What Is a Rising Junior and a Rising Senior in School?

If you’ve ever heard of the terms “rising junior” and “rising senior”, you may have been confused as to what they mean. How are those things different from regular juniors and seniors? In this post, we will answer that question.

What Is a Rising Junior and a Rising Senior in School?

A “rising” junior or senior is simply a student who is transitioning into either one of those school ranks. For instance, a student who had just finished their junior year and is entering the summer before senior year starts would be called a “rising senior”. The same applies to “rising junior”.

Basically, “rising junior” and “rising senior” are just interim terms to describe students coming into junior or senior year. These terms can apply to both high schoolers and college students. As to why these designations are necessary at all, that’s an answer that is up to opinion.

It’s worth noting that “rising junior” and “rising senior” aren’t used very often in the US or UK, the primary English-speaking countries of the world. However, in some countries in which English is still a major language, such as India, these terms are occasionally used.

For some reason, “rising freshman” and “rising sophomore” are not used at all. It’s unclear why these terms exist for juniors and seniors, but not the earlier years of study.

Rising Senior

A rising senior is someone who is in-between junior year and senior year. This is what they could be called if it was the summer between classes, if they had just finished junior year and would be going into senior year when summer ends.

For high schoolers, this would be someone who just finished 11^th grade, and will be going into 12^th grade when school starts again. For college students, this would be someone who finished the third year of an undergraduate degree and will soon be starting their fourth.

The only time you would use this term is to describe someone between the two years. If they are still in 11^th grade or their third college year, they are just juniors. If they are already in 12^th grade or their fourth year, they are just seniors. For examples, please refer to the below sentences:

• Having just graduated from 11^th grade, I am now a rising senior until 12^th grade begins.
• Erik is a rising senior, at least until college courses start again and he begins his fourth year.

Rising Junior

A rising junior is someone who is in-between their sophomore year and junior year. They will soon be juniors, but they are not juniors yet. This term would apply to students who have finished sophomore year, but junior year has not started yet.

For high schoolers, this would be someone who has finished 10^th grade, and will be going into 11^th grade when school starts again. For college students, this would be someone who finished their second year of an undergraduate program, and will start their third year when courses start again.

As with rising senior, you would not use this term to describe someone who is currently a sophomore or a junior. You would only use it to describe someone who is transitioning from sophomore to junior. Below are some examples of this:

• My entire class consists of rising juniors, at least until summer ends and we can begin junior year.
• Having finished his second year of college study, Mark is a rising junior until he starts courses for his third year.

Sophomore

A sophomore is a student in their second year of high school or college undergraduate program. That means it is someone who is in 10^th grade in high school. In college, a sophomore has completed their first year and is currently going through their second year.

Curiously, there is no “rising sophomore” term used to designate someone between these years.

• Once freshman year is over, Betty will be a sophomore.
• A sophomore has more education than a freshman, but less than a junior.

Freshman

A freshman is someone who is in their first year of either high school (9^th grade) or a college undergraduate degree. They become sophomores after their first year of schooling in these settings ends. For some reason, “rising freshman” is also not a term that is used.

• A middle schooler will become a freshman when they first enter high school.
• I haven’t been admitted to college yet, but I look forward to being a freshman.

Conclusion

All you need to remember is the order of the schooling ranks: freshman, sophomore, rising junior, junior, rising senior, senior. A rising junior or senior is just a student that has finished their sophomore or junior year and will soon be a junior or senior, respectively.