A junior is a person in the third year at an educational institution in the US and some other countries, usually at a
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
or at the
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
and
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
level, but also in other forms of
post-secondary educational institutions. In United States high schools, a junior is an eleventh-grade student; juniors are considered upperclassmen.
Education in the United States
High school
In the United States, the
11th grade is usually the third year of a student's high school period and is referred to as junior year. High school juniors are advised to prepare for college entrance exams (ACT or SAT) and to start narrowing the list of colleges / universities they want to attend. A common assumption is that colleges and universities place greater emphasis on the junior year when making admissions decisions, as the last complete academic year before the college admissions process.
College
In the U.S., colleges generally require students to declare an
academic major
An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''con ...
by the beginning of their junior year. College juniors are advised to find
internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
s in their chosen field and to begin considering additional education (medical school, law school, etc.) and preparing for relevant licensure examinations.
Yale UCS – Year by Year Guide – Sophomore Year
See also
* Freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...
* Sophomore
In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...
* Senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
References
Educational stages
Educational years
Students in the United States
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