<p>I’m loath to generalize from personal observation - my D goes to a selective-enrollment residential math and science magnet school which by definition has a very high percentage of very high achievers. With that caveat, I see many examples of exactly the kind of behavior described in the article. Parents who want to pull their kids out when they get the first B in their school careers (in spite of the fact only 2% of students at this school graduate with 4.0s, a lower percentage than score 2400/36); the parent who forced his student to spend eight hours every day all summer studying SAT prep because the kid had scored “only” a 2280; the parents who communicate to their kids that if they don’t get into one of the so-called top 15 (or 20 or 25) schools that they will have shamed the family; the parent who nag faculty members who have given their kids lower grades than the parent thinks they deserve; the parents who insist their kids apply only to top schools, in spite of the advice of the GC staff to put some safeties on the list (and the most common “safety” at this school is the very-well-regarded state flagship); etc.; etc.; etc.</p>