The College

Every undergraduate is assigned to a College adviser with whom they will work during their four years on campus. College advisers are full-time professionals within the Office of the Dean of Students in the College. They are generalists, prepared to advise students across the spectrum of academic interests.

Once you declare a major, you will also be expected to work with your departmental undergraduate program chair on matters pertaining to the major, but you will retain your College adviser. For most students, College advisers will be their primary source of curricular and academic guidance, regardless of major. The most effective advising relationships are those in which adviser and advisee know each other well, so we hope that you will speak candidly with your adviser about your goals and challenges. In the event that an adviser assignment is not successful, it is possible to request an adviser change.

Academic advisers are located on the second floor of Harper and in the mezzanine level of Harper East Tower.

Map of Harper Memorial Library, 2nd Floor
Map of Harper Memorial Library, East Mezzanine

Goals of Academic Advising

The goal of academic advising is to help each student follow an individualized path through the curriculum, allowing you to meet your particular academic goals. During your first year, your adviser will help you select Core courses, balance study and extracurriculars, and think about possible majors. If you’re a returning student, your adviser can provide guidance on campus opportunities like internships, scholarships, and ways to get involved with faculty research. Your adviser will also continue to help you with curricular questions, choosing a major, and staying on track to graduate. And always, you should contact your adviser if you have particular problems in a class, health issues that interfere with your studies, or other unforeseen events that pose a challenge to your academic success. Your adviser will work with you to resolve the issue, even if it sometimes means seeking assistance from one of the deans or elsewhere on campus. In order to build a relationship, you’ll need to meet with your adviser frequently in the first year. As you progress through the College, your access to other resources may result in changes to the nature of the advising relationship.

Advisers recognize the importance of administering advice through the prism of students’ needs. Advisers therefore seek to understand your particular interests and suggest courses that will be engaging, provide you with the appropriate level of challenge, move you forward towards completing core requirements, and help you explore possible majors. Advisers take seriously the mandate to make a plan with you that will allow you to complete a degree within 12 quarters of registration. Advisers track graduation requirements and will meet regularly with you to review your progress through the curriculum.

Advisers also focus on your extracurricular goals. They'll advise you on pursuits outside of the classroom and help you coordinate your academic choices with emerging career goals.

Core courses

Since there are a variety of curricular pathways through the Core, advisers discover with students which Core courses will be most exciting and appropriate for them, and how best to sequence these. With first-year students, for example, advisers talk about the demands of the quarter system and balancing a course load with three or four courses that carry a variety of requirements (reading, problem sets, papers, etc.).

Choosing a major

Students often begin exploring possible majors in the second year. You may have narrowed your choices somewhat by then and can try out courses in disciplines that interest you. Advisers are generalists, and are prepared to offer advice about any area of study; they will also offer suggestions in accordance with your interests. As you explore majors, you will also consult with undergraduate program chairs and faculty members designated by departments to advise majors. Ideally you will settle on a major by autumn quarter of third year.

Some students consider completing a second major. Although about 20% of students in the College graduate with two majors, most students elect to preserve the freedom to explore curricular offerings through electives, and devote themselves to one major. Keep in mind that skills and strong letters of recommendation are among the keys to success in both applications to professional and graduate schools as well as the job market. A second major will not necessarily help you to acquire these, and in many cases may hinder the development of sustained relationships with faculty that lead to strong letters (because you will be taking so many required introductory courses that have large class sizes or are taught by lecturers).

Advisers also help students interested in completing a minor. Minors allow you to cluster your electives within the structure of a specific discipline, enabling you to acquire formally organized knowledge of a field.

Building a relationship

You are required to meet with your adviser once each quarter in the first year, and once a year thereafter. However, you can meet with your adviser more frequently if necessary. If you are experiencing particular difficulties, you may request multiple meetings in one quarter. In order to be most helpful to you, an adviser needs to know you well, and regular meetings in the first year aim to make this possible. Similarly, the better you know your adviser, the easier it is to gauge how an adviser can be helpful: for example, providing information about educational opportunities or answering questions about preparing for careers and graduate study or assisting with personal problems.

Adviser change

If you feel that you do not have a productive relationship with your adviser, it is possible to request an adviser change. To do this, you must fill out a petition to the Dean of Students, and schedule an appointment to meet with the dean in person. We expect first-year students to give the relationship time to form and to wait until Winter Quarter at the earliest to make such a request. An effective and satisfying student-adviser relationship, after all, requires familiarity and patience.

Changing nature of the advising relationship

Ordinarily during your last two years in the College, you develop new relationships with departments, lab directors, or BA advisers. This is as it should be: advisers hope that students develop the capacity to seek out mentors while in college and beyond.