Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

[Amber11]

What sort of advise do the Advisor give generally speaking? Do they just give you a list of the courses to take? I have seen quite a number of advisors now…and everytime its just a painstaking process…more or less it goes like “this this this subjects and u r good to go..ciao!!!”…nexxt!!..Maybe its the norm and I am expecting more:crying:…Or its this University …I feel like

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

The counselors/advisors in Registrar's office are generalists. They can advise on the regulations around majors/minors and perform a degree audit based on what the calendar says.

If you want more specific advice, you will need to meet an advisor in the department where you intend to take courses etc.

Some Universities assign departmental faculty advisors to every student once the student declares a major in that department. At my institution, I found the advisor to be very helpful. It also helps to maintain contact with them throughout your program duration... at the end, they may act as valuable references.

[canpaki]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

ohmygosh councllors are a pain in the butt..they make u take the wrong damn courses and dun give a damn abt ur carreer cus they are rotten and like to jus sit and get payed for nothing…

[Amber11]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

@Umar_Talib

The counselors/advisors in Registrar’s office are generalists. They can advise on the regulations around majors/minors and perform a degree audit based on what the calendar says.

If you want more specific advice, you will need to meet an advisor in the department where you intend to take courses etc.

Some Universities assign departmental faculty advisors to every student once the student declares a major in that department. At my institution, I found the advisor to be very helpful. It also helps to maintain contact with them throughout your program duration… at the end, they may act as valuable references.

U name it…I have been to them..the career/the general/the major…:(…Its just …I dont know…I dont want to sound rude but really I came out more frustrated then when I went in..maybe I have too many expectations…I was an Architecture major before…The very first advisor was really good.(he is a proffesor too there)..but then they have just bought in advisors that r just that and nothing else…and I think that may be the reason why they r just matter of fact. What about the advisors that u r talking abput…were they just that…or professors too.I mean practicioners or watever.I am in the middle of changing majors and I guess I have to basically do my own research more and more…Its just frustrating:bummer:

[Amber11]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

@canpaki

ohmygosh councllors are a pain in the butt..they make u take the wrong damn courses and dun give a damn abt ur carreer cus they are rotten and like to jus sit and get payed for nothing…

As of now I agree..I know wat u mean:(…students r like numbers thats it:grumpy:

[Cool_Breeze]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

yea. I am Marketing major.
I could be in some Public Planning.... if listened to my counselor. am so glad that i didn't.

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

like I said... faculty advisors are better than general advisors in the sense that they can help better with course selection at the dept. you're with.

That being said, you can never depend 100% on any one person's advice. It's always a probabilistic venture...

In today's day and age, there's a plethora of information available online... if you want, you can even talk to practitioners through various discussion forums and this can go a long way in helping you verify or refute your own stance.

I get students in my office everyday and I basically lay out the options in front of them with pros and cons and my own opinion about each one... but I tell them that it's ultimately their decision. I can ask them about their grades in other courses... take a look at their resume and ask them what they like or dislike about courses in various concentrations, and that might give me a hint about their aptitude - but that's where I stop. The faculty advisors are there for you to bounce your ideas off them and perhaps clarify your misconceptions about certain courses and programs.

Again, the above opinions are not representative of general advisors that you find at the registrar's office. They're only there for you to make sure that you've satisfied course requirements for subsequent academic years, help you with petitions, advise you on special circumstances and other general matters.

[Dushwari]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

i agree with what Umar said.
in case of formal academic advice and counseling, counselors will always runyou thru a battery of aptitude surveys and match your strengths with what you want to be, as a specific major, what your career goals are.
as far as employment related advice is concerned, a good counselor will have a ready resource of books that u should consult to get an idea, what u want to enter as ur work field and what kind of scope and job specific duties it calls for.
they can also help u get internships after asking what u want to do in between the semesters to gain work experience
or work on ur major's research based thesis.
also, good counselors, don’t just 'tell' u what they think is right for u, they enable u to think for ur self. it 's up to the advisee how that counseling advice will be used.

best,

dushwari

[Mr_Fraudia]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

amber dont waste your time with those counselors/advisors, they are only really good to tell u whatu need to do to get a degree in a particular field.

faculty advisors are the best way forward. do a little research see who is a prof liked be students and kinda active and all, they are usuallymore approachable, will give u time and have a broader view than some who may be too much into academia and research only

[Lusi]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

Like everyone said, faculty advisors are way better then general advisors, though sometimes they can be nightmares as well but generally they are better. Faculty advisors are basically professors teaching those subjects and they are advisors for students under their department majors.

