To be blunt, no. My kids did what excited and interested them and things where they could spend time with their friends, which usually overlapped. Also, there is no possible way my kids would do this, even if there was pressure from their parents.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but this is my take at a competitive public high school with a large number of status-conscious families, including some foreign-born families who move to our area so solely that their kids can attend the high school.
These families do what you are describing here. Parents have strong say in their schedules, both academic and extracurricular. These are the kids who are forced to drop piano after not winning an important competition. They drop out of ensembles if they are not awarded the chair seating they wanted. They participate in the school extracurriculars that are showy or compete on a high level even if their interests are elsewhere (being primarily involved in a science extracurricular and then applying as a business major seems particularly common). Some of them start non-profits, seemingly out of the blue (ie, not following a long-held interest or activity). They often jump from activity to activity, looking for that leadership spot or some other elusive award. They are cutthroat about grades and secretive about summer opportunities and other ways kids can distinguish themselves. They seem extremely grade-conscious, stressed, and view other students primarily as their competitors.
I believe most selective schools can see straight through this for what it is. The kids seem to have little sense of self, and I suspect their essays and interviews (which I know are rare and often not even offered) show this. Most of these sorts seem to go to fine schools, but they are often not the top couple they are aiming for (but sometimes they are). I guess I personally don’t understand it at all- how could this possibly be worth it? On top of this, my kids actively refused to look at colleges that seemed to attract this type of applicant- 4 years of high school with it was more than enough.
