The extant literature on parental involvement in the university choice process sheds light on the positive impact of parents' social capital on enrolment. Little research captures the complex dynamics of parental social capital that might within certain sociocultural and economic contexts compound the effects on university choice and access. This study contributes insight to address this gap, from the context of Hong Kong. It administered a questionnaire survey to 139 students and examined the role of parental social capital in students' university aspirations. Moderated multiple regression analysis and simple slope analysis revealed that parent-student involvement – a main composite of parental social capital – weakened rather than strengthened the effect of parents' cultural capital on the students' educational aspirations. This study cautions us against a context-independent stance towards the value of parental social capital and warrants future research and policy work on how to optimise parental involvement in education. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.