Want to get into college? Start forgetting junior year and start thinking middle school.

Everyone is aware of the rising rates of college application and matriculation in the United States. With the recent advent of both increasingly-qualified candidates domestically, and the influx of foreign students coming to the United States to seek excellent post-secondary educational options, needless to say that the typical American high-school student is now subject to forces beyond his or her own control. Or, are they? In this commentary by The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s education reporter, Maureen Downey, the argument is made that parents should now begin to prepare their middle-school-aged children for post-secondary matriculation if they are to stand a chance in the admissions process.

Before we delve into the preparation part, let’s look at some statistics: according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics press release on College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2010 High School Graduates, 68.1 percent of the 3.2 million students of the 2010 high school graduating class enrolled in post-secondary colleges or universities in the United States between January and October of that year. That figure, 68.1 percent, is close to the record high of 70.1 percent set in the October of 2009. So, the data reveals that more people are applying to and getting accepted into college.

The article referenced above indicates that Georgia is at the forefront of the college matriculation boom. Applicants into the UGA admissions office have increased by 50 percent since just 2003. Georgia Tech’s applicants have increased by nearly the same, 48 percent, in the last four years. In fact, the boom is substantiated by the fact that for the decade ending in 2009, Georgia’s post-secondary matriculation rate rose nearly 77 percent which is more than double the national increase of 38 percent.

With the BLS data and the reports on matriculation from Georgia’s premier public institutions, there is no doubt that the conventional wisdom which purported students work diligently in their junior year of high school to secure a positive admissions outlook is now outdated indeed. If today’s high-school student, or even—dare we say—middle-school graduate, wishes to be a viable candidate in the meritocratic shifts that are taking place in the college-admissions arena, then they need to get their academic credentials in line well ahead of the norm. Middle school is the new junior year.

This article originally appeared in the GetSchooled AJC blog by Maureen Downey.