This is an interesting point, and one I've seen from the other side as well: When leaving secondary (high) school, for university, a common piece of advice is: "You may have been one of the smartest people here, but be careful, you probably won't be where you're going, so you have to manage your expectations." But if everyone is being told this, then those who could become some of the "smartest people at university", are being told it too, and some of these people could be unnecessarily lowering their expectations. I've always thought this was a great shame.