freshman/sophomore/junior/senior

[hushhush77]

Hi,
Does "freshman/sophomore/junior/senior" also apply to high shcool grades? If so, that means in the U.S.there are four grades in high shcool as well as in college? But i remember in The Big Bang Theory, when penny says she spent four years in high shool, Sheldon asks her surprisingly and satirically:"you spent four years in high shcool?"

so I'm so confused how many years you have in high shcool in the states and how we should use "freshman/sophomore/junior/senior"?

Thank you!

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

Yes, the terms are used in the US for high school as well. There are 12 grades in American schools, and 9th grade through 12th grade are usually considered to be "high school." A high school freshman is in 9th grade, a sophomore is in 10th grade, and so on.

Note that the word is school, not shcool.

 

[languageGuy]

High school and college should both last 4 years in the US, and the fsjs labels apply to both.

I think Sheldon was acting surprised because Penny is not smart enough in his mind to have completed 4 years of education.

 

[Católico]

Hello.

Yes, in the High Schools the title Freshman is used for students on the 9th grade, Junior for them on the 10th, Sophomore for the ones on the 11th grade and Senior for the 12-graders.

 

[hushhush77]

Thank you, Greenwhiteblue and languageGuy!

 

[Parla]

It should also be added that in the US, different cities divide the school years differently, and high school doesn't always consist of four years. Some places divide the twelve years into grades 1-6 (elementary school), 7-9 (junior high school), and 10-12 (high school). Others may consider kindergarten part of elementary school, which may cover K-5, followed by 6-8 (middle school) and 9-12 (high school). I'm familiar with those two systems; I believe there are also others.

 

[mathman]

Hello.

Yes, in the High Schools the title Freshman is used for students on the 9th grade, Junior for them on the 10th, Sophomore for the ones on the 11th grade and Senior for the 12-graders.

You have sophomore (10th grade) and junior (11th grade) reversed.

 

[Egmont]

It should also be added that in the US, different cities divide the school years differently, and high school doesn't always consist of four years. Some places divide the twelve years into grades 1-6 (elementary school), 7-9 (junior high school), and 10-12 (high school). Others may consider kindergarten part of elementary school, which may cover K-5, followed by 6-8 (middle school) and 9-12 (high school). I'm familiar with those two systems; I believe there are also others.

Right. U.S. school systems are typically under local control with some state regulation. There is little nationwide standardization.

That said, regarding the topic of this thread: when high school consists of grades 10, 11 and 12, their students are called sophomores, juniors and seniors respectively. There are no freshmen in such a school. (That's how the high school I attended was organized. Three-year high schools were much more common at the time than they are now. Among other things, moving the 9th grade into a high school building, where that's practical, allows moving 6th grade into middle school and perhaps closing some elementary school buildings. That's helpful in times of tight budgets, and is part of the reason why three-year high schools are rarer today than in the past.)

Also, the term "freshman" is giving way in some places to terms that don't imply the student is male. I've seen "freshers" and "first-years" used for those students. There are probably other threads on that topic here.

 

[hushhush77]

Thank you all. I love this forum!

 

[kentix]

A way old thread, but this has to be said.

He was surprised she spent four years in high school because he's a genius who probably thought it was incredibly easy and probably only spent two or three years there. She was not. She was just a regular, average student and for regular students four years is the normal amount of years. He was being a snob.

 

[dojibear]

I agree with the last post.

But i remember in The Big Bang Theory, when penny says she spent four years in high shool, Sheldon asks her surprisingly and satirically:"you spent four years in high shcool?"

The funny part is Sheldon being surprised about 4 years. That surprise shows that Sheldon is disconnected from the real world. It is unusual to complete the 4-year high school requirements (often set by the US state, not the school) in 3 years. Skipping a grade is more common in grades 1-7.