If your kid is capable of taking algebra as a 7th grader I don't think you should encourage him/her to close out the option of more highly selective colleges by not taking calculus in high school. Expectations have changed from when we were in high school. It is now really expected that strong college bound seniors have math beyond algebra II. If you look at the requirement even for less highly ranked colleges you'll find for a lot of majors calculus is a "premajor" requirement. I think you are selling your kid short to try to avoid having them take four years of math in high school.
