Anonymous
12/09/2025 07:00
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It used to be AP Calculus BC in senior year was achievement, but Asian parents kept pushing and now you better take this class in 11th grade if you just want to keep up. Thanks a lot!
Many of them are taking it in 9th and 10th grades and Multivariable Calc in 11th.
There is no end in sight for this rat race.
What’s next? Push your kids to take Calculus in middle school? Elementary?
RACIST.
And wrong about “how it used to be.” In the 80s, DH and five other classmates tested in to “double-accelerated” math in middle school. Public, not private. All finished with MVC senior year.
Stop blaming “Asian parents” for your issues. Again, that’s racist.
Anonymous
12/09/2025 06:45
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The best thing is to have parents who aren't obsessive stress cases. Which seems to be 90% of the parents on DCUM.
What are you talking about? A lot of kids genuinely get mad if they can’t pass tryouts in high school or can’t get into their dream colleges
The above makes me think how giving out kids tools to cope with life is probably one of the most important things one can do as a parent. Especially given things are going to get messier. Maybe focus on that OP.
+1000
Anonymous
12/08/2025 08:01
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It used to be AP Calculus BC in senior year was achievement, but Asian parents kept pushing and now you better take this class in 11th grade if you just want to keep up. Thanks a lot!
Many of them are taking it in 9th and 10th grades and Multivariable Calc in 11th.
There is no end in sight for this rat race.
What’s next? Push your kids to take Calculus in middle school? Elementary?
It is on par with the rest of the world. Top STEM students going to college all around the world have these types of classes behind the (and sometimes more). If the US wishes to compete in tech internationally, and if we dont want to bring in smart talent from elsewhere (see all the immigration debate), we have to increase the number of math literate and advanced high school kids. Sad truth is that only some pockets in the US have those opportunities and so yes, if your kid is growing up in the DMV, they are going to be accelerated in math.
The person you’re responding to asked if you thought calculus should be standard in every elementary school, and your answer was “yes.” But I don’t think you mean that. Could you please clarify? At what age do you think calculus should be standard? 15? 12? 9? 6? Preschool?
Anonymous
12/08/2025 07:44
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:It used to be AP Calculus BC in senior year was achievement, but Asian parents kept pushing and now you better take this class in 11th grade if you just want to keep up. Thanks a lot!
Many of them are taking it in 9th and 10th grades and Multivariable Calc in 11th.
There is no end in sight for this rat race.
What’s next? Push your kids to take Calculus in middle school? Elementary?
It is on par with the rest of the world. Top STEM students going to college all around the world have these types of classes behind the (and sometimes more). If the US wishes to compete in tech internationally, and if we dont want to bring in smart talent from elsewhere (see all the immigration debate), we have to increase the number of math literate and advanced high school kids. Sad truth is that only some pockets in the US have those opportunities and so yes, if your kid is growing up in the DMV, they are going to be accelerated in math.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 05:57
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All of these super advanced MCPS kids do not impress admissions people. It is perfectly fine to take Calc as a senior. Once again it is the stupid DMV bias here. Get out of your bubble.
I talked to an admissions officer at a large flagship VA state school who had an open house a few weeks ago about this.
His words: for the students applying to competitive engineering majors (aerospace, but also CS) they do look for that post-BC Calc III course when reviewing applications, provided the school (or local CC) offers it. I found that intriguing and contrary to wisdom sometimes spilled here.
Why are you lying about this? No college expects kids to go to community college if the class is not offered at high school. Not to mention that Calculus III at the CC or high school doesn’t mean much.
Try improving your reading comprehension. He said that they expect it *provided* (which means "If") the school offers it. We were talking about a few specific high schools who do.
BTW, even in rural areas of VA, most students at public high schools have the option to take those courses either via DE offered at their school or via direct enrollment at a CC.
So, while you believe that it "doesn't mean much" - to that admission officer, it meant the difference between acceptance or non-acceptance to a competitive engineering major if a student had the chance to take it and didn't.
Anonymous
12/04/2025 08:27
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:We are not in the DMV -
DS was in the magnet program in ES for 3rd and 4th, the only years it was offered. That meant he skipped 3rd grade math and went from 2nd to 4th. In spring of 4th grade his teacher reviewed the math progression chart with us that went through 12th grade and we had to decide then if he would double skip. That would have put him in Algebra in 7th and Geometry in 8th (taken at the high school). In 12th he would have had to duel enrollment with a CC or online class because the school only offers through Calc BC. We decided to keep him on his track at that time and now in 7th that seems like a good decision. Going to the high school next year would have been really challenging and while he's STEM oriented, and getting straight A's, I don't see the need to push past where he is based on his cohort - there are no 7th graders that double skipped. In HS there could be some doubling up, but I think he will keep on his current track. So yes, I had to sit there and decide when my son was 9 years old what his math track looked like for the next 9 years, was wild at the time.
Couldn't he have taken geometry in 8th as an online class / independent study via an accredited course provider like AoPS or mathacademy?
