To answer your original question, yes. My child seems to value blending in more than personal successes at this time. He seems to be lonely and looking to fit in and tries to look like one of the popular kids rather than look out for his best interests (this includes turning down any differentiation offered by the school, refusing to participate in contests so that he would not lose time with his friends at school, refusing to change schools etc). He is young, so we explain the pros and cons of each action to him and let him figure out what is good for him.
In your child's case, I like the suggestions from notnafnaf about going in earlier for tests etc.
