Better to aim low and exceed your expectations or aim high and come close?

[Deceitful Wings]

Which one works or has worked for you and why?

[Special At Specialist]

If I had to choose between the two, I'd say aim high and come close.
For example, I'd rather aim for a 50 in specialist maths and receive a 48 than aim for a 40 and receive a 45.

[Phy124]

Ah, I believe there was a debate/discussion on this recently IIRC. Many would say to aim high and fall short, but I believe it depends on the student, because some students can react it vastly different ways when they don't reach the set expectations. It is possible that it may lead to demotivation and depression and so for these people it may be better to aim low.

I think it's just about setting realistic, achievable goals and then working hard to attain them

[WonderBunny]

I did a weird mix of both. I aimed high, but expected low, if that makes sense. I worked towards a high figure and had a "realistic" lower figure that I could be happy with. I was expecting 90+ and working towards 95+ at the same time. I exceeded my high aim, so it worked for me.

[Unknown_one]

Its sort of the principle.
If you aim high, thus you work harder, and if you get close you're likely to get close and not feel disappointed.
However, if you aim low, you put in less effort, get higher, but not as high if you worked hard.
The funny thing is I just use a combination of both, I predicted what I wanted to get, and funny enough for methods got it. =D
Like exactly what I chose for it. =D

[cassettekid]

I did a weird mix of both. I aimed high, but expected low, if that makes sense. I worked towards a high figure and had a "realistic" lower figure that I could be happy with. I was expecting 90+ and working towards 95+ at the same time. I exceeded my high aim, so it worked for me.

I'm sort of similar...
 I am aiming high but in reality I'm expecting a low mark to avoid disappointment... It's worked for me every other year.

[chimpy400]

If I had to choose between the two, I'd say aim high and come close.
For example, I'd rather aim for a 50 in specialist maths and receive a 48 than aim for a 40 and receive a 45.

It really depends on a few factors.
With that example I would rather aim high and come close because of the increase in study score. But if i were to aim for 50 in spesh and receive a 48 or alternatively aim for a 45 and receive a 48 I would rather have the latter.
It really depends on which one results in a higher study score, if the outcome was going to be the same I would rather aim low and exeed my expectations.

[greenbeans]

I did a weird mix of both. I aimed high, but expected low, if that makes sense. I worked towards a high figure and had a "realistic" lower figure that I could be happy with. I was expecting 90+ and working towards 95+ at the same time. I exceeded my high aim, so it worked for me.

Exact same here. Even with the scores, told myself I would be happy with 90, even happier with 95, but exceeded it all
Have realistic expectations and work out how goal-setting affects you personally as a student. I myself wrote down what I wanted for each subject score, too, to the point of each graded assessment. I wrote realistic expectations but ones I felt that I deserved in each subject.

[monkeywantsabanana]

I was expecting a 37-39 for my Psych study score because I was so convinced that I did terrible on my exams/SACS. I got way more than what I had expected. Personally, I liked the surprise.

I would aim high and expect low

[pi]

Aim realistically.

For me personally, I had a fairly high aim but then progressively lowered it as the year went on and as I lost confidence with my skills in every subject. Luckily for me I exceeded that original aim. In retrospect, I think what I did wasn't good, I had aims of like getting 25+ in a certain subject which now I realise was fairly low for a realistic expectation. My advice would be to have a set of goals, write them down, pin them up somewhere and don't change them, just keep them reasonable and realistic

[greenbeans]

Aim realistically.
Pin [your goals] up somewhere and don't change them, just keep them reasonable and realistic

+ 1 to this.

From feeling lousy about ONE SINGLE SAC to comparing yourself with another student doing one of the same subjects as you, your expectations in both your ATAR and S.S. can be warped by these factors. Your initial goals should stay true to what you think you can achieve so don't alter them based on 'what someone said', and don't be afraid to aim high.

[nacho]

aim high, high as the sky
and if you get anywhere - even if it's not where you wanted to - then there's absolutely no reason to feel bad, because in contrast, if you had aimed low, you wouldn't have gotten as far.

Really if you're going to aim low, and 'exceed' your expectations, you're lying to yourself.
This is because if you recognise you're aiming low, then you're not being realistic with your aims, and so the 'surprise' will really be a lie, and you will not surprise yourself when you exceed your low expectations.
Here is an example, albeit extreme, it demonstrates it well.
"An above average student goes into VCE. Think, "I will aim for a 15+ Study score in each of my subjects". Studies accordingly, averages a study score of 25". Tell me this guy would be happy with his results, and you've got to be kidding yourself.

aim high, live like a king, never lower your standards it won't get you any further. 

[86]

Aim high, think pessimistically. Someone said it here not long ago, summed it up in a nutshell.

[greenbeans]

Pessimistically? Optimistically, perhaps?

And it is all very subjective... how 'high' is high, how 'low' is low....
For some, a score could be impossible, for others something could be ridiculous.

[Deceitful Wings]

I personally feel that neither work for me.
If I aim low, usually I get what I aimed for and not exceed them, but if I aimed too high, I would get sort of close, but not so close. Ultimately, I was disappointed with my performance either way.

Aim realistically.

I like this because I think this is the only way to be happy with your scores because you know you have given it best shot and you got what you deserve.

aim high, high as the sky
and if you get anywhere - even if it's not where you wanted to - then there's absolutely no reason to feel bad, because in contrast, if you had aimed low, you wouldn't have gotten as far.

Really if you're going to aim low, and 'exceed' your expectations, you're lying to yourself.
This is because if you recognise you're aiming low, then you're not being realistic with your aims, and so the 'surprise' will really be a lie, and you will not surprise yourself when you exceed your low expectations.
Here is an example, albeit extreme, it demonstrates it well.
"An above average student goes into VCE. Think, "I will aim for a 15+ Study score in each of my subjects". Studies accordingly, averages a study score of 25". Tell me this guy would be happy with his results, and you've got to be kidding yourself.

aim high, live like a king, never lower your standards it won't get you any further. 

What you said is 100% true, but some people manage to pull it off. I know a friend who was aiming for 38ish in biology, but she ended up smashing it and getting 47. I guess she got progressively confident throughout the year, especially when she got her mid year statement of results, that must have motivated her to aim high and hence get a really high score.