How Important is the Academic Advisor?
As many students underestimate the importance of the advisor as expect too much. This leads them to ignore their advisor, to assume that their advisor’s roll is just signing forms. They take no initiative to see their advisor, and may see them for as little as five minutes a term. Your advisor can make your time in the Department easier and more fruitful, and help you get into graduate school, get jobs, etc. • Your advisor is your primary resource, your best ‘entree’ into the Department, the best person to explain to you the Department’s structure, and the best person to help you solve serious problems, and refer you to other faculty for UROPs, etc. Your fellow students, even graduate students, will not always be able to help with these things. For details about choosing subjects, especially which ones to avoid taking together, peers may be more helpful, as will the Student Subject Evaluations, and any course guides for your department, like The Underground Guide to Course VI. • In the
