<p>If your child takes algebra 1 in 8th grad, geometry and biology in 9th do the colleges ignore those courses and grades because they were taken before 10th grade?</p>
<p>My 7th grade son is taking accelerated math (Algebra and some geometry) with the 8th graders. We were told that the grade from the course would be on the HS transcript, because the course is considered a 9th grade course. </p>
<p>Your question about whether courses taken before 10th grade, even if they are 10th grade material, is a good one. I don't know the answer, but I'll find out at some point.</p>
<p>Different high schools handle transcripts differently. Our high school does not record grades taken before 9th grade. Our S took 2 AP courses in 8th grade, and these did not appear on the high school transcript. </p>
<p>One assumes that a student who took advanced courses while in middle school will continue to take advanced courses in high school. So it becomes immaterial if the student took geometry in 9th grade while others are taking algebra 1. Presumably, the student will be taking Algebra II, Precalc and Calc and these will show up on the high school transcript. It is easy for adcoms to deduce that if a student is taking Precalc in 10th grade, that student took advanced math in earlier grades.</p>
<p>Our school system lets the middle school student w/ hs classes record the grades in 2 ways.</p>
<p>One can either have it recorded as P/F or as a letter grade.</p>
<p>Our system does start Algebra 1 in 7th and 8th grade for accelerated math students. Students can also take first year foreign language in 8th grade for hs credit as well in lieu of a different elective.</p>
<p>So a math whiz kid w/ a flair for foreign language could take Algebra I in 7th grade, Geometry in 8th, and give up both elective slots and take 2 foreign languages and enter hs w/ 4 hs classes. I've never heard of anyone doing this, but it is possible.</p>
<p>Ninth grade counts even if the 9th graders are not in the same building as the older students. I believe that this is universal. </p>
<p>Whether high school courses taken before 9th grade count depends on the school system. My kids' school system recently changed its policy on this point.</p>
<p>Under the old policy, a student could choose to have high school courses taken in middle school (math and foreign language) either appear or not appear on the high school transcript. If the courses appeared, the letter grade counted toward the student's overall GPA, and the courses counted toward graduation requirements. If the courses did not appear, they had no effect on GPA and did NOT count toward graduation requirements. The idea was to prevent students who unsuccessfully attempted a high school course in middle school from suffering any long-term penalty. But the catch was that the courses didn't count toward the 4 years of math and 2 years of foreign language needed for graduation. </p>
<p>Under the new policy, all high school courses taken in middle school count and appear on the high school transcript, with letter grades. This prevents kids from making decisions that might later make it harder for them to graduate, but it also means that kids can damage their high school GPAs long before they get to high school.</p>
<p>There has to be a better alternative to either of these policies, but I don't think anyone knows what it is.</p>
<p>All this does not take into account the fact that some colleges do not include 9th grade. Princeton does not. Others heavily discount freshman grades as well.</p>
<p>Our school system puts high school courses taken before 9th grade on the transcript. If colleges are interested they can look at them. I don't believe they factor into the GPA however. Too bad for our kid!</p>
<p>Ours does not put 8th grade on the transcript but if you have geometry in 9th the colleges assume you took algebra 1 in 8th and etc. One word of caution, particularly with math. Make sure when you start accelerating these classes in 7th and 8th grade that the jr hs teacher knows what they are doing and is giving kids the right foundation. Also lots of colleges will turn down students who don't take math in 12th grade. So make sure you "leave" something for them to take.</p>
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So make sure you "leave" something for them to take.
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<p>It is not uncommon for advanced students to take college-level math courses such as Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra from 10th grade onward, either in community college, university extension schools or online through programs such as EPGY.</p>
<p>Do the colleges take out electives, like art classes and look only at solids?</p>
<p>Yes, I think they take them out for GPA purposes but I imagine they look at them to see what kinds of classes the kids are taking.</p>