Connecticut College assigns 5, yes 5 at a time, advisors to each student. It’s described in their standard brochure.
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High Point. It does exactly that. People have strong opinions on High Point, and some of the criticisms are fair. But the kids that I know directly who needed that sort of hand-holding & maturing have thrived there. For one student, both his parents & HS GC say that they held their breath the whole first year, hoping he wouldn’t bomb out. He graduating in May, with a job he is excited about waiting for him.
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My son had an academic coach and weekly sessions for a while at his lac. Set up through disability services would be my guess but I was not involved. If your kid needs any accommodations, there should be a department that can tell you what services they offer.
My kid is at Penn but, as you can see from this thread and your other one, there are various college options for a kid who needs additional support.
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USC is not a small LAC but each student is assigned an advisor and needs to meet with that advisor at least once a semester. They are not allowed to register for classes if they have not completed their mandatory advising appointment.
It is similar to a high school guidance counselor in that one person might think their advisor is great and extremely helpful and another person might think the same advisor is worthless. Students get out of it what they put into it and some college students are at the stage in life where they don’t want to listen to any adult.
During the pandemic, most advising was done via zoom and emails but I believe it is normally an in person meeting. @CADREAMIN probably has better insight as she has had more children go through the program.
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Allegheny had good resources for kids with executive functioning issues. A friend 's kid got super support at Sacred Heart. Earlham is known for excellent and involved teaching.
My kid and his friends were very happy with the advising at Colby (academic and career) as well as prof relationships but it most definitely was not what OP is looking for. Much more about course selection, positioning for grad school, etc.
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Both Bowdoin and Colgate do require that the student meet with their advisor to show the courses they want to take and a registration hold has to be removed by the advisor, but that’s the only mandatory relationship there. The advisor will remind them of any classes they still need to take or talk to them about different majors if they are undecided. If a student needs more, he’s welcome to reach out for other advice and have other meetings but they need to be the proactive one.
Do professors look out for the students? Sometimes, but not on some sort of weekly basis. If a student is out of class more than once, a prof might email the student to see if they are ok. If a student is sick and can’t make it to class, most professors I believe will be understanding about giving extensions on the work.
Career centers at LACs can give guidance but there are no mandatory meetings. Both of our kids’ schools have sophomore boot camps that students can attend during the last week of winter break to learn resume writing and connect with alums, etc. Our D has been to a number of meetings at Colgate’s career center but she signed up for them.
I always kind of roll my eyes when posters think LACs hold students’ hands. I’m not even sure what that means.
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The school my D22 will be attending has an Integrated Advising Coach assigned to each student in addition to their faculty academic advisor. They meet with the coach throughout the semester.
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I have to agree with the other posters who have expressed that LACs don’t hand hold the way some think they do/will.
D20 does have a mandatory pre-meeting for class registration (like everyone else has shared)…but the most valuable meetings that she has had with professors, faculty and staff at her LAC have been based upon her own proactivity in researching and contacting those people. She has a close relationship with her two main advisors, but that’s because she has reached out to them from the very beginning of her college experience with very specific goals and asked for help and guidance in making those a reality.
The ‘personal attention’ I think you can get at an LAC that might be more challenging to receive elsewhere is based on the size of the campus, imo. Students literally don’t have as many other students competing for the opportunities available, and those opportunities can be plentiful at a highly resourced LAC.
D20 being proactive stands out at her smaller school, and word travels fast at a smaller school about smart, driven, proactive students. As I’ve said before - she has been contacted by (unknown to her) professors offering her jobs based on the recommendations of professors she did know. When she has met with new (to her) professors, they often acknowledge that they’ve heard good things about her from other professors in the department or from other departments.
But she has acquaintances who only interact with their advisor for the mandatory pre-registration meeting each semester. She has friends who have never taken advantage of office hours, and those friends aren’t acing their classes. She knows plenty of people who have never gone to the writing center, or career services…and those advisors, professors and resource centers aren’t personally reaching out to check in on every individual student as a matter of course.
LACs can be wonderful places but the hand holding many seem to expect does not exist (in my observation). It really is, by and large, dependent upon the student seeking resources out and making the effort.
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My D has had great advising at her big public as well. Honors advisor, major advisor, and now a special advisor for her major that specializes in students doing coop. He’s been amazing. But it still seems to me that OP isn’t asking for “regular” advising and more of a coach.
@sweetgum - Do you know the role of the integrated advising coach? Is it just a title or is it more than meeting with students once/semester to help with course selections? If it’s more than just advising, it might be helpful for OP if you shared the name of the school (via PM if you aren’t comfortable sharing publicly).
I don’t mind sharing. It’s Warren Wilson, a more unconventional school and not for everyone. I think the advising is pretty robust but we will know more about it after the admitted students day next month. https://www.warren-wilson.edu/academics/integrated-advising/
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It does seem that the OP is looking more for an academic coach position than traditional college advisor. Which on this thread, has been detailed to be primarily focused on discussing/meeting curriculum requirements, planning out a major, etc.
For motivational issues as a whole or managing transition to college expectations, check into the college’s Learning Support services and tutoring, counseling options.
ALL colleges provide some level of these. And some will offer academic coaches/coaching for an additional charge.
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Another thing to check about the academic advisor….does this change if your student changes his or her major?
My DD had three different academic advisors during her four years of undergrad.
I changed my major a number of times…and got a new advisor with each change (who had to sign my proposed schedule each term…and really that was it).
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You may also want to look at how the dorm structure is set up at certain colleges. Some have small to medium size forms with full time hall directors trained to do some of the supports you are looking for. Some have hall directors and also have faculty who also live in the dorm who host small gatherings and can provide guidance. Some have special focused theme floors or dorms based on majors so there are easier ways to find study partners.
Definitely look at what academic supports are offered, but you also need to get them to go. S19 has yet to walk in the door of the tutoring and support offered…even when there was no door and he just had to log on.
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