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It really bothers me:

Should I say I'm a college senior student, or should I say I'm a senior college student (or I'm a college senior student)?

Should I say I'm a sophomore, or should I say I'm a sophomore college student (or I'm a college sophomore student)? Ooh, English is tough!

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lee
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  • Where are you located? The meaning of college varies from place to place, and the divisions of schooling vary from place to place. – choster May 16 '14 at 03:01
  • @tchrist, "teenage text message" -I wonder if a term has been coined? The 'tchrist' ;-) – Third News May 16 '14 at 03:01
  • @choster China.. – lee May 16 '14 at 03:15
  • @tchrist Sorry,i did some researches and found written english is not simple.Much to learn. – lee May 16 '14 at 03:17
  • @lee It is difficult to understand what you are asking. Are you asking about the word order— senior college student vs. college senior student? Are you asking about the terms for each year? Please edit your question to clarify. You may also be interested in our sister site for English Language Learners. – choster May 16 '14 at 03:26
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    @choster Both i think. – lee May 16 '14 at 03:29
  • I think of "sophomore" as a noun, and not an adjective. So use "I am a sophomore in college" or "I am a college student in my second year". None of "sophomore student", "sophomore college student", or "college sophomore student" sound correct to me (although it is quite clear what they all mean). The same is true for freshman, junior, senior when they have this meaning. – Peter Shor May 16 '14 at 13:27
  • choster, that's a good point. Not only does the meaning of college vary in different parts of the world, but so does the terminology for it. The words in question are not used in England and the rest of the UK. – Tristan r May 16 '14 at 16:38
  • I would say "Hello, my name is tee". It is shorter and simpler. – Oldcat May 16 '14 at 19:06

5 Answers5

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The best way to word this is:

I'm a senior in college.

This is because "college senior student," "senior college student," and "senior student" all sound wrong because senior in this sense is a noun and not an adjective. "Senior" as an adjective means "older" or "higher ranking," while "senior" as a noun refers to the last year of college or high school.

Jason Chen
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  • @RyeBread: if Jason added that college senior student, senior college student, and senior student all sound incorrect because senior in this sense is a noun and not an adjective, this would be an answer. – Peter Shor May 16 '14 at 13:33
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If you want to choose between the above two, then the more befitting statement would be:

I am a senior college student.

However, there are some possible alternatives to it:

Using the year in which you study - I'm a 3rd year college student or I'm a 2nd year college student, in case of first year we can also say I'm a freshmen.

Glorfindel
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Invoker
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Magistrand: n. senior, fourth year university student

Third News
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Consider:

I am a senior student in my college.

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Consider:

I'm a college senior.

I'm a college sophomore.

I'm a college freshman.

Community
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Elian
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  • This is the clearest, cleanest, and (I should hope) the most oft-used solution. It rings true to my native-speaker ear. – tchrist May 16 '14 at 14:04
  • @tchrist In the same vein, can you say "I'm a junior high senior" in AmE? – Elian May 16 '14 at 14:22
  • No, you cannot, although that is a rather interesting turn of phrase. Junior high doesn’t get special words for each year. It is typically either a two-year stint for seventh- and eighth-graders, or sometimes a three-year one adding in sixth-graders. But saying a junior high senior begs for so many subclever misreadings that I am sure it has been used in jest more than once. – tchrist May 16 '14 at 14:25