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The duty of a college advisor is to, well, advise you as you embark upon your academic career. They should be available to help you when deciding which courses to schedule and how to plan out your four years so that you complete all of your requirements on time. They should be aware of your program to answer any questions that you have about it.

That being said, many of them don't fit this characteristic at all. So what can you do if you're in desperate need of academic advising and your advisor hasn't the slightest idea what's going on?

Chances are good that your advisor is affiliated with your major department, so you've probably had several classes with other professors who could help you. Try talking to them and seeing if they have answers to your questions.

Another option is to talk to friends that you have who are in your same program. What are they doing and how are they scheduling? They might be able to give you some tips from their experience or from things that their advisors have told them.

Possibly the best solution would be to talk to your department head. They should know the program the best and thus should be able to give you all kinds of information and advising. They can also go about getting you a new advisor if it comes down to that.

Learn more about this author, P. N. Ame.
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