10 Things Your Academic Advisor Wishes You Knew

While I have only been an academic advisor for 6 months now, and I work in an office that is more hands-on than most advising offices, I thought it would be fun to make a list of things Academic Advisors wish students knew going in. This is based off of collective ideas and thoughts I've heard around the office, so I hope you enjoy the tips!

1. Book Your Appointments Early

It is not to be rude or to make things more challenging, but when enrollment starts we fill up. We often can't take additional walk ins because we are in back-to-back appointments for weeks. If you book your appointment early you can be sure to get in, if you miss your appointment there is still time to schedule another, and it leaves room to ask questions as they arise before your enrollment opens.

2. We Are Here For You

If you take nothing else from these tips, take this one with you. We want to help you. It is not only our job, but it is something we are passionate about. There is no question too small and there are no stupid questions. I can't tell you how many students either don't ask me a question they have and end up missing out on something that could have really helped them. At the end of the day, we want to help you be successful. Period.

3. When We Send You An Email, Read It

Anytime I send an email to a student, and I can confirm that it is like this for the advisors that I know as well, it has valuable information in it. Things like: your professor says you are going to fail if you miss any more classes, you need to get your holds lifted or you won't be able to enroll on time, scholarship applications are due by this date, we have amazing tutoring resources that could help in classes you are struggling with, and even information about mental health resources for other things you might be struggling with. So if you receive an email from your advisor, please take a second to read what is likely valuable information.

4. We Are Humans

Crazy, right? To think someone could be sick sometimes or go on a vacation every once in a while; but it is true. We are here to help you, and we love our jobs, but sometimes life happens to us too and we may need to reschedule an appointment. That does not make us care any less, it is just what makes us human. 

5. We Can't Give You Professor Recommendations

A big misconception I hear about on what academic advisors do is when I hear complaints about, "well my advisor is the worst because they told me to take ... class!" Or "Ugh my professor is the worst, I can't believe my advisor would tell me to take their class." The classes we "tell" you to take are classes you need to graduate, we have no control over when it is offered or who is teaching it. And we can't tell you not to take a class because of the professor, because opinions on teaching styles are often so subjective. We can recommend classes/options/electives that other students have enjoyed, but for those it is still really up to you on if you choose to take them over another option.

6. Know Your Degree Plan

When you first begin at most institutions you are given a degree plan for your major and your academic start year. Whether that is a sheet of paper, a fancy degree works website, a giant book of majors, or a combination of the three, you have access to what classes you need to graduate. Part of being human is that advisors also sometimes make mistakes. We do our best not to, but seeing so many students it is hard not to miss some things.