I would say print the course planning form from the university website and take it to the faculty advisor and go though it with them.

I myself have been a victim of general advisors. Once an advisor made me take courses that didn't even count towards my major, my semester was pretty much wasted, so I can understand how you feel.

As for changing the major, when I was changing mine, I found career center pretty useless. I had an idea of what I wanted to change to so I just sat with work supervisor and couple other faculty members I was working with and was close to. They knew my strengths and weaknesses therefore I got really good advices from them (I was working on campus).

If you are not sure about the major, then this is what I will suggest you to do:

Go through the course catalog and browse different majors.
On one sheet list down the ones you think you are or might be interested in.
Then look at their course requirements and see if you would really like to study the courses that are required for that major.
If you think those subjects catch your interest and won’t give you nightmares then add that major to your consideration sheet.
If you have more then one major on your consideration sheet, then compare them. See what major offers subject that best fits you and would give you an opportunity to excel in them.
Print the course planning forms for them and mark off all that you have done to see how much more you need.
Explore different career options for those majors.
Take your findings to the respective faculty advisors, have a thorough discussion with them. Talk about your previous major, your GPA, your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you are done compare your finding and see what best fits you.

It might look or sound tedious but is worth your time and energy. :)

[Amber11]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

@Umar_Talib

like I said… faculty advisors are better than general advisors in the sense that they can help better with course selection at the dept. you’re with.

That being said, you can never depend 100% on any one person’s advice. It’s always a probabilistic venture…

In today’s day and age, there’s a plethora of information available online… if you want, you can even talk to practitioners through various discussion forums and this can go a long way in helping you verify or refute your own stance.

I get students in my office everyday and I basically lay out the options in front of them with pros and cons and my own opinion about each one… but I tell them that it’s ultimately their decision. I can ask them about their grades in other courses… take a look at their resume and ask them what they like or dislike about courses in various concentrations, and that might give me a hint about their aptitude - but that’s where I stop. The faculty advisors are there for you to bounce your ideas off them and perhaps clarify your misconceptions about certain courses and programs.

Again, the above opinions are not representative of general advisors that you find at the registrar’s office. They’re only there for you to make sure that you’ve satisfied course requirements for subsequent academic years, help you with petitions, advise you on special circumstances and other general matters.

When do u advise for them to do that?I did go and see (wat I found was the marketing major advisor as I had changed my appt from the previous advisor who was Int Business one) Basically I am in the middle of changing majors from Architecture to Business…and I have done research ..well tried to do some research…and I was hoping that the advisor would further assist me with the answers of some of the questios like wat sort of apptitude is required for so and so field..and wat not…Its just that I donot want to wake up one day and feel that this is not some field that I am or everwill be good at. And I am currently going thru the tests that the career counselors provide Myer Briggs as well as another one and a study too that they wanted me to participate.The results r to be disclosed this coming week.

@Lusi

Like everyone said, faculty advisors are way better then general advisors, though sometimes they can be nightmares as well but generally they are better. Faculty advisors are basically professors teaching those subjects and they are advisors for students under their department majors.

I would say print the course planning form from the university website and take it to the faculty advisor and go though it with them.

I myself have been a victim of general advisors. Once an advisor made me take courses that didn’t even count towards my major, my semester was pretty much wasted, so I can understand how you feel.

As for changing the major, when I was changing mine, I found career center pretty useless. I had an idea of what I wanted to change to so I just sat with work supervisor and couple other faculty members I was working with and was close to. They knew my strengths and weaknesses therefore I got really good advices from them (I was working on campus).

If you are not sure about the major, then this is what I will suggest you to do:

Go through the course catalog and browse different majors.
On one sheet list down the ones you think you are or might be interested in.
Then look at their course requirements and see if you would really like to study the courses that are required for that major.
If you think those subjects catch your interest and won’t give you nightmares then add that major to your consideration sheet.
If you have more then one major on your consideration sheet, then compare them. See what major offers subject that best fits you and would give you an opportunity to excel in them.
Print the course planning forms for them and mark off all that you have done to see how much more you need.
Explore different career options for those majors.
Take your findings to the respective faculty advisors, have a thorough discussion with them. Talk about your previous major, your GPA, your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you are done compare your finding and see what best fits you.

