honors/advanced classes in middle school to prepare for high school

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>This topic isn’t for me specifically (I’m way past this age) but it’s something I’ve been debating with others for awhile.</p>

<p>My question has 2 parts. First, in general, is it necessary to have taken advanced/honors/IB classes in middle school to get placed into advanced/honors/IB/AP classes in high school?</p>

<p>And the 2nd part - even if you still manage to be placed into advanced classes in high school despite only taking a regular course load in middle school, is it almost impossible to succeed because you are much less well prepared? </p>

<p>Personally, in my case, I only took a regular courseload in middle school but my high school still allowed me to enter into the IB program a year late (after I had straight A’s freshman year and got recommendations from 3 of my teachers). Obviously it’s different from school to school, but so many people I talk to seem to think it’s impossible to get into advanced classes in high school unless you took them in middle school.</p>

<p>As for the second question - obviously it’s a benefit to have taken advanced classes in middle school, but is it a necessity to succeed considering that some middle schools might not offer any such classes? </p>

<p>The reason I even bring this topic up is that it seems that in this day and age, in order to ensure that a child has a good future, everything has to be so methodically planned out even from kindergarten. It’s kind of depressing, really.</p>

2

<p>Well it certainly makes it easier for subjects like math and language, but while the initial transition phase may be tough, most kids can tough it out if they try hard enough.</p>

3

<p>Alright… There is NO way you need to take advanced classes in middle school to do well in advanced classes in high school.</p>

<p>My middle school didn’t have advanced classes. I moved to a new town my freshman year, and the middle school in that town did have advanced middle school classes.
My sophomore year, I took advanced English. (They didn’t offer it in 9th grade). Guess what? I had the highest grade in the class, with no middle school advanced preparation. Most of the other kids * did * have advanced preparation.
That’s proof right there that you don’t need to take advanced classes in middle school to succeed in them in high school.
TADA!</p>