<p>Help a newbie out here. When someone says they are a "rising" junior, for example, what are they trying to indicate? That their grades are seeing an upward trend?</p>
<p>Sounds to me like a BS, meaningless wiggle word to try and make someone sound more impressive than they really are, but hey maybe I'm just cynical?</p>
<p>Will be a junior next semester.</p>
<p>Really? It’s that simple. Hmm, I feel dumb.</p>
<p>Don’t feel dumb. I had to ask awhile back, too. I had images of angel-wings floating a few feet off the ground. :)</p>
<p>I always used the term in the horse world as … the filly is rising three, or coming three in the spring. As we age horses by their dentition – horses have new incisors where they are easily seen each year when they are young – I always have the image of the teeth rising into place.</p>
<p>The summer can feel like no-man’s-land, when you’re in-between grades … i.e., you’re not really a junior yet but 10th grade is over. I always appreciate it when a student who posts on CC or sends me an “Ask the Dean” question says, "I’m a rising junior (or sophomore, senior, etc.) rather than simply “I’m a junior” because it clarifies this student’s current status and makes it easier to respond accurately. </p>
<p>This is especially helpful in the spring, when some students are out of school by May but others have to hang in through nearly all of June. So, then, “I’m a junior” can suggest that the student is at the tail end of his or her junior year or, on the other hand, might have just finished grade 10 but hasn’t started 11.</p>
<p>This has to be one of the few questions on CC that has an actual, cut-and-dried answer! ;)</p>
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<p>LOL! Actually, I’ve seen plenty of questions on CC with cut-and-dried answers, but that doesn’t stop CC members from discussing the issue for seven pages worth of posts. :eek:</p>
<p>That’s why we love CC!</p>
<p>Sally and Lurk, you’re both right. Too funny! :)</p>