Tales from the Advising Center

1. A student who says that he's majoring in political science. He has a political science advisor, but he is not advised in political science because he doesn't know where their building is nor does he remember who his advisor is. He has never taken a course in political science. We advise him to take Spanish, sociology, English Comp, and political science.


2. Freshman from out of state came in looking to replace her calculus course with something less work-intensive. She needs to keep a good GPA because she is going to transfer because we do not offer a zoology degree here, a fact that she did not learn until after paying her out-of-state tuition and committing to attend. This is the only school she applied to. Her dad is furious about her major-mixup snafu. She mentioned that she might transfer to Dartmouth to study zoology; I point out that Dartmouth hasn't offered a zoology major in a very long time. We suggest "mathematics for the biological sciences" and spending the second semester living at home with her parents and attending community college. We also suggest that she should talk to a professor in biology to get some advice about where to transfer to study zoology.


3. Non-traditional student. Completed a degree in math 35 years ago and a smattering of community college work in Random Crap about a decade ago. Now studying graphic design. Needs 3 more credit hours to be full-time. We would suggest a course (from the catalog), and he would shoot it down. He would suggest a course from the catalog, and we would point out that the course has prereqs or other restrictions. When we found a course mutually acceptable, the registration system said that it was full. Why couldn't he read the catalog at home and check the online registration system? Can't tell you that.


4. A transfer student wanted to know if he should try to petition his way out of more requirements. Sure, go ahead, it's easy to petition! The only issue is that the petitions won't be reviewed until after the add/drop date, so he doesn't know whether to switch his schedule or not. Secret message to transfer students: the instant that you're admitted, start having your transcripts reviewed and checking our catalog for what our requirements are. Bonus secret message to transfer students: If you wait until the week before classes start to decide to attend our university, the transfer process won't be as smooth as it could be, and you might end up with a sub-optimal course schedule.


5. As I walked by the office of the director of advising, she pulled me in to talk to the student who she was advising. She had just added that student to Calculus Circus, and the student wanted to know what she needed to do because she missed the first class. Nice thing about my caving in to Blackboard: I can just say "look on Blackboard" in response to every question from students.


6. I think I lost my water bottle in the advising office. Fortunately, it has my name on it, so there is a chance that I'll find it. I'm using "lack of water bottle" as an excuse to avoid gonig to the gym.