With spring 2025 semester course registration fast approaching, students express the challenges they face when meeting their academic advisors prior to registration and the alternative routes they have taken to counter those obstacles.
Course registration season creates a stressful environment for both students and professors who also serve as academic advisors, but when it comes to the student, meeting with unhelpful advisors does not always make it easier.
Gavin Story, a junior biology major, came in as a zoo and conservation science major, and after working closely with both his academic advisor and Student Success and Career Development (SSCD), he determined that he was falling behind in his major.
“He was telling me one thing and then SSCD was telling me another," Story said. “And it was just confusing me to the point where it was like 'What do I even do?'”
Story said he would hear conflicting advice from his advisor and SSCD, and he took the drastic decision of changing his major because he was falling behind. Additionally, he noted the role his advisor played in finding fault with him for listening to SSCD’s advice instead of his own.
The struggles Story experienced were echoed by multiple students in his major, however, this contrasted with people he knew who were in similar majors or completely different majors and had more positive encounters with their advisors.
Similar to Zandi Jotia, a junior business administration and management major, Story has been mainly relying on himself and a resource from SSCD that provides a list of the courses he must take for his major. While Story had a different experience with his advisor, Jotia realized early on in her first year she did not need as much support from academic advisors with the self-explanatory nature of Degree Works.
“I didn’t think it was necessary for me to meet with my advisor because I feel as a student, I already know my capabilities which classes I could take at a time," Jotia said.
While she did have to retake a class required for her major, she said she has made the necessary progress in her degree and her self-advising technique works for her but also utilizing SSCD when needed.
Story acknowledged that experiences with advisors vary based on a person’s major and this notion was echoed by Jotia, who knows it is commonplace for students both inside and outside of her major to meet with their advisors and have had positive experiences meeting with them.
“It is common for students from whichever major to meet with their advisor because that is something that has been instilled in us since we’re freshman, and we’re told that advisors are a great tool to use," Jotia said.
Even though she has met with her advisor before, she found that doing her own research helped her learn about more options for courses she could take to progress in her major.
If needed, students can make an appointment with their advisor before registration week or reach out to Student Success and Career Development at studentsuccess@otterbein.edu for support.
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