February 6, 2018
Sarah Bubke
College is complicated. Between work and classes, students are challenged to maintain balance.
Part of this balance is knowing when to take your classes, and it’s better to make that appointment with your academic adviser sooner rather than later.
With one month ahead of midterms, it’s smart to start planning next semester’s schedule before the shopping cart opens. If an appointment with your academic adviser isn’t made early, finding an available time can be difficult.
Many students wait to meet with their adviser when the shopping cart opens for the next semester. That registration email is the first reminder to think about when to figure out a class schedule, so this time, which coincides with midterms, can be when most students decide to go.
The best part of scheduling an appointment early is not having to compete with the mass of desperate students during registration. Set up your advising appointment early, or risk going without.
If a student is considering meeting with their adviser, they need to know that there are a limited number of appointment slots available every week. Currently, drop-in advising is only offered one afternoon a week from 1 – 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
With so many people rushing to visit their advisers over just a couple of weeks, the academic office can get overwhelmed.
Last semester, the line of students needing advising ran outside of the building before the time for drop-in advising started. Students who were able to stand in line to register for drop-in advising had to then wait up to an additional hour to get only fifteen minutes with their adviser.
Students who couldn’t wait in line or couldn’t come to the only drop in days had to make an appointment. These students soon found that all of the advising appointments were booked out until close to the end of the semester.
Don’t be that student — plan ahead if you need help to avoid the last-minute stress of planning. Choosing to arrange an appointment with an academic adviser at the beginning of the semester is a wiser option.
When a student makes an appointment early in the semester, they can schedule it around their schedule. There are fewer students booking appointments, so there are more options.
If students have their appointment early in the semester, they can always follow up with their advisor if questions come up later.
Academic advising is in Main Hall room 208. Appointments can be made through Starfish and are offered Monday through Friday. Students can learn who their advisor is by going on to their UCCS portal or Starfish.