Of the many possible institutional and individual factors bearing on test preparation, one is how individuals go about choosing their achievement goals. Yet, the literature on the relationship between the two phenomena remains slim. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, it explores the range of test preparation practices exercised by test takers in preparing for the English module of the Higher Education Admission Test in Iran. Secondly, it investigates how individual goal orientations mediate test preparation. A goal orientations scale was translated, validated and administered to the participants, who were 357 test candidates, a convenience sample. The participants also completed a test preparation questionnaire with two underlying factors including desired and undesired test preparation practices. Descriptive statistics and paired samples "t"-tests revealed that preparation for the Higher Education Admission Test entailed a mix of both detrimental and beneficial practices, with the frequency of the former being significantly higher. It was also revealed that mastery goal orientations are associated with educationally defensible test preparation practices. Findings carry implications for testers, test preparation instructors and educational policy makers.