How Middle School Tracking Determines Your High School Success
The Invisible Funnel
If colleges never see your middle school GPA, why do middle school grades matter at all?
Because American public schools use a system called Tracking. Tracking is an invisible funnel that begins in the 6th grade and dictates exactly how successful you will be in high school.
The Honors Math Track
The most severe tracking happens in mathematics.If you get 'A's in 6th and 7th grade math, your middle school counselor will place you into Algebra I for the 8th grade. This is the Advanced Track. If you get 'C's in middle school math, you will be placed into Pre-Algebra for the 8th grade. This is the Standard Track.
This seems harmless until you map out the next four years.
By getting 'C's in middle school, the Standard Track student is mathematically locked out of taking AP Calculus in high school. When they apply to engineering or computer science programs at elite universities, they will be automatically rejected because they did not reach Calculus.
The Science and English Gatekeepers
This tracking applies to every subject. If you want to take AP Biology as a high school sophomore, the high school requires you to have taken Honors Biology as a freshman. But to get into Honors Biology as a freshman, you needed a 3.5 GPA in your 8th-grade science classes.Your middle school grades act as the gatekeepers to the high school curriculum.
If you slack off in middle school, you will be placed into "Standard" or "Remedial" freshman classes. It is incredibly difficult to jump from a standard 9th-grade class into an AP 10th-grade class because you will lack the prerequisite foundational knowledge.
Take middle school seriously not for college admissions, but to ensure you are placed in the advanced track on your first day of high school.
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