Imagine: it’s 6 am. You sent 8 alarms to be ready. You opened your laptop and you’re excited to register for classes. You’ve picked the best ones and are ecstatic that your don’t have to take an 8 am the THIRD semester in row. You log in and sees there’s a hold on your account. You scream wildly. You through your laptop out the window and realize the school Gods are not on your side.
That was basically me the my first 2 semesters of college. I don’t know how someone can forget for months to make a simple appointment, but I did! Now that I’m a well-experienced junior *hair flip*, I think i know a thing or two about college. One of the most important things I could learn is getting to know my adviser. You be in their office so much you basically become best friends. It has made such a big difference in my scheduling and how I mapped out my college and career options.
Meet you adviser several times throughout the semester. You should always see your adviser more than once in the semester. At the beginning to discuss how things have been going, and any possible concerns you might have.When you go to see an adviser early, the odds of this are way less. They’ll let you know what holds you have, and the ways to resolve it. Sometimes other holds pop up, so you should always be checking you account to make sure. Again in the middle of the semester, BEFORE REGISTRATION!!!! This way you will have no surprise holds to prevent you from scoring the best classes. *Meetings time are available as soon as the semester starts, you don’t have to wait to schedule*
I know it isn’t required that all students see their adviser every semester, but you probably should. One of the first things my dad told me when I started applying to college is that “Your adviser should become your best friend”. Though I didn’t listen to him until a year later, I reign that to be so true! Advisers are there to answer any questions that you have, and any questions that you didn’t know you had. They can also give you info like date changes, if certain courses are being offered that semester, if it’s worth taking that extra advanced pre-cal trigonomocalc class, and other things, ya know?
They are someone to talk to about your grades, who aren’t your parents. Whether you want them to know or not, they know your grades. They are great people to talk about what’s happening in your classes, what’s going good, and what’s going bad. Advisers give you all the options possible to create the easiest schedule. And the best part? They’ll be honest with you without making you feel like a total idiot. All the great academic advise without all the pressure.
It’s 2018! Be on top of your game and get things done! Make that appointment and figure it out now. Make this year as easy for yourself as possible!