Considering that it's summertime, the "rising" should have already occured.
Er, no. A 'rising freshman' will typically start in the fall semester. She probably starts at the end of August. A better term would be 'recent high school graduate.'
Yeeeaahhhhh...... I’d use the term “incoming” rather than “rising” in that case.
The term “rising freshman” refers to a student who is enrolling in one of the NASA/MUSP schools for the first time in the upcoming fall as an undergraduate freshman. Usually, “rising freshmen” submit their applications during the end of their senior year in high school, or shortly after graduation from high school.