Many parents come to me with frustration and anxiety, worried that their student won’t do well enough on the ACT to get into the college of their choice or qualify for scholarships to help pay for them.

My answer is always the same; Sometimes, less is more. The more you stress about your child’s ACT score, the more pressure you’ll feel. That’s never a good thing with a test as important as the ACT.

Two ways parents try to help their students that actually end up hurting them are: spending a lot of money on ACT prep courses and harassing them into studying.

The reason spending a lot of money on ACT prep courses is a bad idea is that it only raises the stakes and the pressure on your student. Keep your ACT prep costs low, at least initially, and let your student get a return on investment. Only then should you consider spending more.

The other way that students struggle with increased anxiety is when their parents constantly remind them to study. It is actually more beneficial to study for shorter periods of time more often. When feeling harassed by their parents, students tend to engage in marathon study sessions, albeit only once in a while, to get their parents off their backs. Marathon study sessions aren’t very effective, and most students dread them anyway.

The best way for a parent to help their child score high on the ACT is to stand back and trust that they will do their best. This confidence can come from a short, inexpensive online video course like College Exam Tutor that will keep the pressure off, while strategically positioning your student for a dramatic ACT score boost.