Originally Posted by Bostonian
they determine whether a child will placed in honors courses in 9th grade, which does matter for college admissions.

I'd guess that's highly district-dependent. Our district recommends kids on the AP track for math have at least a B in the previous class; for science APs, the recommendation is for at least a C in the previous class. But anyone is allowed to enroll. (The stick is that they only let you drop a level at the semester break, and the grade you get is the grade you get.)

I personally face planted in 7th grade math, and it had absolutely no impact on my life beyond that, including not keeping me out of 8th grade Honors Algebra I.