I went to a super selective independent day school. I remember at interview stage (having passed the exam which was thought to be very difficult) saying lackadaisically to my parents, I don't really care whether I go to the school or not, and them saying NO NO, be sure to say YOU REALLY WANT TO GO THERE. I did well to start with, but was lacking in ambition and confidence, and fell by the wayside, whereas in a less high achieving environment I might possibly have stayed on top, so to speak... I loved the school but in the end I didn't get good A-levels, make of that what you will.. I presume my parents wanted me to get good A-levels as the bottom line, certainly the school was set up for that.
I think what I said to my parents was a bit of a warning bell, meaning, This child although bright is not that self motivated, so although I was happy enough there for first few years, and their ambition was felt to be warranted, in the long term they might have listened to the sort of child I WAS rather than the child they wanted me to be. Similarily with my brothers they made the mistake of highly academic schools which didn't have enough pastoral support, and paid for it with my brothers both dropping out, one academically, and one emotionally scarred although achieving good results, but not getting a job for years, low self esteem etc.
So I can see it is important to listen to the sort of child you have and not impose all sorts of expectations of what they should be, on them.. But you are still in a better position to judge, taking those important factors into account,than the child itself.