They aren't attending high-powered colleges... not even what I'd call "excellent" ones. Parents have admitted that they are "decent" rather than "excellent" students at those colleges.
I often say, there is no such thing as "college level work." Which college? MIT? Or University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople*? My first faculty position was at a place with "open enrollment" (no admission criteria). In one of my classes I had a student with moderate mental retardation, and I was expected to teach at a level that would enable her to succeed. And this was at a PhD-granting research university, not even the bottom of the barrel in that state.
Which makes it especially sad when parents treat it as a holy grail of validating their kids, to have them doing "college level work" at some ridiculously young age.
*Credit to Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame.
