Driven by a combination of peer influence, personal ambition, and parental impact, many high-achieving students use their skills to achieve ambitious goals.

The term overachiever does not necessarily limit itself to just good grades. Many students are active in multiple sports or clubs/volunteering year-round, while also balancing their social and academic lives. Many strive for greatness in many areas, therefore the term overachiever, while commonly used to categorize people with impressive grades, can be used in many different ways, describing many types of overachievers. Sophomore Sophie Barricklow, part of the girls cross country and water polo teams, is active in FCCLA, SLIC, and bowling, participates in a college-level course (AP), and also keeps a grade point average of 4.0. “My parents would be severely disappointed with me if my grades were not exceptional,” said Barricklow.

Many students can feel pressured by parental figures to do well in school through activities or through grades. If parental pressure goes beyond the healthy limit of setting goals for kids and encouraging them in effective ways, it may create challenges for students, like increasing stress and anxiety. All students are different, and these factors can affect the grades of many. A study from IJMCER found that 60% of adolescents have perceived parental pressure in their lives. This is reported to negatively impact students' mental health and emotional well-being if too much stress is applied by parents. While organization and setting goals for students is important for parental figures to instill to create balance and structure in children's lives, too much intensity on the subject can harm more than help the student, creating possible anxiety as well as straining the relationship between student and parent.

Some students can pressure themselves to strive for the best. According to Mental Health Center Kids, a mental health organization, Social and self-pressure can be a significant underlying factor that shapes the overachievers in schools. Competitiveness with friends, and peer pressure can create the stressful need and want of students to excel in multiple aspects of their lives. According to St. John’s University, Students who don’t give themselves a break mentally and physically can become distressed and drained. While being an overachiever is not a bad thing, for it portrays intelligence and creativity, as well as the persistence to strive towards goals, its impacts can create negative and stressful situations for students. It's important to remember that everyone is different and one student's best may be different from other students' best, and healthy balance in schools is necessary to keep a well-rounded environment.