I have three kids, all are over 18 and being who they are. One thing that struck me is they here different words than what we said as parents. We may ask a question about how the test went and they here you did bad. These kids are all very intelligent just like yourself. My son is the best at everything and pleasing us as parents was his goal even though we never asked for that. Pleasing us caused him so much termoil it drove him crazy sometimes. We always had an open communication with the kids so if things were bothering them they could talk to us freely and we could work things out. It wasn't until he was 17 that he started to understand we were happy with him doing what he wanted. We still voiced our oppinion as to what we thought his streangths were and if we thought some of his decisions were good or bad. It took him years to understand what an incredible person he is in our eyes and we are very proud of whatever he does. He got a great score on his ACT and SAT and we told him if he wants he can take it again because he wasn't happy with it. He took that as we weren't happy with his performance which could not have been further from the truth. Our son was so perfect we had to tell him "no" sometimes just so he would know how it felt, that was quite a revelation to him because he thought when we said "no" it was because we were displeased with him, but it was just because he never hears it.
The social lessons you learn at this age are far more important than any accademics, you may even find your grades drop as you get more socially active but that's ok. Someone said earlier it's all about finding a balance. Felix had some good suggestions you could do all those things with your parents to help impact your relationship with them.

Be open with your parents about how you feel and ask them for help with finding out what drives your passions. Be compassionate towards them, they are doing the best they can and they are not perfect. Know one thing, parents love their kids so strongly they don't see striaght sometimes. Listen to what they say and find a happy medium.

I have found taht parents never seem to be satisfyed with anything you do. I'm 16 now, and feel like i am a let down to mine. I sometimes wish taht I had a better realationship with them so I could talk to them. So try and talk to them. Don't make the mistake I did of shutting them out.

Trying to please your parents will ultimately leave you unsatisfied with your life. You seem to have a firm grasp of good habits for living as it is, and maybe they want you to be the best that you can.

But in the end, it is your life, and you should probably focus on doing what will make you happy. That said, parents often offer perspective and you should at least listen to what they have to say. But as with all things,take it with a grain of salt, and realize that while they may be doing their best for your future, they are necessarily limited (as are all people) by not having your specific viewpoint and mindset.

You could, alternatively, tell them that you appreciate all the efforts they're making on your behalf, but *gently* point out that they may be working counter to their hopes by putting so much on you that you either burn out or snap as a result of their over-keen interest in your life. And that's a road no one wants to go down. Seen it, it's messy.