Because they know that hard work doesn't guarantee success. At least not the success generally at their level. At some level I don't think that these parents don't believe in hard work, they also know that degrees from elite universities are worth gold. Yes, some of these parents certainly were willing to cheat the system and would continue to cheat the system even while their kids were at the college. others I'm sure we're just willing to do just about anything to ensure that they got in.