It might look or sound tedious but is worth your time and energy.

Thaku so much Lusi..I am currently doing that:bummer: …for the past so many weeks…bouncing from one advisor to another:(…And got sme info from some practicioners too(Thanks Mr Frauds again)…but basically I feel that I am gong to end up doing something that I really do not like or would want to do for the rest of my life(loss of confidence in that big time ..I know:))..So lets see..I am going to send my brother my course info in a bit..lets see wat he says too…
And Educations /GPA wise..I guess since I have just taken core courses(a lot of them arent even transferring in this major)..Maths is one of my weakness…Algebra part…I simply hate it..But other then that I am fine in others…more or less same grade in all of them with exception of couple of B’s.

Thanks for the advice…next stop for me is wat result I got in the tests thats on Tuesday.

[Amber11]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

i agree with what Umar said. in case of formal academic advice and counseling, counselors will always runyou thru a battery of aptitude surveys and match your strengths with what you want to be, as a specific major, what your career goals are. as far as employment related advice is concerned, a good counselor will have a ready resource of books that u should consult to get an idea, what u want to enter as ur work field and what kind of scope and job specific duties it calls for. they can also help u get internships after asking what u want to do in between the semesters to gain work experience or work on ur major's research based thesis. also, good counselors, don’t just 'tell' u what they think is right for u, they enable u to think for ur self. it 's up to the advisee how that counseling advice will be used.

best,

dushwari

I agree Dushi...I know they dont "Tell " you wat to do..and that is not wat I am looking for either..I just want some clarity on the real world jobs as well as the courses...Wat sort of apptitude...what strengths need to be there for a certain field...wat can be learnt? wat can't be..etc etc..Where to look for research..I mean relable sources like books etc...
I am going to hit the Libraries this week for some indepth research not just summaries that I have been getting usually...:)Thanks

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

All of the standardized personality and career aptitude tests suffer from the Forer effect… so beware of the results and be very critical about the interpretation of your personality based solely upon these tests. It’s like reading a horoscope… i.e. you tend to subconsciously give high ratings to descriptions of your personality that are “supposedly” tailored specifically for you, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.

You’re on the right track in talking to people who have real-world experience in the fields that you’re interested in. You can use their opinions along-with what you know about yourself to ascertain whether the field you’re stepping into is or isn’t for you.

Another extremely useful resource is the Alumni office at your school. You can contact a few people who’ve graduated from the programs that you’re interested in… see where they are today… what type of work are they involved with… etc.

All these things will enable you to make a more informed decision about your major. Remember though that all this information is external to your current circumstances and is coming from sources who’re not quite in-tune with your individuality. In the end, it’s still going to be a leap of faith… but you’ll at least have the peace of mind that you didn’t get into anything blind-folded, and that it was YOUR decision. At this point, you might have to stick it out for a couple of years and develop an aptitude for the specific subject matter based on a stronger and rooted understanding of it. InshaAllah, it’ll work out for the best.

[Amber11]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

^^ I didnt know that they r that vague.I know wat usually comes up and believe me I donot want to even think about some of the choices that r given based on the traits or would be characteristics in me.U r right about the error..I just thought that it was marginal and not to that extent.

Another thing...Is is better to choose a career first and then work your way with the education...or education first and then choose a career, for example a Marketing Communication Specialist(as I have read), and study towards that ?Wat do u think

[Lucid_Chaotic]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

Another thing...Is is better to choose a career first and then work your way with the education...or education first and then choose a career, for example a Marketing Communication Specialist(as I have read), and study towards that ?Wat do u think

Having been in academia for almost 12 years in multiple capacities... this is a very common question that I am confronted with. My advice to students who are struggling with selecting majors and a path towards graduation is this... Remember that an undergraduate degree is supposed to act as a springboard for your career… you can certainly explore diverse possibilities for yourself after your graduation through different types of work placements, and perhaps graduate school at some point.

The “process” of an undergraduate degree is NOT about training you to do something specific… rather it’s an education in problem solving. The Universities use a framework of your choice to teach you to think. At the end of the day, the framework doesn’t matter much… it’s the instilment of the ability to think and the infusion of a strong work ethic.

[Aish]

Re: Career Counselors and Major Advisors:

You have to do your OWN research. I did what my advisor told me for the first semester then i was like bye bye I'm gonna do what I want now. Plan out your 3-4 years with all the required classes, esp. if you wanna graduate early like in 3 years.