did and my score in Year 11. Obviously there's little chance I would have got there, but I probably would have worked differently if that were my aim. That's why I think if you're aiming high, there's nothing to aim for except for 100% on all of your tests etc. *I didn't say ATAR. Your marks on tests aren't dependent upon other people. You can control your test marks. You can't control your ATAR because it's dependent upon how well or badly other people go etc etc. So I wouldn't bother with ATAR aims. I'd just say "I'm going to aim for 100% on everything". You won't always get it, you might not even get it once. But at least it makes logical sense to aim for 100%. Anything else is arbitrary. And at the end of it you'll be left with the best ATAR you were ever going to get given your particular set of circumstances (not the best ATAR possible for you, because theoretically something could always have been better, but you'll definitely get the best ATAR GIVEN YOUR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES if you aim as high as you can, every time).

Your grades are 80-90%. But you could do better, couldn't you? You could study more efficiently. You could study more. You could take more effective breaks. Ergo - just aims for 100%, or as best you can achieve (which is 100%) and let the chips fall where they may.

[Jono_CP]

To be honest, there are so many variables not even worth worrying about (even though I admit I am guilty of this).

You might find in Year 12, that for personal reasons you might not be able to perform at a really good level.

All these things happen, which I am just highlighting.

For instance in Year 11, I suffered very badly due to health reasons and was doing 2 Unit 3/4 subjects, and I was forced to tailor my goals accordingly.

You may even have a situation where friends have excelled in VCE, and yet hate what they are doing at university and at an occupation level. Whereas those who acquired 60's, still might get into a course they love and are passionate in.

Ultimately, it is not about the ATAR you receive, it is about the course you want to get into.

Nevertheless, it sounds like you are doing really well and certainly are really capable academically. My advice would just be to continue at it, and if you want to get really ahead, look at courses (different prerequisites) and try to find out where your passion lies. Then again, there is no need to worry about this now.

[el8]

"Realistic" goal setting always messes with my head. Unless you're a perfectly objective agent, how do you know you're being objective? Fact of the matter is, there is no perfectly objective agent, so teachers etc aren't much help  either unless they have an extremely good grasp of your abilities and potential. Feasibly they could grasp your abilities but it's near impossible to evaluate someone's 'potential'. Like, there's a huge issue with this 'realistic' goal setting because any goal you set is going to be arbitrary. "Yeah, 75 is realistic!" Then why isn't 76 realistic? And if you make room for 76, then why isn't 77 realistic? And this goes on forever. It took me until after high-school to fully realise that goals in high school are a bit weird. Like I was aiming for 90 and ended up a few points above that, even though I expected about 85. I tried to aim beyond realistic anyway and I STILL outdid my "beyond realistic" goals. If I could go back I'd just aim for 99+ even though it would be obscenely difficult to achieve given the amount of subjects I did and my score in Year 11. Obviously there's little chance I would have got there, but I probably would have worked differently if that were my aim. That's why I think if you're aiming high, there's nothing to aim for except for 100% on all of your tests etc. *I didn't say ATAR. Your marks on tests aren't dependent upon other people. You can control your test marks. You can't control your ATAR because it's dependent upon how well or badly other people go etc etc. So I wouldn't bother with ATAR aims. I'd just say "I'm going to aim for 100% on everything". You won't always get it, you might not even get it once. But at least it makes logical sense to aim for 100%. Anything else is arbitrary. And at the end of it you'll be left with the best ATAR you were ever going to get given your particular set of circumstances (not the best ATAR possible for you, because theoretically something could always have been better, but you'll definitely get the best ATAR GIVEN YOUR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES if you aim as high as you can, every time).

Your grades are 80-90%. But you could do better, couldn't you? You could study more efficiently. You could study more. You could take more effective breaks. Ergo - just aims for 100%, or as best you can achieve (which is 100%) and let the chips fall where they may.

Thanks for the reply and yeah I don't really study much

[keltingmeith]

Ergo - just aims for 100%, or as best you can achieve (which is 100%) and let the chips fall where they may.

Reminds me of a really nice quote, actually. "Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." - W. Clement Stone

[AngelWings]

I agree with Enigma wholly.
Instead of writing out definite goals yet, just research a little for what you might like to do in the future. If you have several or no ideas yet, just look at something that you have a fair amount of interest in and aim for the highest. Be sensible about it. e.g. Don't go aiming for a Medicine degree if you can't stand it! 

Always allow for change.

You never know when they'll be a new course that may be more your kind of thing in a few years, something goes wrong, you don't want to aim for Law any more and want an Arts degree, a new curriculum, a new tertiary institution campus that suddenly pops up down the street...This list goes on. I think you get the idea.

Personally, I would advise against going for a single course at a single university, i.e. DON'T say "I want to be at so-and-so university or tertiary institution in a few years doing so-and-so course." It may just completely change by then and then you're done for. 

Don't be too specific. 
Keep in mind that you are still young and having broader goals like "Just survive Year 12 and pass." is probably going to be beneficial for you. Having a goal that's too specific relates back to what I just said about change.

[Hotcurry]

Some may disagree, but I think having specific goals help me...it may be hard to be motivated, but most of the time, I like  to know I have the courage and determination to achieve whatever I want.

[el8]

Okay, thanks!!