<p>My son is a first year, and has been recently assigned an advisor who is in the Philosophy department. My son is planning to apply to McIntire, or if that doesnt work out he is looking at the financial mathematics concentration in the Statistics dept. I'm confused on why his advisor would be in the Philosophy department.</p>
<p>Your son will be assigned a new advisor when he applies for or declares a major. I’m planning on doing neuroscience and cognitive science and my current advisor is in the foreign languages department. That’s normal for now.</p>
<p>A friend of mine had an astronomy prof as an advisor, which he thought was ridiculous. The advisor was always trying to convince him to major in astronomy - showing him the latest “fascinating” images from deep space. After a while, it finally worked, and my friend realized he really was interested in astronomy and made it his major. He then graduated from UVa Law.</p>
<p>Faculty advisors are perfectly capable of helping a student navigate the first few semesters as they explore their options. As Malenonfare said, the advisor will change once the student declares.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there is also an Association Dean available.</p>
<p>The emphasis in the first few semesters for Arts and Sciences students is on completing the College distribution requirements, which are the same regardless of major. Therefore the advising generally doesn’t vary that much, at least in the opinion of the College. Advisors are assigned by residence hall.</p>
<p>If your son’s advisor is unhelpful or less than knowledgeable on some question, he should go talk to the Director of Undergraduate Studies in his intended major. That person will be a fount of information.</p>
<p>Though this strategy won’t work for McIntire, if your son is positive about what he wants to major in, he can also declare a major sooner than the end of his sophomore year and will be immediately granted an advisor in that department. My son, now going into his second year, was absolutely sure he wanted to major in computer science and had a lot of advanced placement in it (he will, in fact, most likely complete the CS BA next semester). So he declared the CS major in October of his first year and got a CS faculty advisor, who has been very helpful for negotiating the upperclass undergraduate CS options. His original, Philosophy Dept. advisor was, however, wonderful at stimulating him to think outside the CS-major box. He so impressed my S that he has signed up for two classes with the guy this fall.</p>
<p>My understanding is that profs often have no one visit them during their office hours early in a semester. If your assigned advisor doesn’t seem to know enough to help you in a certain field, you should be able to find a prof in the right dept who would be happy to talk.</p>