Anonymous
12/04/2025 08:24
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
How exactly would you have advocated? The placement policy is the placement policy.Anonymous wrote:One of my kids was not put in the highest math track in middle school (our highest is Algebra 1 in 8th...so its only one year advanced). It definitely has had repercussions now that he is in HS. I wish I had known more in order to advocate, honestly I just trusted the school.
Anonymous
12/04/2025 08:15
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.
It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school
One thing I've noticed is that private schools all have algebra in 8th, geometry in 10th, and algebra 2 in 11th. Algebra is required to do well on SATs so this is critical. Many public schools don't start algebra 1 until 9th.
Algebra 1 in 8th is the average track in private school. Algebra 1 in 7th is for top 1/3 and algebra 1 in 6th is for the really smart ones.
All of the publics here do Algebra 1 in 7th for super smart kids and algebra in 8th is the “advanced” track. Algebra 1 in 6th is not done by publics
Which privates have algebra in sixth?
Anonymous
12/04/2025 02:30
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.
It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school
So very narrow minded and wrong. If you want to put sports in there just be aware that the colleges only care about team ball sports. Football, hockey and basketball are their priorities. That leaves 98% of applicants out. Then comes baseball and softball way behind.
Colleges don’t care about a kid who swims or runs or fences or plays tennis unless they are Olympic potentials. You can have your five year old with private coaches, full time camps all summer long, club sports all year long and your kid won’t be close to what is necessary to be noticed.
And the humanities don’t care about your math journey.
Anonymous
12/03/2025 23:58
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m a latecomer to this thread and am jumping right in. Accelerated math. I knew many kids at private and public schools (early 90’s) who took the traditional, standard track- algebra in 9th grade, geometry in 10th, and trig in 11th. And many of them are now successful doctors and engineers. The kids who made it to Calc BC were rare. I wonder if too much acceleration too soon can backfire.
Absolutely. One of my child's teachers told us this. They said too many kids were being pushed into accelerated math and then struggling in the higher level classes because they never received a solid grounding in the basics. My kids also were on the traditional track you describe and had no issues with college admissions.
I don't have a huge issue with the kids accelerating. What I hate is this very narrow view that they think they are more impressive than the bulk of the rest of America that doesn't do this. For every kid who benefits from being pushed, there are many more who are being set up to fail. To your point, it seems like the schools accelerate a lot of kids to a) fill out a class, and b) because so many parents think their kids are extra special and their is pressure to have your kid in the most advanced class offered.
Back in the day I was advanced and took BC Calc as a junior, which was pretty rare at the time - my school district had about 5 or so kids a year skip 6th grade math and go into class with 7th graders. It was good to be challenged but there were definitely also negatives from this - not sure if I would have done it again. I got a passing score on the AP exam, took 3rd semester math in college and didn't do particularly well, and that was the end of my math career.
Anonymous
12/03/2025 20:46
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:I’m a latecomer to this thread and am jumping right in. Accelerated math. I knew many kids at private and public schools (early 90’s) who took the traditional, standard track- algebra in 9th grade, geometry in 10th, and trig in 11th. And many of them are now successful doctors and engineers. The kids who made it to Calc BC were rare. I wonder if too much acceleration too soon can backfire.
Absolutely. My kids were/are in accelerated math at FCPS. Even though both had good grades, I put them in AoPs and RSM because the FCPS math is accelerated both did not go in depth. I don’t think either will end up in STEM but I still want them to have a strong foundation.
Anonymous
12/03/2025 20:25
Subject: College admissions really does start in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sty most kids done with all APs in 10th. Most only take those on a full schedule across all classes then it is off to IB. They steal all your Cornell slots. NYU slots. U Chi spots. Williams spots. Columbia slots. Wake up! You lost the game not being born in the right city.
The kids from the DMV public magnets do pretty well too. Thomas Jefferson has been one of the top 10 feeder HSs for Harvard over the last 15 years.
This is verifiable b.s. TJ sent 6 out of 500 students to Harvard in 2024, barely 1% and hardly impressive when the Harvard admission rate is 4%. All the NYC top privates send at least 10% to Harvard every year. polarislist.com
Way to completely misunderstand and misuse statistics!! 🙄
Harvard accepts 4% of students who apply to Harvard from All high schools. Not 4% of the total seniors in ANY particular high school.
Let’s say 60 TJ seniors applied to Harvard last year, and Harvard accepted 6 of them. That’s a 10% acceptance rate for TJ.
But you said “TJ sent 6 out of 500 students”. Are you saying all 500 students APPLIED to Harvard that year?? And that every student accepted by Harvard that year chose to attend??
There are three different numbers in play in your example: The number of TJ students who APPLIED to Harvard, the number of students ACCEPTED by Harvard, and the number of students who chose to ENROLL in Harvard.
So let’s do the math:
If 90 TJ seniors applied, Harvard accepted 9 of them, 3 chose to go to other schools (Princeton, Stanford, MIT), and 6 enrolled at Harvard (as you said), that means Harvard accepted 10% of TJ applicants that year.
(I have no personal stake in this, by the way. I live in the Midwest. Just annoyed by your butchered hypothetical.)
+1. It’s sad how people can be so ignorant and yet so confident in their ignorance.