W&M Admissions recent students/ W&M alum

<p>A quick question... May the new ,incoming freshman request a faculty advisor or must one be assigned based on the information sheet they will fill out? Thanks for the information. We are acquainted with a faculty member that could possibly be a great advisor to our son.</p>

<p>Your son will be assigned an adviser in a department that he has expressed an interest based on an online survey distributed later in the year. As a Freshmen, these advisers are largely responsible for informing students about registration, GERs and the like. As your son finds himself determining his major he must have an adviser in that discipline department. If it happens that the adviser he was assigned as a Freshman is in the same department as his major (not always the case as people change their minds and sometimes advisers aren’t well matched for one’s individual interests), he can still change to one that focuses on something he’s (more) interested in studying (a concentration, as it were).</p>

<p>Hope that helped.</p>

<p>And there is no reason he can’t ask for advice on things from the other professor, especially if he already knows him.</p>

<p>Yea… your son will be assigned an advisor. The advisor has the PIN that the student will need to register for the rest of his classes. As has been stated, obviously you can talk to any professor about their subject field. When you choose a major, you will need an advisor in that area.</p>

<p>Some people talk to their advisors a lot… others only go to them to get their PIN freshmen year and then get someone to sign the forms as their advisor in their major.</p>

<p>Looks like your question has been addressed thoroughly by others. The nice thing about the somewhat random assigning of advisors (i.e. it’s based on a thoughtful survey but not based on preferencing certain professors) is that it allows your student to make a connection with a faculty member they might not otherwise encounter.</p>

<p>Faculty advisors are volunteer so they sign up to work with freshmen. They are excited to be able to advise these students and hope that they can be a guiding force in the student’s first few semesters.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the information. The purpose of the Faculty Advisor is clearer now :-)</p>